Best Practices: Achieving Goals

MOTIVATION

Motivation is key in setting and achieving goals. If you want your employees to perform, they must be dedicated and motivated.

Hold regular meetings to set goals and encourage team spirit.
Keep communication lines open at all times and listen to the comments and concerns that are raised.
Engage employees in tasks that broaden their individual roles.
Let your employees do the job they were hired to do by demonstrating confidence in their ability to perform well.
To counter boredom, give creative employees stimulating goals and innovative challenges.
Create projects that involve teamwork. Give teams the freedom to make decisions and set goals.
Be supportive of their creative endeavors and bright ideas.
Be a strong, supportive leader and you will have productive employees who will strive to meet goals.

GIVING EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK

Always give feedback as you monitor your employees’ progress toward their goals.

Do show your honest concern and appreciation.
Do be timely about delivering praise, so that your employees see the direct connection between their actions and your response.
Do praise in public, reprimand in private.
Do give details about how things should change or why they need to continue as they are.
Don’t be judgmental; keep your comments objective.
Do focus on specific behaviors.
Do make time for discussion.
Do keep a written record of what you agree on together.

It takes vision, skill, and dedication to create a workplace where employees feel important and supported, and where they’re committed to their work and to each other’s growth and development. A team that’s productive, innovative, and goal-oriented must be energized and fully engaged. If you don’t intervene when your talented employees’ jobs have become routine, you run the risk of losing them, either physically or psychologically. You must stay on the lookout for opportunities to challenge each one of your employees.

“The desire to be challenged is a powerful human motivation. If you’re smart, you’ll use it to get the most out of your employees—no matter how well established your company is.”

—Charlie Trotter,

author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

ities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically—to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.”

—Stephen Covey,
author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”

—Conrad Hilton,

GOAL-SETTING CYCLE

Read each of the following statements and indicate whether you agree or disagree. Then check your score at the end.

Competencies and performance goals are two different things.
• Agree • Disagree
I need to get my people to stop depending on my instructions.
• Agree • Disagree
Part of my mission as a manager is to train and develop people to replace me.
• Agree • Disagree
Empathy, self-awareness, supportiveness, self-control, and independence are good traits in my staff, and I should help develop them.
• Agree • Disagree
Managing goals and communication go hand in hand.
• Agree • Disagree
My reluctance to write things down is probably a drawback when it comes to goal-setting.
• Agree • Disagree
Personal development goals aren’t usually a factor in performance evaluations but progress toward them can affect the overall evaluation.
• Agree • Disagree
A worker should focus on only one or two big goals at a time.
• Agree • Disagree
My team’s core competencies are the same as those of other departments in my organization.
• Agree • Disagree
It’s okay to let a couple of team members go off to work on another group’s project, even if it means that they are not focusing on their goals.
• Agree • Disagree
Scoring

Give yourself 1 point for every question you answered “Agree” and 0 points for every question you answered “Disagree.”

Analysis

8–10

You’re in great shape to lead your team through the goal-setting cycle.

5–7

You could use some help in honing both your goal-setting and goal-management skills.

0–4

You need to re-examine how your performance management affects corporate goals.

­ities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically—to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.”

—Stephen Covey,

People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.”

—Brian Tracy,