The Management Bible

Chapter 7. Setting Goals

IT'S A NEW WORLD OUT THERE ...

Setting Goals and ...

• The purpose of goals.

• SMART goals made easy.

• Communicating goals and vision.

• Maintaining focus on your goals.

• Making goals happen.

GOALS MAKE THINGS HAPPEN

"All performance starts with clear goals" is one of the most time-tested principles of management. What is the primary duty of management? Setting goals is likely to be near the top of the list. If setting goals appears near the bottom of the list, you know there's a problem. In most companies, top management sets the overall purpose—the vision—of the organization. Middle managers then have the job of developing goals and plans for achieving the vision set by top management. Managers and employees work together to set goals and develop schedules for attaining them.

Managers are immersed in goals—not only for themselves but also for their employees, your department, and your organization. This flood of goals can overwhelm managers as they gallantly try to balance their relative importance. Goals help provide your employees with direction and purpose; they help them see where they're going and how they can get there. And the way you go about setting goals can impact how motivating (or demotivating) they are to your employees.

If you want to get somewhere meaningful in your business, you and your employees first have to know where to go. And once you've decided where to go, the next step is to make plans on how to get there.

Let's say you have a vision of starting ...