There is a simple saying in business that is true here…
“You can’t hit a target your can’t see.”
How is it in your organization? Are your goals visible? Do you have a formal approach to company goal setting?
Prioritize and launch
The first step we recommend here is to capture all live and potential projects. The key principle here is to make the goals visible. Company goal setting doesn’t work very well if you hide the goals.
You can’t undertake every project at once. Some goals will have to wait until later on, or until you get some more resource. We have a built in prioritization system called BCS in PDCA Complete. This helps you to control the launch of projects. You can learn more about this system here.
Knowing how many projects you can undertake at a time is important here. If you spread yourself too thin, you’ll end up with too many loose ends. This situation isn’t good for motivation either. In PDCA Complete we also have an option to queue projects until you are ready later.
Set your team up to win
The second step is to be clear when you define your project. Achieving the wrong goal is not what we want. Your company goals need to be clear and specific. Everyone participating needs to understand where the end is. This is where the PID comes in.
PID stands for Project Initiation Document. It is an integral part of our projects module. The purpose of this tool is to help you get clear about what you want to achieve. From deliverables to scope to communication. Using a PID helps your team deliver what you want.
You wouldn’t build a skyscraper without a specification. Why launch a project without one?
Review
Once you have launched the project, in a controlled manner, you need to track progress. This is point three in achieving company goals. You need to check in with your team and see how the tasks are progressing. The frequency of the reviews is up to you. As a guide:
- If the project is going well, less often is OK (monthly?).
- If the project isn’t going well, increase the frequency (daily?).
We’ve built in project filters and a standard agenda function into our project module. Reviewing projects with your team is quick and easy to do. Adding and changing actions during the review is quick too.
Free subscription
To help every organization get to grips with their company goals, we offer a free subscription. This free subscription allows three team members to collaborate online. The team members don’t have to be from the same business and all the functions mentioned in this article are available. You also get access to the other modules too; meetings, audits, CCC, workflows and more.
To get your free account, sign up here.
Effective company goal setting
We don’t have to get too complex if we want to hit our business goals. Writing them down and sharing is the first step as I mentioned above. Having somewhere central for them is essential, which is why we built PDCA Complete.
Too many businesses have their goals hidden away, either in their minds or on a desktop somewhere. Sharing the goals, unifying the team and crunching your way forward is a good strategy. Clear communication and easy to use tools make the process easier.
If you are struggling with your company goal setting approach then try the above and see how you get on.
