December is the month of New Year resolutions and goal setting! We simply cannot wait to finish all the tasks we set for ourselves, tie up any loose ends and close the year on a high. That’s a great spirit to have, after all, how can we move forward if our heads are turned back looking at the past?
Having said that, I would encourage a small glimpse at the past to learn from our achievements, our challenges, and take those learnings into consideration when planning for the future. It’s an opportunity for self-reflection to analyze our actions and behaviors especially under pressure.
Asking ourselves what caused a certain failure? What triggered my emotions? How did it impact those around me? And the most important question of them all: what can I do better next time around? Is crucial for the success of future goals.
Setting new goals is exciting and uplifting. Everyone wants to be healthier, richer, win bigger contracts, build better relations, be more successful, travel, take on new adventures …etc. Those are all good goals to aim for, but how do we ensure come next December, we would have accomplished all the wonderful goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year?
Most of us have heard of SMART goals during a formal training (or some other similar acronym). They are easier said than done, and that is because coming up with SMART goals require a lot of effort. Not only do your goals need to be SMART, but the SMART goals of your colleagues and every employee in the entire organization need to be linked to one another and linked to the company vision. The linking of SMART goals creates a complete Line of Sight (LoS) for the direction the organization is taking.
Let’s apply this in a work example. Suppose you are the CEO of FoodExpress Inc, a startup in food delivery services. And let’s say the company’s vision is to be the best food delivery company in the State of Youkanda! (yes, this example is a little influenced by Marvel’s Black Panther).
What would be your SMART goal as the CEO of FoodExpress? And based on that, what would be the Marketing Director’s SMART goal? The SMART goal of the Territory Manager, the Sales Reps, Customer Support … all the way to the SMART goal of your Receptionist greeting customers? The SMART goals of every employee in FoodExpress Inc need to link-up creating a domino effect. Only then, will the company’s vision materialize.
I know it can be overwhelming, but if done right at the beginning, it will take away any pain down the line and give us the agility to tackle challenges. SMART goal setting also helps in building team dynamics as each employee sees how their individual work contributes to the bigger picture.
For assistance on how to build strong, lasting SMART goals, checkout the Goal Setting workshop from Awe Horizons.
Happy holidays and successful goal setting.