Goal Execution - Make it a Way of Life

Guy Kawasaki [www.truemors.com] says, “defining your goals is only half the battle; here’s how to get them accomplished.”

The holiday season is always a good time to reflect on the past year as we close out accounts. Welcoming in the new year is a perennial opportunity to set goals, make plans and strive for great things in the new year. But, as my friend Jennifer Koretsky [www.addmanagement.com] counsels her clients, the day we set resolutions, we’re only 17 days away from breaking them.

Why even set goals?

First, reset your objectives: create something worth executing on. If you and your team are having a hard time executing, maybe you’re focused on the wrong thing.

Second, set your goals. But they have to be the right goals. You’ve heard of SMART goals. I’m suggesting a twist on that theme. The right goals are:

Measurable Every goal must be quantifiable. If you can’t measure it, it can’t be a goal.
Achieveable Take your most conservative sales forecast and multiply it by 10% (.1). Set your goal there. Not achieving a conservative goal is demoralizing to everyone. Instead set your goal at a modest % of your forecast – and then achieve it 10 times over.
Relevant Use relevant numbers. In e-commerce, which will drive revenues more your search engine rank or the clickthroughs to the sales page?
‘Rathole-resistent’ [Guy Kawasaki’s term] This is the checks and balances piece. Make sure each goal encompasses all the factors that will make your organization viable. If you have a goal of a number of sales calls in your target market but they generate no sales, that’s a rathole.

Now here’s the part about getting them done:

Postpone, de-emphasize or quantify less tangible goals such as ‘create a great work environment’.
Communicate each goal clearly to every single employee/contractor/team member.
Measure progress weekly – if you don’t want the accountability of measuring, then you might as well skip the goal setting too. Measuring monthly is not enough pressure to get results.
Responsibility Identify a Single Point of Responsibility for each goal. Lousy employees avoid responsibility. Good employees accept responsibility. Great employees seek responsibility.
Followthrough on each goal. Not every goal will focus on the cool stuff (new software, creative presentation, etc). It’s not hot or glamorous to resolve all website bugs within 48 hours but it is important to clients.
Reward achievers This sends a message to everyone. Achievers get reenergized about doing their jobs. Everyone else gets the message that the company values execution and takes it seriously.