Do You Even Have a Goal?

No, this isn’t my attempt at counselling while I ask you to get your life back on track. Although kudos to you if your first reach-out for life help is googling a process improvement blog. Can’t say I blame you.

Instead, this week I’d like to explore the wonderful concept of business goals. Something so familiar and generic that everyone assumes they get it.

But now think about your own team or business. Do you have a goal? No, do you really have a goal? That’s what I thought.

Read on for why this initial step is so often skipped, what a good goal looks like and how it paves the way for process improvement.

Yea, Yea I Already Have One

I’ll be honest, I’m writing this article as much for your benefit as mine. Just as Thomas mentions not to jump into the solution so quickly, we are also guilty of jumping into analysis without asking even the most basic question. What do you want to achieve?

I believe this is because in most industries, the goal is easily assumed. It’s either to be more efficient, improve client satisfaction, or get more business. I mean, have you ever been on a project where the team wanted to do the opposite?

So the irony of skipping this question is that our assumption is usually correct. And we gladly jump into our analysis to try to find that secret efficiency everyone is ultimately thrilled to receive.

If everyone is happy, why do we need to waste our precious time asking about goals then?

So What’s The Problem?

Firstly, from a project perspective, we should never risk misunderstanding what our management is looking to achieve. My brain usually defaults to efficiency but maybe my manager is looking to minimize some operational risk. Doing more with less resources is not necessarily going to make them happy. Therefore, you should at least ask about goals briefly to ensure your efforts are as aligned to their needs as possible.

However, you shouldn’t do this CYA and think that is enough. Sure, just ask your leadership and they’ll say, “Increase efficiency, please.” All set right?

If your manager comes back with something like the “goals” I mentioned above, it’s a red flag that they themselves don’t understand what success looks like. Of course you want to increase efficiency, but what does that actually mean? Can I simply suggest firing half your staff and push the other four times as hard? (pro tip: don’t forget to not fire yourself) Sure, you’d be more efficient, but would you actually be achieving your goal?

A high-level goal with generic terms like “increase” and “efficiency” is very hard to translate into actionable improvements. You’re left to interpret how efficiency should be defined and how much of an increase is satisfactory. And there is no guarantee that your interpretation is the same as everyone else’s.

What Makes A Great Goal

So now think about your own team’s goals. Does it fall into this trap? You can do your team and management a huge favor by taking some time to think critically on what everyone is really trying to achieve.

Here are a few guidelines on how to make the perfect goal:

It’s Measurable

The best thing you can do to your goal is make it measurable in a specific way. Break down efficiency or client satisfaction in a way where you are calculating something. Make sure its relatable to your specific team’s activities. Perhaps it’s how much man hours are spent creating a certain number of widgets. Or lead time from order to delivery. Try thinking about what less efficiency looks like versus more if it’s not immediately clear. Or read about Thomas’s cheat codes on this subject.

Red Flag: “Increase Efficiency”
Measurable: “Increase number of widgets per hour by 20%”

It’s Not Too Easy or Too Hard

A good goal should be a perfect blend of future aspiration and practical opportunity. If your goal is to automate everything with robots while the team is still hand-writing documents, it may be too hard for the team to conceptualize what to do. Similarly, if you want to reduce cycle time by 3 seconds, a quick workaround may give everyone a false sense of accomplishment. Try thinking about something that might be attainable in the next year and use that as your north star. And bonus points if you can break that down into sub-goals per quarter or month.

Red Flag: “Automate Everything”
Balanced: “Reduce errors by 5% each month for the next 6 months”

It’s Linked to Your Firm’s Mission

The best goals further the mission of not just your team, but the broader organization. As an example, imagine you sped up sending out client reports, but now half the data is missing each time. You reached your local target for efficiency but your organization is looking to achieve the best client satisfaction rates possible. Suddenly hitting your goal doesn’t look like much of an achievement. Make sure you are always thinking about value add for your end business. Does the client care if this report is fast or accurate? Ensure whatever goals you pick are successes not just for your team but the whole company.

Red Flag: “Reduce response time for client by 30 min”
Client Focused: “Reduce resolution time for client by 30 min”

It’s Widely Known and Spoken About

Finally, make sure goal setting and goal measuring are parts of your team’s regular activities. Bring it up as a standing agenda point in team meetings. Ask peers for input and ensure everyone is on the same page. A goal-oriented team can be a powerful force for change.

Red Flag: “We have goals?”
Goal-Focused: “Every Monday we discuss how we are progressing with our top 3 targets”

Final Thoughts

Having a clear, measurable and actionable goal is a phenomenal tool for enabling process improvement and experimentation. Asking teammates (or yourself), “how can we improve this process” often ends up in blank stares and abstract ideas. Asking teammates instead how to reduce cycle time or error volume, etc etc often facilitates more ideation and eventually more process improvement.

So remember to start with the goal and you’ll be on your way to maximizing change in the near future.

Happy Goal Setting!