Management Information

Plans & Goal Setting - Kicking winning Goals


Kicking Winning Business Goals

The competition for business is hotting up. The advances in new technology, ease of communication, and increasing expectations from customers have combined to make the marketplace more competitive than ever. In this world it is critical for small and medium businesses to be proactive about creating their future. Without proactivity, things just seem to 'happen' without your control.

A management system that is centred around goals is one tool that the business can use to craft its future. This is a system of deciding what you are going to do everyday based on the goals you are working toward.

It sounds simple enough, but the research clearly shows that most businesses don't set goals - at all. The goal setting process can seem daunting if it's unfamiliar territory, or if you have so much on your mind that you don't know where to start. This process will help you to sort through your key issues and create forwards momentum by setting goals that are innovative, resolve problems and improve results.

A goal-centred management system has 3 elements:
1. The goal or the objective you want to achieve
2. The activities required to achieve the goals, and
3. The review or evaluation process.

Here are the 5 steps required to put your goal management system in place.

1. Identify your Goals
Start by asking yourself these three questions. If you have employees, often they have a different view about issues in the business. Including them in this process can be really valuable.

  • What are the three things that irritate me the most about my business right now?
  • What have I been putting off, that I know will have a positive impact on my business?
  • What is working pretty well, but could be improved?
  • It might help you to think in terms of some common categories such as:

    Employees: skill levels, right people in right jobs
    Managers: management style, experience
    Customers: strength of customer base, number, loyalty etc
    Financial: cash flow, capital, low debt, profit margins etc
    Reputation: well-known brand, well regarded
    Products/Services: innovative, short time to market, no competition, price
    Environment: flexible work practices, physical working environment, location
    Technology: automated, streamlined, productive
    Production: capacity, product range
    Distribution: low cost, efficient
    Sales/Marketing: promotion strategy, marketing materials etc

    2. Write down what you want to achieve for each identified goal
    With your answers to the questions, actually write down how each thing would look at it's most successful. Goals should be in writing, in measurable terms and have specific timelines.

    For example, if you had chosen technology, your goal might be "to implement an integrated and automated contact management system by April 30th that takes away most of the manual work I do now."

    3. Break goals into measurable steps
    For each goal that you've articulated, break it down into the steps you need to do. You must include timeframes for each step.

    In our example, the steps might be:

    • Researching available contact management systems - by 31 Jan
    • Analyse each one along cost, technology implications, ease of learning - by 29 Feb
    • Decide and purchase - March
    • Implement system - April 5th
    • Test and undergo training - by 30 April

    Ensure that all the people who are impacted by a goal fully participate in the crafting of the goal and the action plans.

    4. Allocate people to do the actions
    Be clear about who is responsible for what activity. Make sure everyone understands their responsibilities and signs up to achieving them.

    5. Create a fail-safe tracking method to monitor success
    This is absolutely essential. Without it, the business will simply continue to react rather than choose it's own direction. There are many different ways of monitoring. A simple method is to come together once per week and check where each current activity is at. You also get the opportunity to remove obstacles and plan any additional activity. If you work solo, schedule time in your diary each week to track your progress.

    This process of constant review and resetting action steps based on actual progress is the hallmark of having a goal centred management system. A simple goal setting process leaves out this vital step.

    So make the time and set your business up for success. Invest a few hours each week in careful planning and consideration, and see your business reach it's true potential.

    Megan Tough, Director of Action Plus, is passionate about helping people enjoy their businesses. She works internationally with business owners to systematically remove the stress points from their business, giving them more time and space for - well -whatever they want! Visit her at http://www.megantough.com for more information on taking the stress out of your business.


    MORE RESOURCES:

    Protera Technologies Is Now an SAP-Certified Provider of ...
    MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
    Protera has earned this coveted certification after meeting rigorous requirements of their ability to deliver application management services with quality ...
    Wipro Among the First SAP Partners to Adopt Run SAP(R) Methodology MarketWatch
    all 29 news articles


    Washington Post

    Firms Get 2 Days to Apply for Work on Rescue Plan
    Wall Street Journal - 53 minutes ago
    Allianz SE's Pacific Investment Management Co., better known as Pimco, has said it wants to serve as a manager, and other firms, such as Blackrock Inc. and ...
    Paulson Talking to Bernanke, Working on TARP Program (Update4) Bloomberg
    Outside experts hired for huge clean-up Sydney Morning Herald
    For Treasury Dept., Now Comes Hard Part of Bailout New York Times
    Bloomberg - Bloomberg
    all 112 news articles


    Advoco Dedicates a Service Arm to Concentrate on Enterprise Asset ...
    MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
    Advoco is a leading management and consulting services company headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Greenville, SC and London, England. ...
    Advoco Attracts Top Talent with Addition of Marty Osborn and ... MarketWatch
    all 19 news articles


    HRP Announces Changes to its Senior Management Group
    MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
    Ms. Clark remains Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Reit Management & Research LLC (RMR), HRP's manager, and will continue to supervise legal ...
    HRPT Properties elects Lepore as COO CNNMoney.com
    all 13 news articles


    Updated Information Regarding Auction Preferred Securities Market ...
    MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
    BOSTON, Oct 06, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MFS Investment Management(R) (MFS) today announced the availability of information on the results of the weekly ...


    FOXSports.com

    Strong management has Rays heading to ALCS
    FOXSports.com - 1 hour ago
    Shrewd management, however, is the biggest reason the Rays are in baseball's final four, and shame on any low-revenue team that fails to heed their example. ...


    Research and Markets: IT Systems Management: Exploiting the ...
    MarketWatch - 13 hours ago
    The new, more holistic approach to systems management is that of simplification; so that the IT department can manage the technology stack at a higher level ...
    Research and Markets:The Enterprise Content Management (ECM ... MarketWatch
    all 15 news articles


    IFX Forum Launches New Working Group for Card Management & Servicing
    MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
    "Card" is defined as the services related to Issuing, Management and Servicing of Credit, Debit, Prepaid and Private Label cards. ...


    G & S Minerals Announces Management Changes; New Leadership to ...
    International Business Times, NY - 8 hours ago
    "The management changes were both a practical and strategic result of theCompany's agreement with Mayan Gold, Inc.," stated Charles Brown, ViceChairman. ...


    Integrated Asset Management Corp. Announces Purchase of Remaining ...
    MarketWatch - 12 hours ago
    GPM is the real estate asset management division of IAM and has a very successful 26 year history of investing commitments from institutional clients in ...

    Management - Google News

    home | site map
    Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media