Every business must have goals. Your business objectives and goals that you will strive to accomplish in order to generate a framework for success. Whether it is sales targets, company growth, or a number of employees, hitting these goals enables you to determine how well – or poorly – you are doing. Then, use your performance to inform your business plan goals and objectives strategy going forward.
The planning and execution of any project will completely depend on the objectives you have set for it. If you’ve set the mark too high, you risk falling short of your goals. Whereas targets that are too easy will fail to motivate your team to exceed expectations. Your objectives need to strike the right balance between being ambitious and realistic.
To help you steer your business in the right direction, here are four tips for defining your business objectives and targets.
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Set SMART Business Goals and Objectives
It’s not enough to merely set objectives. They need to be the right ones. Goals that are too vague, such as “improve sales figures” will not provide any clear direction or guidance. Whereas targets that are far too ambitious will inevitably lead to failure and demotivate your team.
The best way to proceed, therefore, is by setting SMART goals. These are objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-sensitive.
An example of this might be to boost sales figures by 50% by the end of this financial year. This will make you more likely to achieve your goals, as they are clear and you have a way of measuring your progress towards achieving them.
However, be sure to write them down or print them out if you type them. You need to see these objectives and goals daily.
You will know at the end of the year whether or not you have succeeded, and by how much.
Create a Strategy To Reach Your Targets
Once you have formulated your business objectives and goals, you need to work out exactly how you will achieve them. This is your strategy. What steps do you need to take in order to get where you want to be one year from now? Start with small steps that you can achieve. If you make the steps too large you will quickly get overwhelmed.
Perhaps it will involve creating a marketing campaign, hiring new staff for the job, or boosting your social media engagement. This plan will inform every major decision you make and will keep you focused and motivated going forward.
Brainstorm Your Plans
One of the best ways to come up with a business plan is to have a brainstorm with your team. Bring everyone together and bounce ideas off each other about potential targets and opportunities for improvement and growth.
A strategic planning workshop, such as this one organized by Incito Consulting, is a fantastic method for aligning your team and devising an action plan for the future.
Use some of these ideas to help you brainstorm to meet your business objectives and goals:
- Use word associations
- Try using prompts for more words
- Take away boundaries
- Use different prompts
- Set time limits
Reflect on Your Business Objectives and Goals
At the end of the year, when you have reached the timeframe set by your objectives, the most important thing you can do is to reflect. You can break it down into quarters as well. Sometimes, it is easier to look at a 3-month period vs. a full year.
Look back on your performance over the last year or 3 months and analyze how effective your strategy has been.
Ask yourself what went well and where you could have improved. Make sure you use this information going forward to ensure that you learn from your mistakes and guarantee you hit your targets next quarter or next year.
Your Turn
How often do you go over your own business objectives and goals? I look at mine almost monthly as business conditions are changing rapidly today more than ever before. This helps with your business plan goals and objectives going forward as you look back.
I’d love to hear about yours in the comments below.