Goal setting

In business, goal setting—the establishment of personal or professional objectives—can be an individual or organizational activity. Managers often use goal setting as a means of motivating employees. Many MANAGEMENT writers provide guidelines for people or groups attempting to set goals. Selling magazine recommends not setting goals that are easily attained, suggesting that these types of goals do not inspire people. Instead they suggest:
• “Create a big-picture goal”—some long-term important objective.
• “Break it down into basics”—divide the overall goal into smaller more manageable tasks.
• “Be unreasonable”—goals should be appropriate but should also take effort to achieve.
Tom Ritchey, author of I’m Stuck, You’re Stuck: Break Through to Better Work Relationships and Results by Discovering Your DiSC Behavioral Style, suggests that managers need to understand first what drives their own behavior and then what motivates their employees. Ritchey states there are four behavioral styles: dominance, influence, supportiveness, and conscientiousness. For dominance-style employees, people who see problems and attempt to solve them, Ritchey suggests goal setting should include such questions as “What do you think needs to be done?” and “What can you do to help the company?” Dominance-style employees prefer autonomy and need only clearly stated rules and expectations to work effectively. Influence-style employees take more time, as they want to discuss everything that is going on in the company and are more emotional than dominance-style workers. Influence-style employees are likely to be better at goals associated with working with others and generating enthusiasm for the objectives. Supportiveness-style workers prefer to make lists and check off accomplishments; these workers need more guidance in goal-setting. Finally, conscientiousness-style employees tend to be careful and more reserved, needing specific information related to goals and time in order to achieve them. Most people think of goal setting as having a New Year’s resolution. Whether setting personal or business goals, Investor’s Business Daily writer Linda Stockman-Vines suggests reviewing past goal-setting using statements like “I learned (fill in the blank) this past year.” She then suggests asking oneself, “What risks am I running by going along just as I have been?” Experts in HUMAN RESOURCES state that working Americans will have, on average, seven major career changes in their professional life. Without setting goals and striving for them, businesspeople can leave themselves unprepared for change. Stockman-Vines also suggests going through lists of goals and eliminating any “shoulds,” which are obligations, not goals. Like almost every other aspect of business, there are a variety of websites that attempt to provide assistance with goal setting. Business Week writer Francesca Di Meglio reviewed several sites and came away unimpressed, noting, “All these sites have spiritual jive in common, instructing visitors to do things like overcome their fears and move metaphorical mountains. Of course, no Web site can move the mountains for you. This may not be a shock. But it’s still worth saying.”
See also PROBLEM SOLVING.