Kathleen Finnegan

tips for building stronger goals in 2015

With the holidays right around the corner its almost time to begin goal setting for 2015 and if done well goals lead the way to improved productivity and performance for individuals, departments, teams and companies as a whole. Yet despite widespread use of goals both personally and professionally, most people fall victim to a number of mistakes in how they are executed.

Often times we get caught up in the goals themselves and fail to realize that what we should be doing is setting realistic goals that motivate us to do more. The only way to motivate is through positive reinforcement, and if goals are rarely reached, the potential to deliver positive reinforcement is diminished.

Here are five steps you should take when setting goals for you or your team:

1.Keep it simple. Focus on just one or two things at a time. Trying to accomplish too many things at once prevents you from being able to do any one of them well.

2.Define clear, actionable behaviors. Think about what needs to be done to accomplish the goal. Break down the steps into concise actions you can take.

3.Set mini goals. Break big goals into smaller, more easily achievable ones and you will increase the probability for success. Positive reinforcement accelerates performance and therefore, the more reinforcement opportunities available, the more earned, and the faster and greater the improvement. As the saying goes, success breeds success.

4.Narrow your stretch goals.  Setting to many stretch goals and not reaching them quickly enough will only result in getting discouraged and giving up. Instead narrow down your larger goals and make them obtainable, break them down  using mini goals and track them over time to make sure you are moving forward.

5.Celebrate! Reward and recognize yourself or others every time a milestone or goal is reached. Recognizing even incremental progress toward a goal provides more frequent opportunities for reinforcement. The more reinforcement, the greater the likelihood the desired behavior will be repeated, and the more likely achievement of long-term goals will be made. Making accomplishments visible and sharing them publicly (when appropriate) can also create more reinforcement from peers, groups and management teams who recognize and acknowledge your success.

A quick and easy way to remember the basics of goal setting is to think SMART. Variations of this acronym are floating around business blogs and columns, but here’s our take: think about making goals small, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. Try following these guidelines next time you have a goal to reach and see the difference you experience in getting results.

Thanks for reading and cheers to a productive New Year!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014 at 2:06 pm and is filed under Item of Value, Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.