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Team Goal Setting PDF Print E-mail
"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes. ”
- Andrew Carnegie
A goal is something you strive to attain. With respect to a team, it is the statement(s) that reflect the results and outcomes a team intends to achieve. Team goals also reflect the performance of the team.

An easy way to understand the importance of goal setting and alignment is this simple analogy: Dealing with a lack of goal alignment on a team is like driving an unaligned car. When even one wheel is not coordinated with the others, a very bumpy and “off-balance ” journey lies ahead.

Setting goals has at least three purposes:

  • Enhance team and individual motivation
  • Encourage teams to develop new skills and strategies to improve performance
  • Help focus attention on the tasks the team needs to accomplish

In order for a team to operate effectively, it must have stated goals and objectives. These goals do not provide a simple understanding of the immediate task, but an overall understanding of the role of the group in the total organization, its responsibilities, and the things the team wants to accomplish. In addition, the members of the team must be committed to the goals. Such commitment comes from involving all team members in defining the goals and relating those goals to specific problems that are relevant to these members.

The time spent on goal definition in the initial stages of a team’s life results in less time needed later to resolve problems and misunderstandings.

In study after study, researchers have found that the best teams have clear performance objectives. S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals, objectives and action plans help a cross-functional team stay focused and build commitment among team members. Goals also reduce conflicts among team members and the departments they represent. Goals are the basis for building partnerships with the functional departments.

AdVantage Consulting will help your teams create goals that are SMARTER:

  • Specific straightforward, stretching, systematic, synergistic and significant
  • Measurable meaningful, memorable, motivating and even magical
  • Achievable action plans, accountability and agreed-upon
  • Relevant realistic, reasonable, resonating, results-oriented, rewarding
  • Time-based timely, tangible and thoughtful

Teams must also Evaluate and Revise their goals as needed.

It has been proven, time and time again, that teams that set goals achieve success, while those who don’t, generally achieve very little. Setting goals helps you get clarity about what you want, set priorities, create plans, attain results and win!!!
 
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