Last week I shared a simple strategy for achieving your personal goals. Rather than focusing on year long goals, if you break them down to 30 to 60 day bitesize goals it can really help with making progress and actually achieving them.
If it is hard for us as individuals to reach annual goals, what does this mean for our team goals? Many feedback and goal setting processes in organizations are structured around an annual schedule and timeframe. This is a big mistake.
The reason is because annual goals can be easily forgotten or can seem overwhelming or even irrelevant over time. Monthly goals, on the other hand, can feel more realistic, fresh, and attainable.
Simply by the nature of the shorter timeframe, monthly goals can also help those you lead stay much more focused and motivated to achieve them. Perhaps best of all, monthly goals allow you to track and evaluate progress more often and to celebrate more frequently with your team.
So how are the goals structured for those you lead? If they are set for timeframes longer than 30 to 60 days, don’t be surprised if your team struggles to reach them.
If you want to help your team to achieve their goals and reach new heights, then break them down to monthly accomplishments. You’ll be surprised by how performance improves.