Goal Setting 2009 Part 1 - for the organization

"Goals without a vision are just a task list." I don’t know to whom I attribute this, but I see its truth. We set goals to take us somewhere greater, and without that strategic plan, we’re just chasing.
 

It’s getting to be that time of year when many groups and individuals within groups are looking ahead to 2009 for goals and objectives. One of the more frustrating exercises for me, back in my corporate management days, was pulling goals and objectives out of thin air and then having to make some more up for my staff. We always said we’d come back to it once we knew a little better what would be funded, what the projects would look like, and then we got to busy and never did. Some years it was taken seriously, most years it was yet more work to do that didin’t contribute to the bottom line. And, the way we did it, it didn’t contribute anything. In the lucky years, I had my manager’s plan to try to fit my team’s plan into. It was kind of like a puzzle. Then, once management had rubber stamped the plans, we put them away in the drawer, and at the end of the next year, in a collective "oh crap" moment, we realized that most of the things we spent time doing on a daily basis in no way matched our written objectives. We then hastily rewrote out objectives and rated our teams and selves accordingly. At that point, performance management (a.k.a raises and bonuses) were based solely on someone else’s opinion of how well we and our groups performed or didn’t. The real bummer was when someone installed Peoplesoft and we couldn’t modify our ill-thought out and mostly fictional goals and objectives.
 

This doesn’t seem like a very intentional or efficient way to run things, now does it?
 

I have had the pleasure of facilitating planning meetings for clients. The advantage of hiring in a third party neutral observer and process police is that we ensure that the whole group gets involved, use creative exercises for innovation, help the group build on ideas, and keep the group on task. The process is efficient and results in well-conceived goals worth achieving. The end results are a single-page strategy, as opposed to the 1" thick binder collecting dust on the shelf, and an action plan for every manager that she or he helped to create and owns. Everyone from the bottom up understands what their role is in the coming year, and any conflicts over roles and responsibilities are resolved in the facilitated sessions. A side benefit is that action plans at the manager level lay the groundwork for performance plans that are naturally aligned with the strategy to be accomplished. As an added bonus, these face to face management meetings did more than set the agenda for the year; they built communities of people who are working to achieve the same vision and goals. It ends up being a mini team build.
 

In a tight economy, organizations have a hard time justifying the expense of face to face collaboration and full time faciliatators for the week. Many have the danger of backsliding into the top down, objectives by email approach. This has the potential to be more expensive in lost focus, opportunity, accountability and productivity.
 

It doesn’t have to be this way. Many facilitators like me have telephone and web-based processes to achieve a similar level of collaboration and commitment. These facilitators can be hired on an hourly bases and using these technologies, travel is all but eliminated. For those of you who’ve never had an integrated vision, mission, strategy, goals, and action plan, this might be a good entry point for you.
 
So, where are you with your strategic plan and goal setting?
 
If you need help, it may be time to call a coach.  Most offer complimentary consultations to assess your needs.  Visit my website for more information:  www.vividepiphany.com.