THE GOALS

Fifth publication in the Culture Transformation series

“Can you tell me where I should go now?” asked Alice. “That depends entirely on where you want to go,” replied the cat. “Actually, I don't really care,” said Alice. “Then I don't care where you go either,” said the cat. “I just want to get somewhere,” explained Alice. “Oh, if you walk long enough, you're bound to get somewhere,” replied the cat.

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

I often meet managers who plan, work, and implement activities without a goal. They are like Alice in Wonderland, they want to go somewhere just to get somewhere. Wouldn't they feel better knowing that they had achieved, accomplished... a goal?

We often forget to specify our goals, plan our actions, and identify the resources needed to achieve them. Even more often, we deal with goals that are, colloquially speaking, “out of this world.”

Each of us has our own goals, they are different, easier or more difficult to achieve, their implementation takes more or less time, and achieving them requires more or less effort. All of us who are trying to achieve this goal have one thing in common – commitment. Without commitment, working towards a goal will be long, difficult, and extremely costly.

How often have you heard statements such as:

– We need to organize a team-building trip. Everyone has to bond, it has to be cheap and not far from the company, two days.

– We need to increase awareness of our brand as soon as possible. Prepare a proposal for me.

– We need to increase sales by 15% in the next quarter; how you do it is not my concern.

Of course, these are simplifications, but they illustrate everyday life in many companies. We must, we must, and we must again – but why? For what purpose?

What would be the difference if we replaced one of these “we must” with “I want” and one of these sentences with the following dialogue:

I would like to organize a team-building trip.

What is the purpose?

I want to improve team engagement and increase productivity. I would like the trip to take place within the next 3 months, cost a maximum of PLN 25,000, and most importantly, I would like to talk to the participants about what they think and how they assess our plans and future activities, and at the same time organize a training session.

Training? On what?

On presentations – everyone can use that, right?

Maybe we should ask HR and the employees what kind of training would be most useful for them in their work.

Excellent idea. I am waiting for the results and proposal by June 30. I hope you will use your knowledge and experience.

Activities tailored to the target group or the situation in which the organization finds itself are invaluable. Or maybe the market does not have the purchasing power to increase sales by 20%? Maybe a team-building trip is not necessary at all, because the team is very integrated, but there is no support from the management, and it is for them that a meeting should be organized? Maybe brand awareness is so low that long-term measures need to be taken? Why waste so much work? Why waste money on misguided and ineffective measures?

In addition, goals communicated in such an unclear manner can cause a lot of misunderstanding and, worse, lead to dissatisfaction and demotivation within the team.

Without research and adequate knowledge, achieving goals can be a proverbial “pipe dream” and can cost us a lot.

Take, for example, a company whose CEO (owner) set goals that only he thought were right. He gave the sales team six months to achieve them, the budget was frozen, and he treated supporting activities (marketing, PR, content marketing, and social media) as unnecessary, taking up valuable time and only generating costs.

The result: every six months, there was a new boss and sales team, the company's results began to decline dramatically, customers began to look for new solutions, and the newly hired staff began to leave. Finally, I would like to add that the company is (or perhaps was?) Polish, has been on the market for over 20 years, and was once a leader in its industry.

It's a shame for the company and its employees. Without the ability to set and specify goals, we also lose an excellent tool for managing talent, engaging and motivating. I am convinced that there are many employees in your company who want to prove themselves and have the opportunity to develop their skills.

At one point, I was an assistant (I am still grateful for this opportunity today, because I had the chance to work with an excellent professional, a wonderful boss and mentor who introduced me to the world of finance and administration, which is still useful to me today. Thank you, Wouter Dam from Lucent Technologies!) he turned some commands into goals, e.g. I was to develop a concept for implementing business travel accounting within a month. It sounds like a task, a challenge, but in fact it is a goal, set in a very wise and thoughtful way.

Not only could I show off my creativity, learn new things, and integrate more with the management team, but I also felt like an equal member of the team rather than an assistant (a feeling familiar to many women, right?). How much did my level of commitment increase, how motivated did I feel, and how much did my company and my boss gain in my eyes? A lot, a whole lot.

Why?

I was given the opportunity to demonstrate my skills, competencies, creativity, and acquired knowledge.

And what did the company gain?

A committed and satisfied employee and another ambassador for the Lucent Technologies brand (to this day, in fact).

This should be invaluable to any organization. Is it for everyone? I don't think so, which is a shame...

How to approach goals:

1. Set them: clearly and precisely

2. Communicate them: clearly, understandably, and positively

3. Adapt them: to the capabilities of your team members

4. Examine: whether they are achievable

5. Plan: implementation and resources

6. Define: how to measure implementation

And finally – a goal should be a challenge, an inspiration, and a motivation, not a proverbial stick, i.e., it should be SMARTER.

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Timely

• Extending capabilities

• Rewarding