Setting clear, transparent goals for your organisation has many business benefits. Goal setting is a critical part of planning for growth. Whatever you want your business growth to look like, setting goals helps you to clearly define and explain your business priorities to employees, leaders and stakeholders. They help teams to understand the bigger picture and the long-term results you are striving to achieve together.
Here at There Be Giants, we live and breathe goal setting. It’s at the heart of what we do. Goals are the O in OKRs – the objectives a team or organisation sets out to bring to life. In this blog, we’re going to share five reasons (there are many more!) why investing in goal setting is a no-brainer for senior leaders, along with some of the key benefits that setting goals brings across the organisation.
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Goals provide focus and bring purpose to our work
People resources are precious and limited. We know we can’t be everything to everyone or do everything at once – at home or in our work. Without clear goals employees can end up floundering, multi-tasking without purpose or focusing on unproductive activities that don’t contribute to where you’re trying to get to.
When leaders set clear goals that outline the direction of the business, employees begin to understand their true purpose at work. They know how their role fits within the wider business strategy and where they need to focus their efforts to make a difference. In short, goals explain ‘why I am here and what’s in it for me’.
This creates the drive needed to deliver work that matters, creating a culture of success and helping your business grow.
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Goals pave the way for efficient decision making
The clarity created from having transparent goals empowers leaders to make swift decisions. If the action will result in making progress towards achieving a goal, then the answer is Yes. If the outcome of a decision does not align with a goal then the answer is No.
Without business goals leaders can become indecisive and take longer to come to a decision, which can be demotivating for their team. Efficient decision making builds respect between leader and team, allows resources to be allocated to activities that make an impact, and motivates and mobilises a team to deliver.
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Goal setting enables cross-functional working
The benefits here are two-fold. The process of setting goals itself can and should be collaborative. Goals created and defined by the team that will deliver them stand a much higher chance of being achieved. This is because the people that input into creating them are more likely to believe in them and feel motivated to achieve them.
Setting goals together supports team-working and promotes collaborative behaviours. It also encourages employees to consider their own role and how they will work with other colleagues and departments to bring them to life. Goals create alignment between different areas of the business. While each business area may have its own goals, it will likely need to seek support from colleagues in other areas to make them happen. Everyone ends up working together for the greater good.
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Goals foster a culture of innovation
By their very nature, goals should be out of reach. There’s no point in setting a goal you know you can easily achieve tomorrow! Goals inspire growth and innovation within teams and across organisations, firstly through encouraging collaborative behaviours, and secondly by pushing employees to go beyond their current reality.
Goals are effectively problems an organisation is striving to solve. Innovative thinking can play a big part in resolving them. Goals should stretch and challenge teams to encourage new ideas and ways of working. They can empower employees to be brave and bold in their actions and take small steps each day towards delivering results.
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Goals motivate success
Goals are like rocket fuel for business growth. Intelligent organisations use them to drive their business forward by creating alignment, transparency and mutual ambition. They do this because teams with a clear understanding of business goals and their role in them are more motivated and determined to achieve positive results and outcomes for their employer. Leaders can lead with confidence knowing that their decisions are the right ones for the business. Everyone in the business aligns their efforts with a view to making their goals a reality and achieving business success.
Investing in business goal setting reinforces a culture of success
Goal setting brings focus and purpose to people’s work. Having clear business goals encourages innovation and collaboration between teams, and provides a framework for managers to make efficient, informed decisions. Goals are also a useful tool for monitoring and measuring team performance and demonstrating overall business success.
Sharing the achievement of business goals builds confidence amongst stakeholders and communicates positive messages to employees about their valued contributions to your shared success. In short, goals bring everyone together and keep everyone on track. All things being well, the goal setting cycle of success begins again so you can achieve the consistent growth every organisation dreams about.
For tailored, friendly support and expert guidance on setting impactful goals and objectives within OKR development, book a call with one of our Giants here.