Creating Common Goals with Your Team Cultivates Personal and Organizational Success
How to Set Common Goals
In a business, it goes without saying that the vision for the company should dictate goals for its employees. Whether this is in the form of a business plan, mission statement, or value proposition, having aspirational forethought keeps everyone in the organization working for the same outcomes. However, success will not look the same in different departments, given their different functions. This makes it critical for teams and departments to create their own common goals that support the overall mission of the company, but also helps employees explore and grow individually. Here’s how you can set common goals with your team to set each other up for success.
Have a Discussion
The first step to setting common goals is to get everyone together to discuss what their own goals are, both in the personal and professional realms. Everyone needs to be involved. This is a crucial meeting of the minds for any team; by stating what we want out loud we are acknowledging our hopes, committing to pursuing those goals, and giving coworkers an opportunity to support each other. This is also a great time to help those unsure members articulate what it is they hope to accomplish.
Goals may be directly job-related, like increasing sales or improving customer service, or may involve learning a specific skill that can be integrated into the workplace, such as video editing or photography. The doors should be open for all employees to take initiative within their roles and evolve in a way that fits them personally.
Figure Out How It All Fits Together
Once everyone has laid out their own goals, the team can then discuss how to help everyone meet them, and also how everyone’s aspirations can take on a symbiotic relationship. The types of goals may be very different from one another, but they can all exist together.
If one team member is interested in podcasts, and another wants to expand revenue-generating activities, that is a project they can take on together. A podcast for the company can be created with the hope of earning sponsors or paid advertising, and is a great vehicle for establishing the company’s brand.
Be careful not to compare the merits of each goal because you run the risk of creating hurt feelings or accidentally belittling someone’s dreams; this will not result in a productive conversation. For example, making more money and contributing to the greater good do not have to be mutually exclusive. It is not amoral to hope to bring in a larger paycheck as long as it is done honestly. Contributing to the greater good doesn’t have to be a drain on resources and might not be able to be the focus of every project. Both of these objectives can occur together with planning.
Once goals are established and mapped out, it is time to circle back and ensure that they all support the overall vision of the company. This is not as challenging or intimidating as it may sound. If the mission statement is well-laid out, most intentions can be explored and honed to fit fairly easily.
Setting milestones is a great way to keep the team on track both with their own aspirations, as well as with their contributions to the business. It offers each member a road map so they can identify where they are, where they need to be, and how they can get there. These milestones must simultaneously stretch and challenge workers while still being achievable. If the checkpoints are not reasonably attainable, workers will grow frustrated and lose interest in the process. Striking a balance between encouraging growth and promoting achievement is key.
To keep everyone on the same page, hold regularly-scheduled goal tracking meetings. This is a great time for everyone to catch up and analyze how things are going. Some important questions to ask are:
- How is this working?
- How engaged are we as a team?
- Are we meeting goals? If not, why not?
- Do we need to recalibrate?
- Who needs more support?
Setting common goals is important to keep employees focused not just on just results, but also on the process. We can meet the vision for the organization by letting each individual pursue their own goals while simultaneously acting for the good of the company.
We often forget to have this conversation with our employees, because the general mindset is company before self. However, everyone can get to where they want to be together, without compromising the organization’s mission. It’s all about finding ways to make it work through common goals. Our teams will be more engaged if they feel they have the autonomy to explore the boundaries of their roles and pursue company-related projects that excite them.
