![\"dealing](\"https:\/\/futuramo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/laptop-1205256_640.jpg\")
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Here, we\u2019ll describe some of the common reasons companies fail to achieve their goals, and how effective goals management can be used to solve each.<\/p>\n
1. There\u2019s no way to align employee contributions with company goals<\/strong><\/h3>\nYour company goals will always stem from your strategy, so it\u2019s important that teams are directly aligned with their organizational strategy. But just how many employees can even identify their company strategy? According to a Forbes report<\/a>, only a mere 29% of employees truly get it. Harvard Business Review<\/a> research is even more alarming. They suggest that 95% of employees are unaware of, or do not understand, their company strategy.<\/p>\nIf the majority of your teams don\u2019t understand your strategy, how can you expect them to know what\u2019s most important to the company?<\/p>\n
![\"achieving](\"https:\/\/futuramo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/work-management-907669_640.jpg\")
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Having a goals management framework in a place like OKRs helps to ensure that top-company priorities are not only identified but communicated throughout every level of the organization. Then, each team, department, and individual contributor can build their own Objectives to support those company priorities. As a result, employees\u2019 efforts at all levels will always be directly aligned with the company goals, and ultimately, your overarching strategy.<\/p>\n
2. Employees may understand goals, but not how<\/em> to achieve them<\/strong><\/h3>\nHere\u2019s another problem many organizations face. At the beginning of each quarter, managers and their teams collaborate to determine goals for each employee. Thus, the employee knows precisely what\u2019s expected of them. The problem lies in the fact that they don\u2019t know how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
This is where SMART goals come in. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. When you follow this formula for setting goals, you\u2019ll naturally enforce specificity. Which makes it easier for employees to identify where they should focus their efforts to effectively achieve outcomes.<\/p>\n
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Additionally, organizations are increasingly using OKRs to inform the \u201chow\u201d behind goals. This approach is effective because while the Objective explains what must be achieved, the Key Result, a measurable, smaller step, informs the \u201chow.\u201d In other words, an OKR would state:<\/p>\n
I will accomplish (Objective) as measured by (Key Results 1, 2, and 3).<\/em><\/p>\nBy breaking larger goals up into clear, measurable steps, you\u2019ll give employees the ability to clearly identify not just the Objective itself, but also how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
3. Employees & managers lack follow-through<\/strong><\/h3>\nSetting clear, measurable goals is only the foundation for achieving results. In order to truly drive performance, you must ensure managers are holding teams accountable for their goals on a weekly basis. Otherwise, teams will become sidetracked with tasks and won’t achieve real results. By the end of the quarter, the goals you set three months ago will be nowhere near completion.<\/p>\n
Following through with goal progress is ultimately a responsibility of your managers. Each week, they should be holding brief one-on-one check-ins with their direct reports to discuss progress. Managers should ask what\u2019s been completed in terms of goal progress since the previous week. Whether there are any impending obstacles that teams need assistance with. And whether there\u2019s anything else they can provide to help their direct reports achieve their goals on time.<\/p>\n
![\"setting](\"https:\/\/futuramo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/target-1506073_640.jpg\")
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The power of using this method to regularly review goals is evident.\u00a0Bersin by Deloitte<\/a> research confirms that companies in which employees regularly review their goals are 3.5x more likely to score in the top 25% of business outcomes.<\/p>\nThus, managers should be ensuring progress is being made every single week on each employee\u2019s goals, which brings us to our next point.<\/p>\n
4. There\u2019s no way for managers to track progress<\/strong><\/h3>\nSimply verifying that goal progress is being made isn\u2019t enough. For follow-through to truly become effective, managers must be able to quantify progress. Again, this is where having clear, measurable goals becomes useful.<\/p>\n
With quarterly OKRs, for instance, teams can be expected to complete 10% of their Objectives for each week. This even leaves a 2-3 week grace period at the beginning of every quarter for teams to get accustomed to their goals. Plus, since everyone has clear, measurable goals in place, managers will know how to quantify what 10% of any given Objective looks like. Or, for added convenience, they can even use a tool like OKR software to help track goal progress throughout the quarter.<\/p>\n
![\"planning](\"https:\/\/futuramo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/laptop-2418651_640.jpg\")
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Once managers are actively keeping track of progress, they can proactively step with some extra guidance if any goals become at-risk. Regularly tracking progress is the powerful secret behind not just setting, but actually achieving, your company goals.<\/p>\n
5. Managers don\u2019t achieve clarity or reinforce expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\nMost companies use a quarterly cycle for goals. There\u2019s a lot that can happen over the course of three months, however. It\u2019s therefore critical that managers are meeting with their teams regularly to reinforce expectations and achieve clarity if any goals need to be tweaked or put on hold.<\/p>\n
If the majority of your teams don\u2019t understand your strategy, how can you expect them to know what\u2019s most important to the company?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Having a goals management framework in a place like OKRs helps to ensure that top-company priorities are not only identified but communicated throughout every level of the organization. Then, each team, department, and individual contributor can build their own Objectives to support those company priorities. As a result, employees\u2019 efforts at all levels will always be directly aligned with the company goals, and ultimately, your overarching strategy.<\/p>\n
2. Employees may understand goals, but not how<\/em> to achieve them<\/strong><\/h3>\nHere\u2019s another problem many organizations face. At the beginning of each quarter, managers and their teams collaborate to determine goals for each employee. Thus, the employee knows precisely what\u2019s expected of them. The problem lies in the fact that they don\u2019t know how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
This is where SMART goals come in. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. When you follow this formula for setting goals, you\u2019ll naturally enforce specificity. Which makes it easier for employees to identify where they should focus their efforts to effectively achieve outcomes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Additionally, organizations are increasingly using OKRs to inform the \u201chow\u201d behind goals. This approach is effective because while the Objective explains what must be achieved, the Key Result, a measurable, smaller step, informs the \u201chow.\u201d In other words, an OKR would state:<\/p>\n
I will accomplish (Objective) as measured by (Key Results 1, 2, and 3).<\/em><\/p>\nBy breaking larger goals up into clear, measurable steps, you\u2019ll give employees the ability to clearly identify not just the Objective itself, but also how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
3. Employees & managers lack follow-through<\/strong><\/h3>\nSetting clear, measurable goals is only the foundation for achieving results. In order to truly drive performance, you must ensure managers are holding teams accountable for their goals on a weekly basis. Otherwise, teams will become sidetracked with tasks and won’t achieve real results. By the end of the quarter, the goals you set three months ago will be nowhere near completion.<\/p>\n
Following through with goal progress is ultimately a responsibility of your managers. Each week, they should be holding brief one-on-one check-ins with their direct reports to discuss progress. Managers should ask what\u2019s been completed in terms of goal progress since the previous week. Whether there are any impending obstacles that teams need assistance with. And whether there\u2019s anything else they can provide to help their direct reports achieve their goals on time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The power of using this method to regularly review goals is evident.\u00a0Bersin by Deloitte<\/a> research confirms that companies in which employees regularly review their goals are 3.5x more likely to score in the top 25% of business outcomes.<\/p>\nThus, managers should be ensuring progress is being made every single week on each employee\u2019s goals, which brings us to our next point.<\/p>\n
4. There\u2019s no way for managers to track progress<\/strong><\/h3>\nSimply verifying that goal progress is being made isn\u2019t enough. For follow-through to truly become effective, managers must be able to quantify progress. Again, this is where having clear, measurable goals becomes useful.<\/p>\n
With quarterly OKRs, for instance, teams can be expected to complete 10% of their Objectives for each week. This even leaves a 2-3 week grace period at the beginning of every quarter for teams to get accustomed to their goals. Plus, since everyone has clear, measurable goals in place, managers will know how to quantify what 10% of any given Objective looks like. Or, for added convenience, they can even use a tool like OKR software to help track goal progress throughout the quarter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once managers are actively keeping track of progress, they can proactively step with some extra guidance if any goals become at-risk. Regularly tracking progress is the powerful secret behind not just setting, but actually achieving, your company goals.<\/p>\n
5. Managers don\u2019t achieve clarity or reinforce expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\nMost companies use a quarterly cycle for goals. There\u2019s a lot that can happen over the course of three months, however. It\u2019s therefore critical that managers are meeting with their teams regularly to reinforce expectations and achieve clarity if any goals need to be tweaked or put on hold.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nBy breaking larger goals up into clear, measurable steps, you\u2019ll give employees the ability to clearly identify not just the Objective itself, but also how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
3. Employees & managers lack follow-through<\/strong><\/h3>\nSetting clear, measurable goals is only the foundation for achieving results. In order to truly drive performance, you must ensure managers are holding teams accountable for their goals on a weekly basis. Otherwise, teams will become sidetracked with tasks and won’t achieve real results. By the end of the quarter, the goals you set three months ago will be nowhere near completion.<\/p>\n
Following through with goal progress is ultimately a responsibility of your managers. Each week, they should be holding brief one-on-one check-ins with their direct reports to discuss progress. Managers should ask what\u2019s been completed in terms of goal progress since the previous week. Whether there are any impending obstacles that teams need assistance with. And whether there\u2019s anything else they can provide to help their direct reports achieve their goals on time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The power of using this method to regularly review goals is evident.\u00a0Bersin by Deloitte<\/a> research confirms that companies in which employees regularly review their goals are 3.5x more likely to score in the top 25% of business outcomes.<\/p>\nThus, managers should be ensuring progress is being made every single week on each employee\u2019s goals, which brings us to our next point.<\/p>\n
4. There\u2019s no way for managers to track progress<\/strong><\/h3>\nSimply verifying that goal progress is being made isn\u2019t enough. For follow-through to truly become effective, managers must be able to quantify progress. Again, this is where having clear, measurable goals becomes useful.<\/p>\n
With quarterly OKRs, for instance, teams can be expected to complete 10% of their Objectives for each week. This even leaves a 2-3 week grace period at the beginning of every quarter for teams to get accustomed to their goals. Plus, since everyone has clear, measurable goals in place, managers will know how to quantify what 10% of any given Objective looks like. Or, for added convenience, they can even use a tool like OKR software to help track goal progress throughout the quarter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once managers are actively keeping track of progress, they can proactively step with some extra guidance if any goals become at-risk. Regularly tracking progress is the powerful secret behind not just setting, but actually achieving, your company goals.<\/p>\n
5. Managers don\u2019t achieve clarity or reinforce expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\nMost companies use a quarterly cycle for goals. There\u2019s a lot that can happen over the course of three months, however. It\u2019s therefore critical that managers are meeting with their teams regularly to reinforce expectations and achieve clarity if any goals need to be tweaked or put on hold.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nThus, managers should be ensuring progress is being made every single week on each employee\u2019s goals, which brings us to our next point.<\/p>\n
4. There\u2019s no way for managers to track progress<\/strong><\/h3>\nSimply verifying that goal progress is being made isn\u2019t enough. For follow-through to truly become effective, managers must be able to quantify progress. Again, this is where having clear, measurable goals becomes useful.<\/p>\n
With quarterly OKRs, for instance, teams can be expected to complete 10% of their Objectives for each week. This even leaves a 2-3 week grace period at the beginning of every quarter for teams to get accustomed to their goals. Plus, since everyone has clear, measurable goals in place, managers will know how to quantify what 10% of any given Objective looks like. Or, for added convenience, they can even use a tool like OKR software to help track goal progress throughout the quarter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once managers are actively keeping track of progress, they can proactively step with some extra guidance if any goals become at-risk. Regularly tracking progress is the powerful secret behind not just setting, but actually achieving, your company goals.<\/p>\n
5. Managers don\u2019t achieve clarity or reinforce expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\nMost companies use a quarterly cycle for goals. There\u2019s a lot that can happen over the course of three months, however. It\u2019s therefore critical that managers are meeting with their teams regularly to reinforce expectations and achieve clarity if any goals need to be tweaked or put on hold.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nMost companies use a quarterly cycle for goals. There\u2019s a lot that can happen over the course of three months, however. It\u2019s therefore critical that managers are meeting with their teams regularly to reinforce expectations and achieve clarity if any goals need to be tweaked or put on hold.<\/p>\n
![\"staying](\"https:\/\/futuramo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/cup-2884023_640.jpg\")
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