Sick of the “New Year, New You” advertisements getting blasted at you right now? It seems like everyone has a lot to say about the need for change when a new year comes, but not much about how that change happens. Without a plan, resolutions become little more than nice dreams of what you’d like to do. It’s not as whimsical, but the truth is that really big goals require a series of small actions.
In 2018, we at PRP are setting our goals in action, whether they are long-term ideas about where we are headed or smaller SMART goals to start implementing right away. We’ve put together a list of goal-setting action items to share that will help make your company’s goals (and ours!) a reality.
Forbes stresses the importance of creating strong support networks for each of your goals. A good goal-support system will attribute each goal to the appropriate team of people based on scope and skills, and will further break those goals down to specific responsibilities for each person on that team. You know where the people in your company thrive, so highlight and boost those unique sets of skills!
Mitch Gordon, the CEO of Go Overseas says, “All projects work best with full-team buy-in.” Identifying the areas in which your team wants to grow will help you find the best fit for them in your company’s overarching goals. Their added personal investment means more motivated, careful work.
Goals are the specific end points that you want to achieve; systems are how you get to that point. Entrepreneur James Clear argues that once you’ve stated your goal and created a system or plan to achieve it, you focus solely on the system. By encouraging your team to focus on the process, instead of simply restating the goal, you’re more likely to achieve success and promote confidence in the work.
For the spreadsheet-averse out there, this one sounds like the dull part—but it’s absolutely fundamental to effective goal-setting! Big improvements for your company start with two simple questions: What do you need to do to achieve your goals, and when do you need to have those actions accomplished by? We love the HubSpot Marketing Calendar and Lucidchart for keeping our goals and systems in easy-to-follow and simple- to-update formats.
While this was a pragmatic post about change in the New Year, at PRP we’d like to end on a high note, preferably followed by more than one exclamation point. After the brainstorming, the planning, the diligence—don’t forget to dream! The most innovative businesses carve out time for their team members to ask questions and experiment. Always leave room for the goals you just haven’t thought up yet!
Thanks for sharing!