How to Write Objectives
1. Identify what it is you want to achieve
Ask yourself what you want to be different afterwards.
·If you are stuck, ask yourself what you spend your time doing.
·Then ask yourself why you do it.
·This will tell you what you are there to achieve.
2. Write it in the positive
Increase sales
Achieve business targets
3. Write down what you need to achieveNOT what you are going to do in order to achieve it.
·Increase sales NOTMake more sales calls
·Increase engineer utilisation NOTreview job planning
·Increase accuracy of data in contract files NOTwork closely with client to ensure correct file information
·Achieve business unit financial target NOTDevelop the team
4. Make it specific
·Increase sales by 15%
·Ensure 100% accurate information in contract files
·Achieve 80% engineer utilisation
5. Identify a measure
How will you know when you have achieved it?
·Increase sales by 15%
Measure: Percentage sales increase
·Achieve 80% engineer utilisation
Measure: Percentage utilisation reports
·Ensure 100% accurate information in contract files
Measure: Contents of files
6. Plan the activity
Identify the steps you need to take to achieve your objective. Work out how long each is likely to take.
7. Identify a deadline or target date and include it in the objective
·Increase sales of invincible range by 15% by 31st August
·Achieve 80% engineer utilisation by 31st December
8. How will you measure your progress?
This could be by the achievement of each step of your plan as well as by other measures.
9. If you can’t measure your objectives, you have probably written what you will be doing in order to achieve the objective. Make sure you write down what you need to achieve.
10. Is your objective relevant to the overall business plan or to your department objectives? If not, delete it or re-write it.
Go back and ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?” Keep asking until you get to what it is you need to achieve.
Objective Setting
If an employee is to be able to perform to the best of his or her ability, the manager should ensure that clear and specific objectives are identified and agreed. There are three over-lapping areas for objectives:
·JOB OBJECTIVES
Targets defining specific tasks to be completed or projects that the employee agrees to achieve. Job objectives would be relevant no matter who was performing the job in question.
·CAREER OBJECTIVES
The setting of projects that will assist the employee's future career development.
·SKILLS-RELATED OBJECTIVES
Areas in which the employee agrees to take specific action to develop his or her skills, for example the goal of becoming proficient to a defined standard in the operation of a new computer system. Such objectives will be specific to each individual.
Having clearly defined objectives will give the employee a sense of direction and be likely to create commitment and enhance motivation.
Here is a list of some dangerous words and phrases:
LIAISE WITH...
DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WITH ...
CONTRIBUTE TO...
REPRESENT...
UPDATE KNOWLEDGE...
READ...
If you have any of these words or phrases in an objective, you probably need to rewrite it. These words lead to woolly objectives that cannot be measured. Be clear about what you want to achieve.
Objectives that are Difficult to Write
X GO ON A PRESENTATION SKILLS COURSE X
Identify what you want to learn and have that as your objective. This makes it more likely that you will learn it effectively. It also makes it easier to measure.
Learn how to plan a presentation by 31st October
·You are able to plan a presentation
·You have planned presentations
·Reduce number of slides in presentation to less than one per minute
·Number of words on each slide is less than 50
______
X MANAGE MY TEAM EFFECTIVELY X
How will you know if you have managed your team effectively?
·Will it involve them achieving their objectives?
·Will it involve improved standards in a particular area?
·What would happen if you did not manage them effectively?
Ensure the members of my team meet their objectives by 31st December. (You may want to detail specific objectives)
Managing the team effectively is part of how you will do it. You may want to add some bullet points identifying how you will do it.
·Coach members of the team at least once per month
·Improve feedback skills
·Hold review meeting every fortnight
Details of the objectives achieved by the team members