In business, a target is a goal that a firm wants to achieve. But objectives don’t simply tell us what we’re aiming for; they also allow us to calculate how far we’ve fallen short and how much work we’ll need to do to make up the difference.

In order to determine whether you are improving, you must set a goal. But how should you go about setting goals? Well, setting big goals is usually a good start, but here are some more suggestions:

Be Specific

The more detailed your objective is, the more everyone involved will understand what you’re attempting to accomplish. “To grow sales by 5% over the next 12 months,” for example, would be a considerably better goal than “To increase sales.” Being as detailed as possible paints a clear image of what you’re striving for and helps you focus on achieving your objectives. Wouldn’t “increase sales as much as possible” be a more appropriate goal? No! That means that maximum sales must be reached at any costs, regardless of the impact on other objectives, such as customer service or quality-related objectives. Setting a precise objective (which must also be reasonable – see my next suggestion) eliminates uncertainty and ensures that everyone understands what they’re aiming for when they arrive at work each morning.

Be Realistic

Setting unreasonable goals is a surefire way to fail. You and anybody who works with or for you are aware of your capabilities and what is and isn’t feasible. Your goals should constantly be pushing and difficult – but not to the point of hopelessness, since this will only demoralise you.

Being realistic entails considering what is and isn’t feasible. You can get ideas from your rivals or industry benchmarks, but always keep in mind your own capabilities. That isn’t to imply that capacity can’t be expanded; in fact, meeting a critical deadline may be a compelling incentive to invest in more employees and equipment, or to improve how things are done. Setting goals that can’t (or are extremely unlikely to) be met with present capacity and without a desire to invest in more capacity will result in failure.

A large part of what makes a successful target-setter is the balancing act necessary here, in order to achieve W. Clement Stone’s ambitious goals while staying realistic!

Support Top-Level Targets With Lower Level Targets

Targets can be outcome-based (e.g., sales/profits) or operational (e.g., maintaining product quality throughout production). You are unlikely to meet your top-level goals if they are not supported throughout the delivery process. Other objectives must be reached across the supply chain, from customer happiness to product quality to employee engagement, in order to establish and meet a tough top-level aim such as growing business profitability. Any system inefficiencies will lower the top-level outcomes, making it more difficult to meet your goal. Setting top-level goals without tracking the attainment of lower-level goals can also lead to dissatisfaction.

Gamify!

Make your objectives enjoyable! In a nutshell, the concept is to draw signals from people’s obsessive behaviour, which is frequently induced by games, particularly video games. Point scoring, extra goals, and a well-structured incentive system are all psychological “hooks” that encourage individuals to participate.

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