Goal setting that means something

The term ‘annual objectives’ sends shivers down the spines of most partners and senior in-house lawyers. But it doesn’t need to be that way. We can take the annual objectives exercise and use it to inspire and motivate our teams to find greater meaning in life and work.

 Purpose before profits

Businesses are starting to understand the importance of putting purpose first. Purpose helps everyone feel connected to their contributions, beyond financial results. It takes them to a place of higher meaning and impact, of making their highest contribution. Purpose also provides a context in which leaders can make decisions. When the answer is not clear-cut, clarity of purpose allows team members to navigate through the grey in the direction of a ‘true north’.

 As leaders we must take deliberate steps to show our team members how to implement organisational purpose on a day-to-day basis. We achieve this through setting performance objectives that actually mean something.

 Putting meaning into our objectives

Setting objectives is often viewed as a tedious, administrative exercise that sucks up hours of lost productivity. Rather than igniting our passion and commitment to learn and grow, the traditional static annual targets list can reduce team members to dehumanised machines.

Your team members want to connect to meaning in their role, its impact on achieving vision and strategy, and how specific contributions will lead to fulfilment of purpose. If we want them to be self-motivated to exceed expectations, we must shift KPIs from a static ‘to-do list’ of stated annual objectives to a dynamic dashboard that sets out meaningful goals connected to strategy and purpose, tracks progress, and provides recognition and feedback on achievement of adaptable milestones.

That way, team members have greater autonomy and feel more in control of the process of goal achievement. As a natural consequence, they are willing to accept more responsibility and exercise greater initiative and creativity in achieving goals.

There are 3 steps we can take to fulfil this stretch:

1.      Connect them to the ‘why’.

Be clear on how stated goals connect to the overriding team or departmental strategy (‘How does this connect to the bigger picture?’).

2.      Connect them to the pay-off.

Be clear on how the goals connect the team member to their motivations and purpose (‘What’s in it for me?’).

3.      Unleash the learning.

Focus cannot be purely on performance related short-term goals such as targets, financial results, and corporate scorecard. Include learning goals that go to core competencies, changes in capabilities, and sustainable, long-term development.

 These simple steps help you set meaningful goals that connect your team members to the strategic objectives of your organisation. For an exercise in setting strategy, goals, and objectives for your team, visit https://www.kiranscarr.com/downloads.