Clarifying Goals
The purpose of this section is to explain the basic criteria for setting and writing down goals.
How many of you write a “To Do” list of what you want to accomplish each day? When do you write the to do list (the evening before or at the start of the day)?
What about a written list of what you hope to accomplish over the next few weeks?
How many of you write periodic performance objectives for each job?
You write annual goals on your self-appraisal forms. How much thought do you put into that? How often do you refer to those goals and assess your progress towards meeting them?
How do these things help?
Key points:
• You have probably heard time management experts say “if we don’t know where we’re going, we won’t know when we get there” or other experts say, “you may end up somewhere else.”
• One of the most effective ways to ensure that we meet the goals we set is to put them down in writing.
• Putting goals in writing does three things:
It clarifies precisely what you want
It helps you feel a personal commitment to achieving your goals
It motivates you to take action and provides motivation for that action
• Putting goals in writing also assists others in helping you (e.g., supervisors, counselors, mentors).
A quick way to remember the criteria of a well-written goal is to use the word SMART as an acronym.
• “S” is for Specific.
Be specific about what you want to accomplish.
When goals are stated in vague terms, they give very little direction and it’s difficult to know where to start and how to proceed.
For example, instead of saying, “My goal is to be a better engagement senior,” be more specific by stating, “My goal is to manage the Apex engagement within the budget.”
What examples do you have of goals that are specific?
• “M” is for Measurable.
Goals should be measurable so you can check your progress along the way.
If possible, find a way to quantify your goal, e.g., “I will complete three performance reviews within three weeks of sign off.”
• “A” is for Achievable.
If your goal feels right and makes sense to you, then it’s probably possible.
• “R” is for Realistic.
Your goals should be challenging and make you stretch and grow, but at the same time, they must also represent a reasonable level toward which you are able and willing to work.
For example, instead of setting a goal to “develop a highly functioning team in the aerospace industry,” you might consider a goal that is more realistic such as, “Schedule monthly meetings with aerospace team and increase time spent in the field with individuals by 15%.”
Although your motivation increases as your goals get higher, if the goals are so high that you don’t believe achieving them is realistic, then you probably will never start working toward them.
• “T” is for Timed.
The best way to increase your motivation and commitment to achieving your goals is to assign target dates for accomplishing them.
Break down larger projects into small chunks and set target dates for each of the smaller chunks.
Each step along the way should have a realistic target date that can and should be adjusted as conditions change.
As you reach each target date, you gain an increasing amount of confidence in your ability to achieve your goals.
Reinforce the idea that writing goals is the key to their commitment to reach the goal.
• Write the time management areas you want to improve as a positive phrase that states the end result.
• Following are examples of areas you might select that describe the end result in a positive statement.
I have signs in my workspace to remind me of my new time management habits.
I prioritize my day before I begin working each morning.
Establishing and Managing Your Priorities
The purpose of this section is to distinguish between important vs. urgent priorities
What process or criteria do you use to decide what has priority?
• We do what we like to do, before we do what we don’t like to do.
• We do the easy jobs before we do the difficult jobs.
• We do the quick tasks before we do the tasks that require a lot of time.
• We do things that are scheduled, e.g., meetings, before we do things that are unplanned.
• We respond to the demands of others before we respond to our own priorities.
• We do activities that are politically expedient or those that advance our personal goals.
• We wait until a deadline approaches before we really get moving on projects.
• We respond on the basis of who wants it.
• We respond on the basis of the consequences to us for doing or not doing something.
• We work on things in the order they are due.
• We work on the basis of the “squeaky-wheel” principle (i.e., “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”).
Actually, all activities we perform have some degree of importance and/or urgency.
They generally fall into one of four categories.
Setting Priorities Grid.
• Urgent priorities have short-term consequences.
They must be done now; they won’t wait.
They may be pressing problems or projects that have a definite deadline.
These projects may have been “important but not urgent” before they moved to the “urgent” block of the grid.
They may or may not relate to our goals or make significant contributions, but urgent things are far more demanding than important things.
• Important priorities are those that contribute significantly to our goals; they have high value.
The more direct the contribution, the more important the activity.
Important priorities also tend to have long-term consequences, i.e., they make a difference for a long time.
For our discussion, we will look at the left side of this chart and discuss things that are important and either urgent or not urgent. If you can’t place what you’re doing in one of the important boxes, or things that contribute significantly to your goals, you may want to consider not doing them at all.