Writing Performance Goals--A special type of writing

This Learning Links issue is about a special kind of writing: Writing performance goals for yourself and for your team members. Most of us fail to obtain performance results from our associates because we have never made clear to them what we expect. The best way to do this is through well-written performance goals which follow the SMART principle. Goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented, and Time-oriented. In other words, goals need to spell out what the person is to do in measurable terms by what date. If these conditions are met, at least it is clear whether not the employee achieved the goal and that should make the discussion about performance a lot simpler--and a lot more objective.
Goals need to be specificGoals such as "To improve communication with the team" are too vague to even consider. The question to ask is what is it that you want to do? If the goal is to provide a method of communication among team members, then spell that out and spell out exactly when it is to happen. For example, "To install an intranet web page for use by the team by February 1" is a much better goal.
Goals need to be measurableMeasures should be quantitative (To develop 10 new pre-qualified prospects by the end of each month) so that both manager and employee are clear as to whether or not the target was met. Of course if conditions change along the way, perhaps the measurement needs to change as well--but at least you have a starting point as to how to measure progress.
Goals need to be attainableWe can write many goals for ourselves and for our employees, but if they are not attainable or realistic, they are of little value in performance management. This is not to say that we should not have "stretch" goals. We should always be attempting to set goals that are beyond our reach. But goals such as "Relocate the parts department to the Broad Street location by Christmas" may not be attainable, for example, if it is affected by construction delays or other likely interruptions. Also, sometimes we make goals that would be difficult under any circumstances. Better to have a stretch goal and meet it than a nearly impossible goal and fail to achieve it. (One of my favorite definitions of a stretch goal came from Dana Mead, former CEO of Tenneco who defined a stretch goal as one you set having no idea at the time how you could possibly attain it. His theory, of course, is that reaching high greatly improves our chance for major improvements.)
Goals need to be results orientedIt doesn't make sense to have goals without a specific business outcome. So the goals we set need to be geared toward improving the bottom line, sales figures, customer satisfaction or the like. Many times we set goals which seem to be useful, but don't have an impact on business results. When that happens, it is a nice exercise but not very useful as a performance tool.
Goals need to be time orientedOne of the biggest failures many managers make in goal setting is failing to put a deadline by which the goal is to be met. A goal is not complete until it has a time measurement associated with it. Even if the time constraints are difficult to nail down, you should still associate a deadline with the goal, noting that it might be subject to change dependent on other conditions.
Here are a couple of simple goals which meet our criteria:

• To complete the migration to XYZ software for the sales division by December 15, 2009.
• To develop a performance management template for the human-resources department and obtain management approval by July 1.
• To schedule and complete a presentation skills course satisfactorily by August 1.

Notice all these are specific, measurable, and are results and time oriented. If we follow this formula, not only will performance likely improve, employees will feel that the system is fair and they will be willing to commit to the goals proposed.
Two other ideas:
1) As you begin drafting goals for yourself, a good place to start is the performance agreement of your own manager. What are his/her goals? How does your work fit into achieving them? If you're not sure, it is a good time to initiate a dialogue to clear this up. If your goals don't seem to be related to those of your manager, there's a serious absence of alignment which can result in a lot of lost motion.
2) Allow your associates to draft their own goals. Give them a copy of this Learning Links and suggest they draft their own goals. Research shows that when you allow an employee to draft his or her own goals, they typically make them more demanding than you would had you written them yourself! What a great position to be in!
In summary, writing goals for the organization or for your team is a valuable exercise--although frequently it does not get the attention it deserves. As a manager, you must ask yourself if an individual's performance is not up to standards, have you made your expectations clear in writing? The best way to answer that question is to write really effective goals and get agreement to their execution.
What to do this week
Have a discussion with your manager about his or her goals for the next time period, then draft goals that support your manager's goals. Next, share your draft with your manager, get approval, then share with those who report to you to help them draft their own goals. Use the measurement criteria above to make sure they are all conforming to the SMART formula.
What do you think?