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 Tracking Your Business Goals
A
Measure of Success
By
Sheri Taber
Small to mid-sized business
owners can achieve excellence and make 2009 their
lifetime best by overcoming the never-ending challenge
of annual goal setting, alignment of goal-related
activity, accountability, and regularly measuring
outcomes. Critical to corporate success is measuring
quarterly progress toward annual goals. We have found
that businesses that measure their progress and make
appropriate and timely course corrections where needed,
enjoy the greatest levels of sustainable success. As we
approach the end of first quarter 2009, successful
business owners are preparing to measure their
business’s progress toward Q1 goals.
You have heard the statement
that “What gets measured, gets done.” Leaders fail to
measure progress toward the goal because they don’t know
what or how to measure. A brief explanation of goal
development will provide a greater understanding of how
and what to measure, as well as help you position your
company to achieve its vision, its goals, and
competitive advantage.
Many business owners
struggle with goal development because they don’t know
where to start. Simply put, goal development always
begins with the end in mind. It should be driven,
ideally, by the business’s exit strategy. Three to five
year goals are then developed in alignment with the exit
strategy. Businesses experiencing the greatest success
project their three to five year business goals every
year. Goal development for the current year is then
driven by these three to five year goals.
Effective goal development
begins with identifying the gap that exists between
where your company is today and where it needs to be in
one year. After analyzing the gap, goals are
development that, when executed effectively and in a
timely manner, close that gap. With an understanding of
what is required to close the gap, the development of
quarterly objectives is possible. Quarterly objectives
provide the timing, structure, and guidance needed to
identify the most effective action steps for each
department, team, and person for the upcoming quarter.
Quarterly objectives consist
of several objectives that, when accomplished, move your
business in a timely manner toward goal achievement.
Developing quarterly objectives involves identification
of vital objectives that must be accomplished in a
specific quarter in order to successfully achieve the
business’ annual goals. Working backward from the
fourth quarter often provides the greatest perspective.
Using SMARTER goal-setting criteria, objectives must be
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time
Specific, Effective, and Recorded. The business leader
will also want to identify the targeted completion date
and how success will be measured for each objective.
With quarterly objectives
developed and recorded, and executable activities
aligned and executed by the appropriate people, the
means by which to measure your success now exists.
Our clients experience the
greatest success when they take a corporate pulse every
thirty days. A look in the rearview mirror at the
previous month will help determine if the business is
progressing satisfactorily through each quarterly
trimester. With these short-term reviews in place, it
is easy to make adjustments and stay on course. At the
end of each quarter, evaluating activity and results
against your objectives will provide all the information
needed to determine if the business is on track to
achieve the annual goals.
Communicating the corporate
vision, mission, goals, and strategy to your people is
the key to developing an effective execution culture.
Accountability will support greater dedication,
organizational engagement, and goal achievement.
Holding weekly meetings by department or team will
increase communication and understanding of the
importance of execution and how individual activity
contributes to the success of the company.
Accountability will expose red flags before it is too
late to navigate timely course correction. It will also
help employees better understand the corporate vision
while instilling loyalty, connection, and the desire to
reach the organization’s goals.
The Principle of Measures
requires that goals be identified, strategy developed,
and objectives recorded (against which performance can
be measured). The Principle of Measures requires
pro-action. The Principle of Measures delivers the
information that empowers the business leader to achieve
excellence and successive years of lifetime bests!
The Principle of Measures is
an excerpt from The Peak Performance Group’s “Principles
of Success Coaching Program” and their Business Planning
Clinics. For more information contact us at
813.654.3009.
Click
here to read more Strategic Planning articles.
Sheri’ Taber is the
founder and CEO of The Peak Performance Group, a
global management consulting and executive development
firm. Through our incomparable experience and
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, The Peak Performance Group provides
a broad range of cutting edge services in strategy
development and execution, operations, organization and
change initiatives that transcend traditional consulting
and professional service organizations. We collaborate
with our clients to help them achieve breakthrough
performance and competitive advantage at every level of
the organization.
The Peak Performance Group
has been supporting clients in unparalleled success for
more than 25 years. As your innovative partner in
success, we take you from where you are today, to where
you want to be!”
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