Goal setting at work

Ask a team what's expected of them this quarter and you'll often get a shrug. Not because people don't care, but because nobody wrote it down. Goal setting at work fixes that. It gives each person a clear picture of what they're working towards and how it connects to the team.

This guide is for managers and owners of small and growing teams. It doesn't need a performance management system. It needs a few good habits.

Start with the team's goals

Before anyone sets individual goals, write down two or three goals for the team this quarter. Make them SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. "Cut callback jobs to under 5% by June" is a team goal. "Improve quality" isn't.

Share them with everyone. Individual goals should connect to at least one of them.

Let people write their own goals

Goals people write themselves get done more often than goals handed to them. Ask each person to draft two or three goals for the quarter, then talk them through together.

Your job in that conversation is to check three things:

• Does it connect to a team goal or one of your organisation's values?
• Is it clear what done looks like?
• Is it the right size? Not too easy, not impossible.

Agree on the final version and write it down where you can both see it.

Use stretch goals carefully

A stretch goal is deliberately ambitious. Hitting 70% of it might be a great result. Stretch goals can lift a team, but they come with rules:

• Not everything. One stretch goal per person at most. The rest should be achievable.
• Say it's a stretch. If people don't know it's meant to be hard, missing it feels like failure.
• Let people choose. A stretch goal someone picks motivates. One imposed on them often does the opposite.
• Be willing to adjust. If circumstances change, change the goal.

Know your people

Good goals play to strengths and build on weaknesses. Someone great with customers but nervous about numbers might own a customer goal and a small learning goal on reporting. Ask people what they want to get better at. The answer often makes the best development goal.

Check in often, briefly

Annual reviews are too far apart to help anyone reach a goal. A short weekly check-in, three or four questions, keeps goals in view and surfaces problems while they're small. Fortnightly or monthly one-on-ones give you time to talk properly.

Ask people to update their goals as they go: tick off tasks, change dates when plans change. A goal list that's months out of date tells you nothing.

See Twelve check-in questions that get real answers and A one-on-one agenda that works.

Small teams have their own challenges

In a team of five to fifty, roles overlap, feedback is often informal, and there's rarely an HR department. That's fine. Keep the system light:

• Few goals. Two or three per person per quarter.
• One rhythm. A weekly check-in and regular one-on-ones. Nothing else until those run smoothly.
• Honest feedback. Informal is good. Vague isn't. Say what went well and what to change, specifically.

Recognise progress

Notice when people finish things. A quick "well done" on a finished goal, a mention in a team meeting, or a line in a check-in reply. Recognition costs nothing and is one of the strongest reasons people keep going.

Also watch for people who are struggling. Missed tasks, quiet weeks or low check-in scores are signals to ask how they're going, not to judge.

Invest in growth

Include at least one development goal per person each year: a course, a new skill, a bigger responsibility. People stay where they're growing.

In Lifetick

A team account gives each person their own goals, linked to your organisation's core values if you like. Managers see the goals people share with them, send weekly check-ins, run one-on-ones and see the team's progress on the Today page and the Outcomes report. People can keep personal goals private from their manager.

See Personal, team and school accounts, Set your core values, The team Outcomes report and Keep a goal private. To roll it out, read Rolling out a weekly rhythm.