Your team has ambitious projects they want to achieve. Projects that spend too much time (coughing, at least six months) on to-do lists. You want to improve the training process for new employees, rewrite the role of the company’s buyer, or eventually redesign your old blog。
How are you doing to achieve all the long-established goals of the team? Not good. Okay, we understand。
It's because it's easy to imagine what you want to do. When you really need some progress or a team, real hard work begins。
Well, your ambition is where the goal-setting theory works. Let us get to work and learn more so that you can turn your ambitions into reality。
What's the target set theory
If you think it's particularly fancy, then the official name is the motivation theory for targeting. It was originally outlined and published in 1968 by dr. Edwin a. Locke, an american psychologist。
In its simplest words, the doctrine states that clear, clear and measurable goals are better performance than vague ones。
For example, setting a goal for your team, such as “winning the corporate table decoration competition”, is more motivational than the intangible goal of “building a better team reputation”。
Locke and a psychologist's colleague have outlined five different principles to help you find effective and stimulating goals. So, don't rush the decorations. We will elaborate on those principles later。
Clearly defined and measurable goals improve performance more than vague goals。
Worth the effort: the advantage of targeting
Many are caught in a trap and view the targeting process as a form. After all, if you already have a general idea of what you want to achieve, isn't it better to start immediately
Not at all. Take some time to consider your objectives carefully and tick out some elements so that you can prepare for success in several different ways。
Get a clear direction
Imagine you're going on a road trip somewhere. If you don't have a map, gps, or you don't know how to get to your destination, will you leave
Probably not, because you're wasting a lot of time wandering around without a destination, and you're going through a lot of frustration。
The same is true of target settings. Think carefully about the details of the finish line you are trying to cross, which can provide you with a clear direction, allow you to make decisions, prioritize tasks and manage your efforts and energy in a way that is consistent with the end。
In addition, by investing enough time and ideas in setting goals at the outset, you can focus on your goals as you move forward without being troubled by related matters and other pressing responsibilities。
One of the principles of locke's goal-setting theory is clarity, which means you need to specify what you want to achieve。
It's not "more focus on team health," and maybe you should set a target that allows the team to record more than a million steps on the gym tracker that month. This way you can measure your goals, which will help you better monitor your progress and get yourself on track。
If, after half a month, you find yourself only a quarter complete, this is a very clear sign that you need to strengthen your efforts and arrange some team-wide walks。
Enjoy the joy of success
Is there anything more comforting when you know you've done something that really matters to you? It's hard to feel like this if you're not ready to do it for yourself at first。
There are also scientific grounds for doing so. When we achieve our goal, our brain releases dopamine, which is a "good feeling" neurotransmitters。
This does not happen until you have formally removed the target from the list. The principle of progress explains that even small steps or small victories can be both dynamic and meaningful throughout the process。
Locke and latham 's five targeting principles
Now that you are convinced of these benefits, let's go into the details of the targeting theory。
In 1990, locke published a book entitled a theory of goal setting and task performance (theory of targeting and mission performance), in collaboration with dr. Gary latham, a psychologist, many years after the original paper was published。
This book supports locke's initial discoveries about clear and clear target forces, and latham has been studying them for himself. It also took a step forward, outlining five principles for successful targeting。
As we said before, we repeat here: you need to define your goals。
Maybe you heard about the smart target frame. Clarity means determining the first two letters of smart acronyms: specific and measurable。
Let's take an example. Perhaps you can lead the company’s customer support team and plan to start improving your customer service. So what? Specifically, for example, “the response time for customer service requests is reduced to 24 hours or less”。
For the goal to be truly stimulating, it must be difficult, but not entirely impossible. When setting targets, make sure that you at least relax a little, but not prepare for failure。
For example, if you look at the available client service views and find that your average response waiting time is only 25 hours, you might want to try harder and change the target to 20 hours。
Besides, who said it had to wait till the end? For each major step forward, it is important to reward themselves and the team for maintaining the momentum. (scientific says it should be done
It can be reduced to 22 hours and bring the team to the party. Wait till you really cut the waiting time to 20 hours? If the budget allows, some bonuses are paid。
If you want a reward, you're bound. In other words, if you want to celebrate the achievement of your goals, you must strive to achieve them。
How about that? Well, the reward we're talking about will definitely help you and your team keep up. The fragmentation of projects into smaller parts may be useful for larger goals where the finish line and incentives seem remote. In this way, your victory will be more direct and more frequent in feeling pride in your work. This helps you and your team to enhance and sustain this professionalism。
It also helps your team to set targets from the start. Access to their insights and opinions will not only help you to set more targeted and useful goals, but also enhance their motivation and commitment to achieve them。
What do they think is the reasonable response time? Do they think there are other ways to improve your client service
We have all seen projects with changing objectives. There was little silence about the shift in priorities, but that did not mean that constructive feedback was inevitable。
So make plans. In order to achieve the overall team objective, regular sign-off meetings (whether group or one-on-one) are arranged to provide feedback and praise to team members。
Set the time (perhaps when you sum up the smaller milestones you set) for your personal goals, and personally examine and evaluate your performance. This period was used to determine how more meaningful progress could be achieved。
Remember what we said about getting ready for success? Create a target that will help you break the limit, but it can still be achieved. Here's more: don't mess up the situation。
Keep it simple. Select a core issue to try to address, for example, by reducing the waiting time of clients, rather than allowing teams to raise corporate evaluations to five stars while trying to obtain higher client feedback scores。
When doing this, please check your time line. Are they realistic? Do you and your team have the skills and resources to achieve their goals? If not, it might be time to introduce reinforcements, whether for recruitment, outsourcing of tasks, education and career development。
Moving from “to-do” to “complete”
The goal you want to achieve will always beat in your brain. But what you have to do is not just envisage them, but also achieve them。
This is why the motivation theory of targeting exists. It requires you to carefully consider your objectives using five key elements:
In trying to solve these problems, you will set an inspiring rather than frustrating goal. What's the best news? Soon, you will turn that goal into reality. Your move
