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 Category: Help

 Title: Goal Statement

 bulb  Summary: The chapter in "Make It Happen!" that discusses the second step in creating a goal: Goal Statement

 Product: GoalTrak™ EV, GoalTrak™ CV, GoalTrak™ PV  Version: All


 Description:

GoalTrak EV - Goal Statement


After you have exhausted your imagination, and are comfortable with the random, but meaningful information you wrote in the crystallization process, it is time to structure a goal statement that will meet these five criteria:
  • SPECIFIC - Who? What? Where? When?
  • MEASURABLE - How much? How many?
  • TANGIBLE - What can you taste, touch, smell, see, or hear? What is real or organic, not just in your mind.
  • REALISTIC - Is it within the realm of possibility to achieve? Do you believe that you can accomplish this goal? Is it humanly possible?
  • CONTROLLABLE - Do you have authority/control to complete this goal? Can you do it without totally depending on others to accomplish it? Can you make it happen in the real world?
Review the information you wrote in the Crystallization section and begin thinking about it in a more structured way, with the above questions in mind. Your action in this Step is to create a paragraph of a few sentences or phrases, or a series of specific bullet points which will embody the important aspects of your goal. Here is where you establish the boundaries of your goal including the deadline for its accomplishment. Enter this structured series of thoughts into the Goal Statement text field. It make take a few revisions to shape the goal to meet the 5 criteria. Rewrites are a normal part of the process.

To have the greatest motivational impact on yourself and others directly involved in the achievement of this goal, we suggest that the first sentence or first phrase include the actual "driving force" that prompted you to write this goal in the first place. That is, if reducing a payroll is your goal, then the opening phrase or sentence of your Goal Statement might be, “To reduce payroll as a percentage of gross revenue from 35% to 33% by creating written Standard Operating Procedures.” .

Most goals begin with the word "to" followed by an action word such as create, develop, sell, generate, earn, buy, etc. While syntax and grammar are less important than the actual content of your statement, you will find it helpful to keep within the bounds of a well structured paragraph. If your mind drifts to phrases like "this will help me to", or "to enable us to", or "to make it possible to" put them aside. The less filler and fluff the better.

The more concrete specifics you include in your statement, the clearer it will be and the more obvious your Obstacles/Challenges will become. Remember, the purpose here is to clearly state what it is you WANT, in the time frame that you want it, with a high degree of detail. Everything you already know about the goal should be in the goal statement.

In an organizational setting, a goal will be most effective if it is written so that other people clearly understand what you want and, without much explanation from you, or by getting the answers to a few questions, can begin to make it happen rather than scratch their heads, become comatose or hound you with incessant clarifications. If you are doing a lot of explaining about a goal then you may not have defined it clearly enough. If, however, others are resisting the goal by questioning you to death, you might choose to invite them to help you identify obstacles/challenges and solutions in subsequent Steps.

From an individual perspective, a well written Goal Statement will serve as a resource for you, a point of reference as you go about your daily routine. Most of us need reminders about what we are trying to accomplish. We experience lots of interruptions, and intrusions during our pursuit of those things that are important to us. Daily reading of our goals helps to keep us focused and on track.

You can obtain input from any person or source you value to help you construct the Goal Statement, but remember you have ultimate authority and responsibility for the accomplishment of these goals if they are organizational. You have the ultimate responsibility if they are yours personally. Authority is implicit in a personal goal. An individual goal, business or personal, belongs to the goal setter. That person owns the goal. If you let someone influence you against your better judgment and you don't achieve the goal you are still ultimately responsible. You cannot blame them. You can delegate certain parts of the goal to others and hold them responsible for their part. But, when all is said and done, it's your goal. Make sure that the goals are appropriate and meaningful from your point of view.

Organizational Examples:
1. To increase total revenue from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000 yielding a 5% net before tax profit, by creating an inside sales group of 5 people, generating an increase of $1,500,000 in revenue from existing accounts; and improving outside sales closing ratio from 32% to 37% of proposals. Target date: 12/31/06

2. To reduce payroll as a percentage of gross revenue from 35% to 33% by creating written Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) for all departments including, sales, finance, warehousing, customer service, and operations, yielding performance at an average of 90% of standard or above for 95% of each workgroup. Target date: 4/15/07

Note:
What you want, how much of it you want, and some of the major how you will get it, is included in the above statements. In organization example 2, the departments are named, leaving nothing to the imagination. Everyone who reads this goal understands that the entire organization must develop SOPs. Note also, that the target date for SOPs to be complete in example 2, is 4/15. This allows time for the benefits of these Standard Operating Procedures to impact operating costs before year end.

Links to the chapters for each of the nine steps are listed in Related Topics below.

 Related Topics:
 Author: Richard Lewine
 Published: January 15, 2006
 Revised:

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  Phone: 630-236-5332 Steve
  Phone: 215-997-5954 Rich

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