The goal-setting masterclass

Most businesses set goals. Fewer meet them. The goals are rarely wrong. They are set the wrong way: too many of them, too vague, owned by nobody, and forgotten by March.

This masterclass changes how you and your team set goals, so the goals you choose turn into the results you want. It is practical and built around your own business. You leave with the work done, not just notes.

Why goals usually fail

• Too many. Twelve priorities means none. Attention is the scarcest thing a business has.
• Too vague. "Grow sales" or "improve service" can't be planned, measured or celebrated.
• Only results, no levers. Revenue is a result you see too late. The weekly actions that drive it are what a team can actually control.
• No plan for the bad weeks. Everyone plans for the good weeks. Goals are lost in the bad ones.
• Set at the top, owned by nobody. A target handed down is a target worked around.
• Set and forgotten. Without a rhythm of review, a goal is a January document.

What the research says

Goal setting is one of the most studied subjects in management, and the findings are consistent. Decades of work by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham show that specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than being told to "do your best", as long as people are committed to them and get feedback on their progress.

Peter Gollwitzer's research on implementation intentions shows that plans written as "if this happens, then I will do that" make people more likely to follow through. Gabriele Oettingen's work shows that imagining success on its own can drain the energy needed to get there, while picturing the obstacle as well makes action more likely.

The masterclass turns that evidence into a method a business can use, without the jargon.

The method, in six steps

1. 1

   Choose few

   Pick the two or three goals that would change the business most this year. Everything else is maintenance.

2. 2

   Make them real

   Write each goal so anyone could tell whether it was met: what, how much, by when. High enough to stretch, not so high that nobody believes it.

3. 3

   Find the levers

   For each goal, name the few weekly actions the team controls that drive it. The levers lead; the result follows.

4. 4

   Plan for the bad weeks

   Name the obstacles before they arrive, and decide in advance: if this happens, we will do that.

5. 5

   Cascade and commit

   Each team works out its part and agrees it, so every target has an owner who helped set it.

6. 6

   Review on a rhythm

   A short weekly check on the levers and a monthly look at the results. Adjust the plan, not the ambition.

You'll leave with

• Your top goals for the year, written so they can be measured.
• The weekly levers for each one, and who owns them.
• If-then plans for the obstacles you can already see coming.
• A one-page goal plan for each team.
• A review calendar for the year, ready to run.

Who it's for

Owners, directors and managers of growing businesses, and leadership teams who want to set the year's goals together. It works best when the people who will deliver the goals are in the room.