Tips on Goal Setting

Business Goals: Getting to Yours Quicker - Tips on Goal Setting, Activity Prioritisation

By: Eyes Wide Open

• Do you want a different result for your business?
• Do you want to achieve that outcome quickly?

Success in business is never guranteed. It requires a constant process of review and progress as the dynamics of our operating environment continue to change. Generating success in a business requires an enormous amount of energy and dedication. However, there are certain steps you can take to find the quickest and most efficient route.

The Learning Organisation
You may be already familiar with the concept of The Learning Organisation. If not, you might like to read some relevant articles on the web. The principles of The Learning Organisation are powerful, helping organisations to 'learn' and change more quickly and efficiently.

Our investigations and experience have shown there are 6 basic steps that a business owner needs to address to start accelerating change in their business. We will outline them in a moment. Firstly, let's determine the extent to which you and your business are already taking advantage of these principles.

Your Current Status
Please read the following questions and observe how quickly a clear and concise answer to each question pops into your head.

• What outcome do you ultimately want from your business?
• What needs to change in the business to achieve that outcome?
• What are the top 3 risks your business faces in achieving that outcome?
• What's your exit strategy?

Analysis: Was there any hesitation? Was there a pause for you to think? Did you feel you should know the answer? Was it just on the tip of your tongue?

The longer the time delay between when you read the question and when you get the answer, the more opportunity there is for you to accelerate the rate of change and learning in your business. If the answers were instantaneous (and correct) then you're in good shape.

The 6 Steps
Here are the 6 steps to getting change and success happening more quickly and efficiently in your business.

1. Know your Outcome
What do you want from your business? It's a simple question that deserves a simple answer. Is it wealth? Fame? Flexible lifestyle? A legacy? Self-actualisation? Be as precise as possible. For example, how much of what do you want by when? Having a clear end point has a significant impact on your ability to commit. You're making a commitment for now (that is until you achieve your outcome) not forever.

2. Know your Motivation
Why do you want that outcome? Is it actually important to you and your team? Why is it important? Be clear about what's driving you and stay aligned with that throughout the process. You're going to need to harness every bit of motivation that you can. Also be acutely aware that your personal motivation levels will be mirrored by your business.

3. Align your Goals
Typically we find a business owner has a clear goal in one area of the business. It's usually the area of the business they feel the most confident with. For example, they may have the financial goal of doubling business income. It's then important to balance this with equally clear and powerful goals in the other areas of the business. For example, if you want to double business income then what needs to happen in terms of your operations or client base? Gaps and incongruence are common in business goals and significantly inhibit progress.

4. Set Clear, Simple Tactics
What are the key adjustments you need to make in each part of the business? Be precise and pragmatic about what you are going to change. Look for those adjustments that are going to have the greatest positive impact. Limit yourself initially to 3 or 4 key changes. Doing the high impact changes well will provide greater benefit then taking the scattergun approach.

5. Shift your Mindset
Now we are clear about how the business needs to change, how are you going to change to make it all happen? How do you need to be thinking and acting differently? Most people are familiar with the idea that to get a different outcome you need to do things differently. This applies equally to the business and your own mindset. Even if you have already enjoyed a lot of success in your business you still need to keep challenging yourself to think differently.

6. Communicate
Communicate your plans to everyone in and around the business. Perhaps the most powerful form of communication is to 'walk the talk'. If you want other people to take your plans and goals seriously they first need to see that you take them seriously.

Is it that Easy?
The 6 steps are simple but not necessarily easy. We have found the biggest obstructions to success for the business owner tend to be as follows.

• Being too close to the business - this stops you from seeing gaps and points of incongruence.
• Having strong preconceived ideas about what works - this can limit your ability to see more effective solutions and opportunities.

Finally, one of the most important elements in making it all happen is commitment. You have to make a clear decision that you are willing to go on the journey. So to finish off, I'll put a very important question to you again. Is it actually important for you to achieve the outcome you want from your business? If it is then please use the ideas presented here to plot your path for getting there sooner.