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What’s the difference between goals and resolutions—goals have tangible and planned outcomes, resolutions tend to act more as a “wish list”. Both can push one’s motivation, however, goals become a road map for what you want to achieve in the New Year, and setting goals will help drive your business to success. Setting goals not only keeps you and your employees moving forward, but goals increase productivity and strengthen teamwork among staff. WorkSource has some goal setting strategies that every company should think about for the New Year.

Make Meetings More Productive

Have you ever conducted a meeting that allotted for two hours of talk time, but after thirty minutes, there was nothing left to talk about? It happens—often. Teams feel they need to check-in weekly or bi-weekly, setting meetings that end up being counterproductive. Take time out to meet with your management teams and discuss better ways of conducting meetings and how each team can make their meetings more productive. If it is truly necessary to meet every other week, then only allot thirty to forty-five minutes; discuss immediate needs and allow for questions regarding team concerns. When scheduling meetings that run over an hour, try to keep those to every other month. Have an organized agenda typed out, schedule around lunch time, and deter tangents. Scheduling around lunch gives staff fuel for longer meetings, keeps them alert, and allows for a few minutes of down time before the meeting begins. Setting up meetings in this way keeps your staff productive, on task and privy to company goals.

Strive to be a Better Corporate Citizen

While focusing on internal goals is always crucial for any company success, so too are outward goals. Be it buying a table at a fundraiser or gala event, taking time out of a Friday to build a house for Habitat For Humanity, building in a “jeans day” to raise money for various local charities or sitting on a board, getting involved in community citizenship not only keeps a company grounded but helps build comradery. Corporate citizenship gives teams an opportunity to work together outside of an office setting. It allows for free flowing communication where new ideas can be generated or gives motivation for innovation by getting involved with something that is non-business related. Working toward community involvement also teaches your employees networking skills and how to communicate in various settings, not to mention it introduces your business to various community channels, inadvertently helping marketability and branding of your company.

Three Stages of Goal Setting

Setting goals for your company and staff are not just about long range plans. Being able to see the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road doesn’t mean you know how to get there. There are multiple paths that can take you in multiple directions; depending on the experience you want to have along the way and how long you want it to take to reach your “Emerald City” depends greatly on how you get to where you’re going. Goals come in stages—the only way to reach the goal is to break it up in three’s. Short-term, mid-term and long-term goals all work in conjunction and become the best measure of success. Work backwards, starting with the ultimate goal of the business, then set up mid and short-term goals, making sure to keep them flexible and fluid. For example, the above goal to strive to be a better corporate citizen is a good long-term goal. Your short-term goal would then be to generate a companywide email announcing employee involvement for each level and expectations based on hierarchy. Leave what type of involvement up to the employee. Let them choose how to volunteer or what community organization to get involved with. Offer options based on what your company already participates in. Your mid-term goals then become a check in system through human resources to see who is participating or getting involved and who isn’t. Setting goals in this way allows you more breathing room in the structure and measurability of the goals you set, and also allows you to try new things if others don’t work. One size doesn’t always fit all.

WorkSource is a premier staffing agency where quality and service are our focus. Contact our team at WorkSource and find out how we can help your team meet its goals for 2015. Don’t have goals for 2015—our staff can help you set them!

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