The holiday season upon us I wanted to revisit a blog I did about 4 years ago. It is at this time of year once the turkey dinners (and left overs) are eaten, and the mulled wine drunk we turn to thinking of fireworks and bubbles that herald in the New Year, and with that our resolves for 2018.
We sit underneath the striking clock of midnight and make our resolutions, only to forget or regret them the minute we wake up the very next day. Then we roll back into work on January 2 (Jan 3 for our Scottish colleagues) to that sinking feeling of ‘darn, I need to do my appraisals/reviews and set some objectives for the year’.
So, here once more are my alternative SMART objectives for you to lighten and brighten the load – to be used in conjunction with the traditional version – after all there’s no point throwing the baby out with the bathwater now is there!?
Meaningful – By making objectives simple you are more likely to get the all-important buy in from all involved. ‘Improve housekeeping’ – might be a little too simplistic though, hence my caution to use in conjunction with the traditional version.
Simple – By making objectives simple you are more likely to get the all-important buy in from all involved. ‘Improve housekeeping’ – might be a little too simplistic though, hence my caution to use in conjunction with the traditional version.
Meaningful – I had a boss who targeted me on his objectives! I had little interest nor any intention in making his bonus payment aspirations come true (no really, I had NONE!) so make sure they mean as much, if not more, to them than they do to you.
Alibi – give the objective a reason, a defence, an explanation and a justification as to why it is important. This is again critical when looking to gain the agreement and achievement of the target you have given your staff.
Ranked – order them; assign an order of priority, an idea of criticality and importance. This helps focus the mind of the order of things and often how they are linked.
Tangible – make it actual, touchable and very real; help those staff whose processes are, & processing is, stimulated most by a sense of touch. By articulating what you really mean and ensuring it is possible the goal becomes solid and real and valid.
So what will your objectives to be for 2018?
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