how to set goals for businesBusinesses of all types need planning and preparation with clearly defined goals to reach. Setting goals prevent failure in business since they provide a path and direction to follow. However, these goals also have to be realistic, that are feasible and achieving them may be tough but well within reach. Setting lofty goals that are almost impossible to achieve will just make the business activities extremely frustrating. At the same time not having clear goals is like moving on without proper direction. Finding some common ground between these two extremes is the idea of having smart goals. Smart goals are those which have the following three characteristics:

1.      Focused goals- The goals that are set for a business need to be highly focused with a concrete and well conceived plan that will help in accomplishing these goals. Goals are the end target and a clever strategy is needed to achieve them. The focus will provide the direction that will be in tandem with the long term plans of the business. By starting with a final goal in mind and building a strategy on how that goal can achieved will help to ensure there are clearly defined steps that need to be achieved before the final goal can be accomplished

 2.      Goals must be realistic- setting goals may appear easy but they can only be set after careful consideration of what your company can achieve after that goal has been reached and the time and effort that needs to be assigned to achieving it. Unrealistic goals can prove to be frustrating and employees may soon realize that no matter how hard they try the goals that have been set will be forever be out of their reach. This leads to a feeling of dejection and disinterest that is also de-motivating. At the same time, setting goals that are too easy to achieve will not push them, they won’t feel challenged about what lies ahead they may even feel that the task you have set them has become a mundane choir.

3.      Making them measurable- Goals need to be measured and tracked so that the progress made will help in making adjustments to scale them down or take them higher, if only to keep employees motivated and help them put in their best. Employees need goals to get appreciation when they put in their best and strive harder, rather than be demoralized and not even try to work harder than they may customarily do.

Smart goals are set after keeping in mind the skill sets available, and the time frame available to achieve them. The important thing is to keep employees motivated by making them realistic, measurable and focused.   


This article has been provided to us by Neil who is currently working as the head of marketing for eMobileScan, who are dedicated to offering their customers a solution that will help reduce paper processing as well as to cut their operating costs. They are doing this by building a tailored solution around handheld units like the Motorola ES400 and printers Like the Zebra ZM400.

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