Just as no ship should ever set sail without a heading, no business should be without a goal in mind! Having a plan does the obvious, it gives your business direction, but it also has a myriad of other benefits you might not think about right away.
Before we jump into what exactly do we mean by having a plan?
Not All Goals Are Equal
When coming up with goals for your team and business to strive for, they should always be SMART goals. You might have heard of them before, but there’s a good reason for that: it works!
SMART goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
For a deep dive on how to write effective SMART goals, check out this article.
The Hidden Benefits
So, beyond the obvious, what sort of benefits will you see from having SMART goals for your business?
Your Team Will Work Harder
Working towards “Success” doesn’t actually mean anything if you really think about it. Having clear goals for your team to work towards means stronger accountability and ensures they know exactly what’s expected and how they’re performing.
Helps Take “You” Out Of The Equation
You’re always going to want to know if things are on track, but constantly steering the ship means you won’t have time to plot the course. When clear goals are set, you’ll often see members of your team keeping one another accountable, instead of that always falling on your shoulders.
Beyond accountability, having both long and short term goals mean that team leaders won’t need to consult you on every little detail. It allows for confidence and better decision-making!
See Where You Need Improvement
If goals are measurable and time-bound, you can easily see where things might have slipped through the cracks or where slack needs to be tightened. Just because you didn’t achieve a certain goal, doesn’t mean you can’t get something valuable out of the experience!
Your Goals Can Get Bigger
Alternatively, when you inevitably start clearing your goals, you can start shooting higher and higher. Striving for 100 and hitting 90 is still better than going for 80 and achieving it! (As long as failure isn’t binary)
Optimize Your Resources
hether you’re small, medium, or large, making sure time, money, and resources are put to good use is always important. If you really want to make sure resources are being used on the things that matter now, make sure you have goals in place! Someone may have a fantastic idea, but it’s something that can be incorporated into the next stage of planning.
Enjoying this blog? You’re going to love the latest episode of The SuiteWorks podcast!
This week’s episode is excited to invite on recovering lawyer, business coach, and founder of Business That Matters, Warren Coughlin. Join host Kerri Diggle as she speaks with Warren about facilitating change, the foundations of a strong business, and misconceptions about entrepreneurs! “What one can be, one gets to be!”