OBJECTIVE (GOAL)

An 'objective' or 'goal' is a personal or organizational desired end point in development. It is usually endeavoured to be reached in finite time by setting deadlines.

Contents

Goal setting

Long-term goal

Short-term goal

Project Goals

External links

See also

References

Goal setting

'Goal Setting' involves setting specific, measurable and time targeted objectives. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it is an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants are clearly aware of what is expected from them, if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting is a major component of Personal development literature.
The business technique of Management by objectives uses the principle of goal setting. In business, goal setting has the advantages of encouraging participants to put in substantial effort; and, because every member is aware of what is expected of.... him or her (high role perception), little room is left for inadequate effort going unnoticed.
To be most effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans. Setting unrealistic goals can be very harmful, especially to teenagers, because if a goal is not achieved it may lower one's self-esteem. Over time this setting of unrealistic goals can lead to depression and, in extreme cases, suicide.
One drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth. "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p.96). Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals.
While some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best’, Locke and Latham have a clear contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ will not do so. ‘Doing your best’ has no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words; goals canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p.705). In order to increase motivation the employees not only need to be allowed to participate in the goal setting process but the goals have to be challenging as well (Cummings & Worley p. 369).
Managers can not be constantly able to drive motivation and keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance (Shalley, 1995 p. 401). Locke and Latham (2002) have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting is able to affect individual performance:
1) Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
2) Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort.
3) Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources will affect work pace.
4) Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows employees to cope with the situation at hand.
Through an understanding of the effect of goal setting on individual performance organizations are able to use goal setting to benefit organizational performance. Locke and Latham (2002, p. 707-709) have therefore indicated three moderators which indicate the success of goal setting:
I. Goal commitment – people will perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent of :
a. The importance of the expected outcomes of goal attainment and;
b. Self-efficacy; ones belief that (s)he is able to achieve the goals.
II. Feedback – keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals. Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
III. Task complexity – more difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well developed skills. The more difficult the tasks ahead, a smaller group of people will posses the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
IV. Employee motivation - The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
V. Macro-economical characteristics. The position of the economy in the conjucture puts pressure or simply releaves the organization. This means that some goals are easier set in specific macro-economical surroundings. Depression is for instance the least successful conjucturial phase for goal setting.mukhang adik
These success factors are not to be seen independently. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor ones progress. When this is left aside, an employee might (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long run (Bandura 1993 p.119-120).

Long-term goal

A long-term goal is an achievement set to be reached over a long period of time. The period of time defined for reaching the goal can be almost any length of time; although most long-term goals tend to be measured in years. It would be appropriate to define a long-term goal for this week, month, year, lifetime, etc. The definition of a long-term goal usually involves setting short-term goals to divide the timeline of achieving the long-term goal.
Short-term and long-term goals are important tools in measuring success. They are used in a variety of areas: financial, personal and business to name a few. Setting and tracking goals is an important step in achieving success in almost any endeavor.

Short-term goal

A short-term goal is something to be accomplished in a short period of time. There is no specific length of time related to the definition of a short-term goal. That is to say, a short term goal may be achieved in a day, week, month, year, etc. The time frame for a short-term goal is related to its context in the overall timeline that it is being applied to. For instance, a short-term goal for a month long project may be measured in days where as a short-term goal for someone’s life might be measured by months or years. Short-term goals are usually defined in relation to a long-term goal or goals.
Short-term and long-term goals are important tools in measuring success. They are used in a variety of areas: financial, personal and business to name a few. Setting and tracking goals is an important step in achieving success in almost any endeavor with it.

Project Goals

Good project management technique states goals/objectives can be better defined by following the guidelines from using the SMART^[1] acronym:
Specific - Objective or goal can't be diffuse or nebulous but should be precisely defined
Measurable - Define a method of measuring the objective/goal
Agreed-To/Achievable - All parties need to agree to the objective/goal, and it also must be achievable
Realistic/Rewarding/Relevant - It must be a realistic objective/goal, and it must make sense to do it !!!
Time-related - to be completed within an agreed time scale

External links

★ Free Goal Setting - a simple method to motivate you to achieve your goal.

★ Goal Setting Community - a community which shares their goals online with others.

★ Article on S.M.A.R.T Way to Set Goals

★ Software Organisation methods at Effort.com.au

★ MyVisionpage A free, easy and persistent way to keep your goals and vision in mind.

See also

★ Goal (management)

References

1. Armstrong. M.(2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th edition Kogan Page, London ISBN 0 7494 4631 5