There is a “disconnect” between what an executive staff understands about an organization’s goals, and what the CEO believes they understand. In many cases, the staff will tell they don’t even know what the goals are.

“Cascading goals” to describe the process of adopting goals at different levels in a company. Like water over a cliff, goals must spill over and “cascade” throughout an organization to be implemented.

“Cascading creates horizontal alignment in a company,” All the executives at the same level need to gain agreement about what they will do to support the CEO’s vision and minimize conflict.

A dramatic example: Over two years, a technology division of American Express was able to cascade goals from a senior vice president to the 800 people in that area. The end result: the costs of developing a software system were cut in half over a two-year period.

How Cascading Works — Once the vision and main categorical goals are set at the CEO and managerial level, select a person who will champion the process of cascading goals. He or she works to ensure that each department will create goals and action plans that support the goals of the company’s leadership.

Communicating Goals — Updating people on their progress is critical. Goals must be visible and repeated to keep the commitment alive. Besides scheduled meetings, goals may be touted in: monthly e-mail messages, company newsletters, bulletin boards, and “surprise” coffee breaks, among others.
Ensuring Goal Implementation

Action Plans — When everyone returns to their jobs after goal setting exercises, enthusiasm for the goals can be buried by the demands of day-to-day business. The first step is to develop action plans based on the goals-complete with incentives and consequences for non-performance.

Accountability — Discussing consequences is critical in any goals-to-action plan. Often, the consequences are determined as the team works on the goals in the earliest planning stages.

Peer pressure creates such an intense expectation of performance that it causes action. “The perceived humiliation of removal from the team is so great that most people act,”

Monthly Management Meetings — Once your goals and action plans are set, scheduling monthly management meetings to monitor progress. The original planning group should meet for a 90-minute session to recap the previous month; acknowledge progress and examine shortfalls; amend the plan if it needs to be changed; and, clarify the action plan for the next 30 days.

Coaching for Goals — Implementing goals that were set months ago requires discipline. The planning group has to follow through with their direct reports. The managers need the discipline to make the goals a priority over day-to-day firefighting in a business.

When Goal Setting Goes Wrong

How often have you set goals that are then set aside? Examine roadblocks if you have a pattern of abandoning organizational or corporate goals.

Commit Goals to Paper — This may seem obvious. But how often goals are stated but not written down.

Stumbling Blocks for the CEO — Goal setting is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the passionless, either, He suggests that the CEO spend some time weighing vision, goals and priorities alone — or with an advisor — before inviting trusted managers and employees into the goal setting process. And if a working group goes off-site to do visioning, goal setting and planning, don’t forget to allow for resting and relaxing as well.

Ten Organizational Roadblocks

1. Lack of clear-cut responsibilities around the goals
2. Lack of a tracking system
3. Lack of an accountability system
4. Lack of commitment
5. Lack of buy-in from people who are expected to fulfill the goals
6. Ineffective communication
7. Lack of time or resources
8. Too many goals are financially driven
9. Focusing on too many or too few goals
10. Goals aren’t tied to a longer-term vision

Personal Obstacles in Goal Setting — When we fail to meet personal goals, many factors may be at play. Houcek, in his studies of high achievers and his experiences with thousands of executives, finds the following common denominators: CEOs with no passion for the goals they have set; the goals are not precise; the personal goal is at cross-purposes with the CEO’s self-image.

Fearing Failure, Commitment — Fears can play a role in our failure to make-or realize – goals. “Goal setting is basically making a commitment,” “Fear of commitment is prevalent in the world. If I don’t set a goal, then I’m not accountable for it. That’s a subconscious tactic for avoiding goal setting.”

Fear of failure is more of a reckoning with the “cost of success.” After all, he points out, we fail every day. In fact, we’re experts at failure.

“Once I’m a winner, I have to continue to win or I’ll be a bigger loser in everyone’s eyes. That’s an unconscious thought, but it’s a very real one,”

Improving Your Life with Personal Goals

Lead a life filled with passion. Believe it’s because you mastered the art of goal setting and realizing those goals.

“It makes for a very fulfilling life. Spend virtually 100 percent of time in four areas.” They are: family, personal health and fitness; business and playing.

Start with “Master Want List” — If living that kind of life sounds appealing, it all begins with a little list called the “Master Want List.”

Questions to prompt you: What do you want to do with your life? Who do you want to meet? What new activities do you want to try? What experiences do you want to have again? Where do you want to go? What do you want to learn? What do you want to improve? Who do you want to spend more time with?

How Will You Benefit? — Choose from the “Master Want List” the goals you would like to pursue and give yourself a timeframe. Next to each goal, indicate how you will benefit from completing it. That’s a prime motivator.

Framework for Personal Goal Setting — Personal goal setting in a way that mirrors business goal setting. Start with a personal mission statement, a personal vision statement, the goals for the next 12 months, annual goals, and an action plan with strategies for success. Use your birthday as the date that you review your goals and set new ones.

Before you can begin goal setting, it’s essential to create a blueprint for how the process will unfold

Recommends five points in the company plan:

1. Mission statement
2. Vision statement
3. Fiscal year priorities
4. Strategies
5. Monthly monitoring and managing meetings.

Beginning with a mission statement, each step flows into the next — and goal setting begins after the mission and vision statements are finished. The process needs to be simple. “The more complex it is, the less people are enjoying it,” To be effective, goals should follow the “SMART” format. That means they should meet these criteria:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Results oriented
Time sensitive

As goals are set within the organization, finding the right amount of “stretch” — for growth — is crucial.

“Too easy” goals do not boost performance, so they are of little value, but studies show it is best to challenge employees, expect them to challenge themselves, with goals that are attainable, but with considerable effort.

Overdoing Financial Goals? — Often, CEOs fall prey to the allure of setting only financial goals. that compromises the other reasons they are in business — such as employing people and contributing to their communities.

Corporate Goal Categories — Goals in four areas — financial, customer service, employee-based (centering on learning and innovation) and internal business process, other categories, including image and reputation, community relations/philanthropy, sales and marketing.

Whichever categories you choose — or if you customize them for your own organization — the final product should reflect your corporate purpose and path.

Setting Employee Goals — In his work for the textbook “Organizational Behavior,” whether it’s better for employees to set goals in a particular environment, or for them to set goals by themselves, or whether they do best with assigned goals. No one method seems to be better than the other, in terms of outcome and performance.

The more closely a manager can match the employees’ wishes with the goal-setting style, the better the chances for an outcome everyone seeks.

Linking Monetary Incentives to Goals — Bonuses and other pay-for-performance incentives are gaining in popularity, but they work only under certain conditions.

Studies show that pay should not be linked to achieving goals unless:

• The performance goals are actually under the employees’ sphere of influence
• The goals can be quantified, then measured and
• Frequent, relatively large payments are made for achieving goals

If these three conditions aren’t met, undesirable outcomes are possible, Other studies have shown that quality suffers when quantitative goals are given highest priority.

Leadership in Goal Setting — Goals are only worth the paper they’re written on if leaders don’t bring them to life for the organization.

 

It’s official: we can accomplish more and go farther if we dedicate ourselves to written goals, keep the goals on our corporate and personal radar screens and follow through on the steps required to make them happen.

Organizations enjoyed productivity gains as a result of management by objectives. Goal setting is the first step in management by objectives.

“Research on goal setting shows that it’s a very powerful technique to improve individual productivity and organizational effectiveness,”

Goals give us focus, get us going, add to our resolve and lead to actions.

Social marketing earns, not buys attention so have an opinion, be true to what you say, be of value, be open – above all be human.

“Ask not what your customers can do for you; ask what you can do for your customers” Stan Rapp

As ‘markets become conversations’ customer relationships and advertising models are changing for good. Passive consumption becomes active interaction. Monologue becomes dialogue. Control becomes collaboration. Customers are empowered, well informed, connected. Companies are becoming more transparent whether they like it or not.

It’s an environment in which the balance of effective communication shifts from being less about interruption to more about participation, less about delivering a message to more about being part of a conversation, less about what you say to people and more about what people are saying about you.

It’s an environment, which operates to social principles – creating not subtracting value, serving a larger purpose than your own, being useful, facilitating.

It’s an environment in which the more human elements matter – having a point of view, being true to yourself and what you say, being open, honest, transparent. Ford use social media to (in the words of Scott Monty) “humanize the Ford brand and put consumers in touch with Ford employees”, and regularly reach out to bloggers for feedback and to encourage the spread of positive word of mouth.

Zappos believe that their “culture is their brand” and use social media to create touch points throughout every area of their business and ensure customer service isn’t just a department, it’s the entire company. Authenticity is the currency that encourages trust, involvement, and engagement. Authenticity is what turns an audience into a following.

Article writing is a great way to use writing marketing business that brings. By publishing articles on the internet like I do on my blog here (blogzynergy.com) can expand its reputation and reach an audience much wider than you would on your own. If you intend to pursue a strategy of writing the article, there are certain things you can consider that could cause actual results to be better and more specific. Here are 7 tips to help you find your way. Read them 1 by one and discover how to move on your way to win and bring yourself more audience.

LET US START :

1. Rule Target directly to the market and prospects want to work.

People are seeking solutions to real problems. If you provide this information, they see you as a trusted resource. Do not make the mistake of providing information that is too general or is not the target market you want to attract. There are hundreds of thousands of items available. Make sure your target specifically, and valuable to your audience.

2. Provide valuable information.

Do not worry too much about giving away “trade secrets”. Customers will still need your experience in person. If you are too secretive and protective, it is clear to readers that you are “slow.” What you end up with communication is that you can be generous attitudes. If you only give general information, there is no point in creating value for what they offer. Potential customers in search of more information about troubleshooting. There should be a resource for you.

3. Know and use the keywords.

Research using keywords. If your articles do not use relevant keywords in the title and the article itself, your item is not available. It is mostly a futile effort to publish it. You want to use keywords that your target audience uses to find solutions to their problems. You’re better off with certain keywords rather than general.

4. Know what your goal is in your article writing strategy.

Do you attract new customers? Is it to be known as an expert? Does this mean that the commitments? Want website visits and purchases? Be clear about your goal before you start writing articles. A vague or nonexistent wrote an article aims to waste their time and energy. Use your resource box to help support its mission.

5. Write articles that your target in advance.

Keep this in mind, everything you write and every article that you are doing. You may be tempted to get off track and lose sight of goal. Stay focused. Address of the desired target market the information they need to demonstrate your expertise. If you want to be known for what you do, write about all aspects of this specialty.

6. Consider making a series of short articles in order to offer them for publication in a newspaper read by your audience.

These readers are your target market, and seek the solutions they propose. By making a series, to increase their knowledge of your target market. In fact, you become the “resident expert.” You are a known and trusted. After they got used to his abilities, which are likely to seek more information from you and the committee considered.

7. Look for other ways to use your items strategically.

Would it be useful to present to your local newspaper or an organization run ezine? How can you be proactive in getting your article published in your market will read what you wrote.

Do not write articles without writing an article strategy in mind. With intent, you will receive much better results from your efforts in writing. Know what you want to achieve, and write to achieve that goal. Article writing is a very effective marketing approach in writing – if you do it strategically.

Wishing you a lot of success. Let us hear from you in the comments.