Reaching Goals and
Objectives
Goal Setting
The Bullfight
The Bullfight

In five words or less, describe the
outcome of a bullfight.
The Bullfight






Who is stronger, the matador or the bull?
The Bull!
Who is faster, the matador or the bull?
The Bull!
Who is deadlier, the matador or the bull?
The Bull!
The Bullfight

It is a matter of goal orientation.
The Bullfight

“Forget the cape, go after the guy in the
funny pants”
The Bullfight
Goal Setting
Specific
 Meaningful
 Accepted
 Realistic
 Time – Framed

Specific Goals
Are More Effective Than
“Do Your Best” Goals
Meaningful
to Those Who Must
Achieve the Goal
Accepted
By Those Who Must
Achieve the Goal
Realistic,
Yet Challenging
Most Effective
Probability of Achievement:
Between 50% & 70%
Time – Frame
Deadline For
Achievement
What are Your goals?
Planning



Planning is the management function of
setting goals and determining how to
meet them.
It is the first step of thinking ahead about
what needs to be done to meet the
organization’s or work unit’s objectives.
It lays the foundation for carrying out
other management functions.

Planning involves
• gathering information,
• defining goals and objectives,
• thinking through the steps to accomplish the
•
objectives, and
implementing the plan.
Formal and Informal Planning

Planning can be formal or informal.
• Strategic planning is very formal.
• An example of informal planning
plans to meet someone for lunch.
is making
Project Planning

The project planning process consists of
the following:
• Setting the project start date
• Setting the project completion date
• Selecting the project methodology or project life
cycle to be used
• Determining the scope of the project in terms of the
phases of the selected project methodology or
project life cycle
• Identifying or selecting the project review methods to
be used
• Identifying any pre-determined interim milestone or
other critical dates which must be met.
• Listing tasks, by project phase, in the order in which
they might be accomplished.
• Estimating the personnel necessary to accomplish
each task
• Estimating the personnel available to accomplish
each task
• Determining skill level necessary to perform each
task
• Determining task dependencies
- Which tasks can be done in parallel
- Which tasks require the completion of other tasks
before they can start
• Project control or review points
• Performing project cost estimation and cost-benefit
analysis
Goals

Goals are what is to be achieved. They
are generally broad in scope and
represent the purpose to be achieved by
the organization or the work unit.

If the purpose of the organization is to
sell food prepared into tasty meals for
local customers,
• then a goal may be to increase the number of
•
meals sold or increase market share.
Another goal may be to increase customer
satisfaction by providing excellent service.
Objectives


Objectives are similar to goals, but they
are more specific.
The dictionary defines objectives as
“having to do with a material object as
distinguished from a mental concept.”

Objectives should be
• written,
• measurable,
• clear,
• specific, and
• challenging but achievable.
Implementation

Implementation of an action plan should
be monitored and evaluated against an
objective.
Strategic Planning




The creation of long-term goals for the
organization as a whole.
Strategic planning is usually a function of
top management.
Goals and objectives are very broad.
Strategic plans are used as a guide to
develop operational plans.
Operational Planning


The development of objectives that
specify how divisions, departments. and
work groups will support organizational
goals.
Operational planning is usually done by
middle managers and supervisors.
Policies

Broad guidelines for how to act.

The origin of policies is philosophical
and/or ethical.

The policy will act as a filter of what will
be considered acceptable or not for the
organization and its members
Procedures


The steps that must be completed in
order to achieve a specific purpose.
Procedures help maintain consistency of
• practices,
• products, and
• services.


Clearly written procedures give
employees a standard map to guide
action.
They also help an organization maintain
its knowledge base.
Rules


Statements of specifically what to do or
not to do in a given situation.
Rules may be published in employee
handbooks or posted on a bulletin board.
Action Plan


The plan to achieve an objective.
If objectives are statements of where you
want to go, action plans are a map that
tells you how to get there.



Writing an action plan will add more
detail to the overall plan or the
objectives.
It describes specific tasks and who is
responsible to see that the task is
accomplished and includes a timetable
or schedule.
It increases the likelihood of achieving
the objectives.

All too often there can be agreement that
something has to be done and an
outcome altered, but without an action
plan, no one may take the action
required to make the change.
Contingency Plan

Planning what to do if the original plans
don’t work out.
Management by Objectives


A formal system for planning in which
managers and employees at all levels
set objectives for what they are to
accomplish.
Then their performance is measured
against those objectives.
Budget


A plan for spending money.
Budgets provide written targets for
utilizing financial resources.
Scheduling


Setting a precise timetable for the work
to be done.
A schedule is a plan for the time needed
to achieve an objective.
Gantt Chart

Scheduling tool that lists the activities to
be completed and uses horizontal bars
to graph how long each activity will take,
including its starting and ending dates.
PERT Charts

Scheduling tool that identifies the
relationship of tasks as well as how long
each activity will take. (P. 161, Certo).
Controlling



The management function of making
sure that work goes according to plan.
The planning function sets the goals; the
controlling function monitors
performance.
Planning and controlling can be on the
organizational level, department level,
and on specific products and services.
Standards



Measures of what is expected.
Products and services are based upon
some standard that meets the
organizational goals or customer
expectations.
Performance or outcomes can be
measured against these standards to
determine it expectations are being met.
Variance



The size of the difference between
actual performance and a performance
standard.
A standard usually has a preferred
target.
In some cases there is a tolerance
added to indicate a range of acceptance
to the standard.


Variance may fall within the accepted
range of a standard.
This is called meaningful variance for
control purposes in the text.
Exception Principle


The control principle stating that a
supervisor should take action only when
a variance is meaningful.
It is important to investigate and act on
exceptions on the positive side as well
as on the negative side of the expected
target.
Reinforcement

Encouragement of behavior by
associating it with a reward.
• The supervisor should be aware of
•
performance standards and actual
performance.
When employees exceed the standards the
supervisor should let them know by
recognition, praise, and other means available
to him or her.
• This will let employees know you appreciate
their contribution and they are likely to keep
up the good work.
Problem

A factor in the organization that is a
barrier to improvement.
• A problem can also be viewed as something
that keeps an organization or department
from achieving its goals.
• For example, if the goal is to reach a specific level
of quality, productivity, or costs, it is a problem if the
goal cannot be attained.
Symptom

An indication of an underlying problem.
• Beware of treating the symptom as the
problem.
• For example, the symptom may be low productivity.
• This may be a symptom of the problem of
inadequately trained employees.

Fixing the problem may entail
• adjusting a process,
• the behavior of an individual employee, or
• develop new rewards for good performance
• train employees
• improve communications with employees
• counsel and /or discipline poor performance
• ask employees what barriers are interfering with
their performance
• the standard itself
Types of Controls

The three types of control are
• feedback
• concurrent
• precontrol
Feedback Control

Control that focuses on past
performance.
• Reports on completed tasks or spending such
as
• productivity
• shipping
• accumulated costs
Concurrent Control

Control that occurs while the work takes
place (real time control).
Precontrol

Efforts aimed at preventing behavior that
may lead to undesirable results.
• Examples of precontrol are
• planning
• training
• preventative maintenance
Personal Observation

Management by wondering around.