Goal setting is the key to growing a business. But, of course, goals are only as good as their accomplishment. When the vision stays on paper and never realised, it will never translate to growth. Unfortunately, in many companies, this happens a lot. The reason? Leaders fail to make their teams embrace such goals. Once you know where you want your company to go, you have to do the dirty work of rallying your employees towards it. How do you do that? The key is in these Ps:
Precise Aim
It’s good to have big dreams for your company, but don’t fall into the mistake of having grand goals that muddle the core of what you wanted to happen. You spend long hours in the boardroom for weeks, listing down all the things you endeavor to accomplish, all the big words, say, changing the culture in the workplace, rolling out an open-door policy, and providing high-quality training, but you might miss emphasising the big picture behind all this — for instance, the desire to offer a new service to clients, a first in the industry.
As you go through the specifics of your action steps, don’t forget to visit every now and then the overall objective of your move. Don’t lose sight of the big picture in your meetings. If you can’t capture your goal in a sentence or a phrase just yet, you might have to do some soul-searching first, finding clarity before calling up your team.
Persistent Communication
There can never be over-communication when it comes to vision. Exhaust all platforms and means to have people discuss it and be reminded of it. Maybe you can have regular, informal meetings where each of the team members shares what their wins and struggles have been so far in hitting your goals. Of course, media materials are also important. Create newsletters to be circulated in your intrasite. Champion the stories of employees who are embracing the vision in your bulletins. Put up posters or perhaps installation art in your reception or lobby area.
Don’t underestimate the power of workplace uniforms, too. They can serve as reminders of the change that comes with embracing the vision. If you’re introducing a ground-breaking innovation in the industry, wouldn’t it be just appropriate to revamp your corporate clothing? NZ-based work apparel suppliers can help you with this.
Patient Courage
When you have this big dream for your company, it’s inevitable for employees to feel afraid of the changes that come with it. They may be afraid to take risks. They could be uncomfortable with the ‘new normal’. They might choose to stay in the status quo. In these instances, you have to be patient. Give them the time to process the goals themselves.
At the same time, though, you have to inspire courage. Start removing sources of fear. Be a little more lenient to get rid of the fear of failure. Equip your team in training classes to eliminate the fear of not-being-good-enough. Talk to them personally to remove the overwhelming burden of the huge task before them. And, of course, reward those who are able to catch your vision. The bottom line, be patient and inspire courage.
Remember, your goals will only be meaningful if you hit them. For you to accomplish such, you need to make employees embrace them. Rally your team towards it.
