Goals are what inspire us to go beyondto transcend previous accomplishments and to feel the satisfaction of continuous improvement, whether personal or professional. In order for a goal to be effective and re
alistic, however, it must be more than just a wish or a hopeful intention. This article will help you to develop goals that meet four key criteria. Additional tips for helping you and your employees to consistently meet goals can be found in Managing and Motivating Contact Center Employees (McGraw-Hill, December 2002), authored by the Impact Learning Systems team.

The first key to a well-written goal is that it should be specific and measurable. That means that it should answer three important questions:

What will be improved?

By how much or how many?

By when?

For example, let’s say you develop a goal to “get my paperwork in on time.” The intention is clear, but how will you know if you’ve accomplished your goal? And how much of an improvement will you make over what you’re currently doing? A better way to write this goal would be to make it specific and measurable:

I’ll catch up on all outstanding paperwork by this Friday. From then on, I’ll turn in my reports and department time sheets by the specified deadline.

The second key criterion for goals is that they should be positive. Notice the difference between the following two goals:

#1 I won’t keep procrastinating on the monitoring form rewrite.

The second goal is more powerful because it says what will happen rather than what will not. The first example calls to mind the failure of not getting things done on time. The second example is more motivating because it helps a person to visualize a successful outcome.

The third key is to create goals that are directed towards results rather than attempts. Notice the difference between the following two examples.

#1 We’ll mention the warranty to all customers.
#2 Our team will increase the number of warranties sold by five percent.

In the first example, there’s a danger of obtaining a false sense of success: If you mention the warranty to all customers but nobody buys it, will you really feel you’ve succeeded with the intention behind the goal? The second example, however, is aimed at a specific result: an increase in warranties purchased by customers.

Finally, goals should have a reasonable chance of being obtained. To ensure this, start with small improvements. Note how much more reasonable the second of the following two examples is.

I’ll decrease turnover rate for my team by 80 percent this quarter.
I’ll decrease the turnover rate for my team by 20 percent over the next six months

In order to maintain your motivation to continually set and reach goals, it’s important to keep them obtainable. If they’re too lofty or unrealistic, you’ll eventually become demotivated and disinterested. Remember, you can always set new goals once you’ve reached your original ones.