I went to the gym the other day and did a class with a few of my gym buddies. One of the exercises was using the dreaded rowing machine and I was the last one to jump on. Before we started the last round, the PT came to me and said that the best result of the day was 900 meters and that I should beat it. Before my workout, I thought to myself “I will just do my best and get this over and done with”, however, my PT had set me a goal I needed to achieve, and I was ready to beat it. This article will give you a few tips regarding why setting goals can help you improve your overall work performance.

Having goals in life is an important indicator as to what we want to achieve. This can be as simple as writing a ‘to do list’ for the day and completing it. Once you tick off all the things on your list, and your goal is completed, you can tell yourself you have done a great job. However, setting up goals in the workplace can be more challenging than a daily ‘to do’ list.

There are times, when people do not have a clear set of goals and therefore, they do not know how to track their performance. Not being able to track your performance or progress can result in confusion for the individual and can consequently impact the greater business negatively.

Direction

Having a clear direction is integral to success. Set up clear and simple goals as to what you want to achieve and work towards this step by step. It is very easy to lose track on the way if goals are not clear and this can lead to a decrease of productivity.

Clearer focus on what is important

Once your goals are set, focus on small steps at a time and keep track of your progress. As mentioned earlier, goals can be as small as daily to do list, however, they can be a lot more complex. With complex goals, have a weekly, fortnightly or monthly overview to track your performance. At your workplace, this can be done in a daily meeting, weekly catch ups, worklogs, or monthly meetings.

Control of your future

Part of having successful goals is taking full ownership and accountability of them. You are more likely to succeed when you have full control over the lead indicators or inputs which contribute to achieving the overall goal. Lead indicators can also be set up as a smaller goal on big project.

Motivation

Everyone’s motivation is different depending on individual goals. In the work environment, we usually come across two types of motivations, the extrinsic (recognition, awards, praise or money) and intrinsic (internal values i.e. feeling good; achieving a positive reaction). Having clear motivation to reach your goals will result in satisfaction. This leads me to my final point.

Satisfaction

How great does it feel when your hard work pays off and you have achieved something that you have been striving for? Whether that be winning the rowing contest, bringing home bonuses or getting the recognition that you deserve. All of these are very satisfying, but would we be able to feel the satisfaction if we had not set clear goals in the first place?

We are regularly helping our clients with creating goals to improve their chances of success.

Marek Madle

Marek is a consultant in Optimum Consulting specialising in Technical Services. When Marek is not working, you can most likely find him on the field playing soccer in the Queensland National Premier League for Queensland Lions.