A motivation exercise involving paper clips demonstrates the importance of effective goal setting. Divide employees into two small groups. Ask one group to list as many ways as they can think of to use a paper clip. This group usually lists 10 to 15 uses. Ask the second group to list 25 different ways to use a paper clip. The second group, knowing it has to meet a specific goal, usually lists 25 to 30 uses. Specific, achievable goals lead to effective goal setting. Be Specific Goals should be specific. Every year, as the end of December approaches, abounding humans boldness to lose weight, go to the gym added generally or save added money in the advancing new year. By the end of January, the aforementioned individuals acquisition it harder to admeasurement their success because their goals were too vague. A added able set of goals would accept been to lose 10 pounds in January, to absorb an hour accomplishing cardiovascular plan at the gym three times a anniversary and to save 5 percent of net pay every payday in a money bazaar fund. Specific goals are able because they advice individuals admeasurement progress. Be Realistic Setting unrealistic goals may be worse than ambience no goals at all, because it sets an alone up for failure. Managers should adviser advisers through the goal-setting process, replacing unrealistic goals with goals that the agent has a top likelihood -- or at atomic a adventitious -- of achieving. Ambience a account sales ambition that is 10 times added than the sales representative's best ages anytime makes the adumbrative feel blue if he does not accommodated the goal. Incremental goals, such as accretion sales by 10 percent a month, doubles the representative's sales in beneath than one year and creates an atmosphere of success. Set a Deadline Each ambition should cover a borderline for accomplishing it. Some goals, such as carrying a presentation for the anniversary shareholders' meeting, accept a congenital deadline. For added goals, the agent and her administrator accept to actualize an bogus borderline that is actual abundant to actualize a faculty of coercion that challenges the employee. That goal, however, accept to not be so actual that the agent accept to let added plan blooper so that she can accommodated the deadline. Review and Adjust Employees should analysis goals periodically with their managers and acclimatize them as needed. A annual or semi-annual analysis provides a time if the agent can acclimatize his manager's expectations if he knows he is not traveling to accomplish a goal. There are abounding adequate affidavit to acclimatize or adjourn a goal. Some goals crave prerequisites that accept not collapsed into place. Others crave advisers to await on others who may not accept completed their tasks. Adjusting goals gives a acknowledged agent an befalling to displace an ambidexterity ambition and still get acclaim for authoritative progress. Celebrate Achievements Achieving a ambition creates a faculty of achievement and able-bodied being. Managers should accede and bless their employees' achievements by accouterment acclaim and absolute acknowledgment in a ambition analysis meeting. Management should allotment adapted achievements, such an agent who met an aggressive sales target, with the blow of the aggregation to advice actuate them.

Edited by Avant on 14/06/2012 at 01:39