Company Goals and Objectives with KanBo in the enterprise

With the proliferation of technology and the focus on process efficiency, it’s no surprise that business organizations are finding the use of goals to be a valuable component to any organization.

The next time you’re looking for solutions for your company’s goals and objectives, ask yourself the question “What’s our current state?” or “What are we trying to accomplish?” For many organizations that might be a little abstract, so your next solution is to explore some simple ways to measure, monitor, and progress towards the goals you set.

In this article, we explain why you should leverage goal setting strategies to strengthen your organization. What’s more, we show how you can put together a simple and effective cross-functional goal-setting process that can bring everyone together to set goals that help you grow your business.

So, go ahead and get started.

What are the goals of an enterprise?

Goals define what an organization is trying to achieve through expected outcomes that unite managers, guide employees, and dictate the flow of meaningful work. In large enterprises with many departments and employees, goals bring everyone together and give each part of the organization a purpose.

Organizational goals also act as performance standards for the organization to evaluate its growth, performance, and the improvements needed for the future. Ideally, goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, and timely. This ensures that organizational goals are realistic enough to be met in the right frame of time. When used correctly, goal setting can be an excellent framework for enterprises to increase efficiency, profitability, and productivity without too much overhead.

There are many ways for enterprises to set goals depending on what works for the organization. Many large enterprises are seeing amazing results by using goal setting strategies such as OKRs and SMART goals to break down their larger goals into measurable and actionable key results.

What are the objectives examples in large organizations?

Each objective is a small step towards achieving the final goal. Such objectives can be divided into a few different categories depending on their areas of focus. Here are some very basic examples of objectives that most large organizations set for themselves:

Financial Objectives

Financial objectives are set by managers to meet the financial targets of the organization. These objectives are often ambitious but realistic and measurable. An example of such an objective might be to grow company revenue and earnings by 15% in 12 months. Objectives need to be quantifiable to measure and track progress. Some other examples of financial objectives may include:

• Increase shareholder value
• Grow earning per share
• Reduce costs
• Grow revenue streams, Add in new Revenue streams
• Balance the Budget

Sales Objectives

Depending on the nature of the work of the company, sales objectives are also an important factor in helping organizations stay competitive. For example, you can set an objective of increasing sales by 10% within a year. Other examples include:

• Growing market share
• Improving product quality
• Increasing brand recognition.

Customer-Focused Objectives

These types of objectives keep customers at the forefront, ensuring that they have the best experience. These may include:

• Reduce the number and frequency of returns
• Improve response time
• Broaden product offerings
• Boost customer experience

These are just a few examples of business objectives that organizations can set for themselves. There are countless other aspects that organizations can improve by associating specific, realistic, and measurable objectives with them.

What is the meaning of goals and objectives for global corporations?

Goals define what an organization is trying to accomplish and consists of the major actions of the organization. For example, a large corporation may set a financial goal to increase revenue by a particular percentage in a given time.

Objectives on the other hand are more precise, time-based, and measurable. Objectives are generally related to the goal, are defined as clearly and concisely, and are measurable. In the above example of a financial goal, the objectives that support revenue growth may be to open several new stores in the given time.

To visualize the relationship between goals and objectives, you can imagine goals to be an umbrella with different spokes. Each spoke is an objective that needs to be fulfilled to complete the whole umbrella or the goal.

Corporations, no matter how big or small, need goals and objectives to guide employees and achieve success and growth. However, the effectiveness of goal setting depends on the effort the organization makes to meet them and how well they are implemented and measured.

How do you set goals and objectives for employees in your enterprise?

One of the direct impacts that goal setting has on your organization is on your employees and the work that they do. Goals and objectives can improve employee engagement and give them a sense of purpose that convinces them that they are contributing to the overall growth of the enterprise. This lets employees know the direct impact of their work and their role in the organization.

Here are some things to keep in mind while setting effective goals and objectives for employees:

Ensure Employee Involvement from Start to Finish

Since goals and objectives are being made for the benefit of employees, it is valuable to involve them in the process since day one. This allows enterprises to set ambitious yet realistic goals that the employees will be able to achieve. Managers can engage with their teams to develop SMART goals that can give employees a sense of responsibility and ownership.

Connect Individual Goals to Business Goals

Connecting individual goals to the business goals can show employees the big picture and how they are contributing to it. Many enterprises are linking team performance foals to the overall organizational goals to improve employee accountability and ensure that meaningful work is being done.

Set Dynamic Goals

In a fast-changing world, your goals can’t remain stagnant. As conditions change, there is a need to have goals that are adaptable and can be revised according to the rapidly changing conditions.

What are the strategic goals and objectives of large organizations?

Strategic objectives are the goals that define the big picture for the company, showing how the company will fulfill its mission. These are usually performance goals that need to be fulfilled at a certain time like 3 to 5 years. Some examples may include, launching a new product, increasing revenue, establishing a new store, etc.

Once the business objectives are set, the enterprise needs to lay out the strategies of how these objectives will be achieved. The decisionmakers in large organizations are responsible for creating the overall business-level strategy to reach the pre-defined targets. For smaller organizations, this may be done at only one level.

On the other hand, in large companies like Nike and Apple, which have a host of different business units, strategies are developed at multiple levels. Each business unit in a large organization sets objectives while the decisionmakers at the top of the organization create a corporate strategy for the entire company. These different levels of objectives combined, push the company towards growth and prosperity.

How do you write smart goals and objectives?

First coined in 1954, the term SMART goals has since become highly popular among business managers and educators. It is a tried and tested goal setting mechanism that was developed by Peter F. Drucker and has been used by businesses all over the world.

Writing SMART goals is made easier if you examine each of the components embedded in the acronym.

S for Specific: Make your goals and objectives as clear, concise, and specific as possible.

M for Measurable: Make your goals quantitative by including a unit of measurement in them. This helps make the goals easily measurable.

A for Achievable: Your goals can be ambitious but it needs to be achievable according to the resources available.

R for Realistic: Keep your goals realistic and focus on the path that will take you there. Set yourself up for success instead of disappointment.

T for Time-bound: Include a deadline to keep you on track. This deadline can be anything from a day to a year. You can also include a date if possible.

How do you implement Company Goals and Objectives in your corporation with KanBo?

Once you have passed the planning process, it’s time to implement the defined goals to make them a reality. This is the most important part of goal setting as it defines how effective goal setting will be for your organization. Cutting corners in this step usually results in unfavorable outcomes and disappointment. Here are some ways to implement company goals and objectives to achieve the greatest success:

Involve your Employees

Let your employees in on the overall goals of the organization and the direct impact of their performance on it. This ensures that your workforce is motivated and ready to contribute from day one.

Tracking to Improve Visibility

As the famous saying goes, out of sight out of mind. This is true for company goals and objectives as well. Many employees and managers may leave a goal-setting meeting with renewed enthusiasm but the day-to-day struggle can quickly wipe that out. It is important to remind employees time and again about what they need to be focusing on and why their work matters. For this, companies need a way to track goals in one place and make them more visible to everyone.

Defining Clear Milestones

Milestones can let you know when you’re on track to achieving your goals. Milestones need to be quantitative and measurable with a due date and a person who is accountable for ensuring its success.

Connect Projects to Milestones

Your employees need to see the bigger picture to feel motivated while they work on their projects. Connect the small projects to the overall milestones of the company to give employees a sense of importance.

Keep Everyone Updated & Celebrate Achievements

Regularly share updates to keep everyone in the loop of how the company is growing. This can boost morale while allowing everyone to remain invested in the success of the company as you celebrate achievements together. Bad news can also be shared to motivate everyone to do better in the future.

Utilize Previous Goals for Future Improvement

As you have tracked your goals, milestones, and performance, you can easily derive important lessons from it and strive to do better the next year. You may want to take your goals a step further and improve in each iteration to ensure continuous growth.

Conclusion

Company goals are the destination of your organization and objectives are the guiding lights that will take you there. Each project a company undertakes at any level paves the way to the achievement of a new business goal.

By ensuring the right frameworks for goal setting, effective implementation, and regular tracking, your employees can focus on work that really matters and your company can stay on the path to success.