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Setting objectives.

Article Excerpt
Introduction

This checklist is designed for those managers who participate in setting corporate objectives and who then have to interpret and apply such objectives to their own functional or departmental operation, including setting objectives with and for the people under their responsibility.

Setting corporate objectives means clarifying the strategic and policy requirements of the organisation and setting and agreeing complementary operational objectives in relation to them. It is an integrated process which links corporate planning to business operations. As objectives are "rolled down" the organisation, they are usually made more specific. Every department, every team and every individual can and should have objectives.

For objectives to be successfully achieved, it is necessary to identify an area of responsibility, such as improving performance or service, and to prioritise them by those which "must" be done and those which "we would like to have done". Write objective statements which are SMART--Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, Time (and resource) constrained. They should be subjected to a process of discussion, compromise and agreement between those setting the objective and those who are to tackle it. Once agreed with the performer they should be written down for purposes of clarification and referral. Agreement with the performer, which is not always possible, but which...