How to manage goals during 2021?

Goals are always a current issue. However, in the previous year I was often asked how goals should be managed in an age of turbulent change and uncertainty which cannot be influenced. In addition to the clients I worked with, my team and I also faced challenges during the previous year.

Based on that experience I have 3 recommendations for you:  

1. Recommendation: Set an annual goal, but focus on short-term goals

Focus on monthly, weekly and daily, even hourly goals. When you add up the accomplishments of 70% of the small goals, you should get 100% of the accomplishment of the big goal. This takes into account the fact that you may not be able to use up to 30% of the time for achieving goals due to objective circumstances. In several companies I worked with last year, we focused on the value of one day, and during it on the value of one hour, and we got significant increase in productivity.

2. Recommendation: Focus on efficiency if effectiveness is uncertain

If you are in an industry that depends on the measures we were exposed to during 2020, and they can jeopardise your effectiveness, then focus as much as possible on efficiency. This means that in the moments when you can work, you get the most out of those periods.

One of the wonderful things I learned in America is that in most cases people get paid by the hour. That’s how people understood the value and significance of an hour. In turbulent times, it is desirable to bring back to the minds of our people the value of one hour, and it is desirable to make the most of it.

3. Recommendation: Separate facts from challenges

People spend huge amounts of time focusing on things they can’t control. A fact is something we cannot change, we are aware that there are circumstances that many of us cannot influence at all. However, we can influence the challenges that lie ahead. First, the challenges of our personal skills and ability to cope with the changes that lie ahead. Then, the challenges of our team that we lead, for which we are responsible, as well as the ways in which we develop each individual. Thirdly, the results for the achievement of which we are responsible, regardless of the fact that we delegated the work to other people. Delegated work does not mean delegated responsibility at the same time.

Therefore, clearly define with yourself and your team members the facts and the challenges and dedicate yourself to the latter.

Don’t forget that if you really want to do something, you’ll find a way, if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

In the New Year, I wish you health and happiness, while all other parameters of success mostly depend on you, your motivation and ability to cope with them.

Good is the biggest opponent of the best, so my wish for you is to step out of your comfort zone and become even better with new ideas.