Written by Jon Althoff – Senior Director of Global Marketing for Skyline Exhibits.
I have loved being challenged in business for over 35 years. In CPG B2C (consumer packaged goods, business-to-consumer); in B2B (business-to-business). Manufacturing. Design. Chemicals. Food (my favorite was candy).
I’ve seen a lot over the years; made objectives most of the time, but many times I, and my organisations, did not. The reason why was occasionally something as obvious as the economy, but most often there was a controllable miss: bad planning and bad alignment.
The Easy Secret?
Tie Your Business Goals Together, In Writing, Top to Bottom.
You need only 3 sheets of paper or electronic documents. Old school, new school, doesn’t matter.
Sheet One
First is your Company or organization’s mission, vision, and values. It’s who you are, why you exist to serve. What you do well today (Mission), and what you hope to do well tomorrow (Vision) and the culture in which you do it (Values). Don’t get caught in semantics. Just write down what makes the most sense to you in your business/industry.
Sheet Two
Next, complete your annual plan goals that tie into your Mission, Vision and Values. Skyline does this in writing each year and posts it on a huge sign for all in the Company to see.
Sheet Three
Finally, provide each employee two things…first their department objectives tying into the Company annual objectives, and their personal objectives that tie into EVERYTHING and from which they will be personally measured and incentivized.
Sounds easy, right? It is easy if you are clear about who you are as a Company and where you are going. But I know from experience that less than 5% of entities do this from top to bottom. It takes discipline to make the time to gather the information and get buy in across the organization. Amaze yourself and your friends. Be one of the best in the world by taking this important step.
Get out your sheets or digital device and get it started, today!
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