Get Better Results with Your Goals by Kristina Schmitt
on this metric and discussing why certain months were low and others were high and why some sales personnel didn’t close as many tasks as others. Managers then started giving feedback and relaying the message that all sales personnel must have tasks opened and tasks closed each month, with the target being to make those two metrics equal. This all makes sense because if you open tasks and close them each month, then in theory, the project moves toward a sale. However, because the metric got so much focus, the intention got lost. So, the well-meaning sales associate who didn’t want his boss to look bad to her boss started simply closing long- range tasks at the end of the month and then reopening them at the beginning of the next month. The metrics looked great, but the sales never came. We set goals so we can move forward, but when the intent gets lost, typically the goal gets lost as well. Review your goals. Are they moving you closer to where you want to be or are you distracted by the metric?
We all have great intentions, right? If that’s true (which I believe), then why do we forget them all the time? Often when we set goals, we get so focused on executing exactly what we’ve planned that we forget why
we wanted to accomplish them in the first place. While we like to think that our goals are based on data, specifically chosen to solve the exact problem we had, they’re not. Even the most data-driven plan is still an experiment toward a potential solution. It may be based on an educated guess, but it’s still a wildly out-of-control experiment because we can’t control many of the variables...and by that, I mean the people. We can’t control people! This is when we need to come back to the beginning intent. Often, we do a fantastic job of setting a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Agreed-upon, Realistic, and Time-bound), but in making it measurable, we sometimes lose the intention A sales organization implemented a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track the status of sales leads. They wanted to make sure that there was progress being made toward making the sale, so they set a metric to, each month, track tasks open versus tasks closed. They started reporting behind that goal. To illustrate this:
Power & Precision: Golf and Curling in Elgin County Elgin County Heritage Centre 460 Sunset Dr., St. Thomas September 3 – December 7, 2024 Elgin County Heritage Centre 460 Sunset Dr., St. Thomas September 3 – December 7, 2024 Includes items from the personal collection of Jim Waite , four-time Olympic Men’s Curling coach. Also featuring the Malahide Curling Medal, which has been competed for annually since 1865. Includes items from the personal collection of Jim Waite , four-time Olympic Men’s Curling coach. Also featuring the Malahide Curling Medal, which has been competed for annually since 1865. Power & Precision: Golf and Curling in Elgin County
OPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY - 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM 519.631.1460 EXT. 193 elgincounty.ca/museum St. Thomas Golf and Country Club, Union, c. 1929. Courtesy of the Elgin County Archives. OPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY - 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM 519.631.1460 EXT. 193 elgincounty.ca/museum St. Thomas Golf and Country Club, Union, c. 1929. Courtesy of the Elgin County Archives.
Hometown St. Thomas • October 2024 • Page 51
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