These 16 activities enable you to focus on the responsibility everybody has for setting objectives that not only develop the individual, but also contribute to the overall goals of your organisation.
Participants learn how to agree and monitor objectives that are (and remain) current, relevant and focused – and therefore much more likely to be seen through to completion. The activities draw upon your participants’ own work environment to develop objectives that are relevant and immediately useful.
There is also a generous selection of role-plays, case studies and examples based on real situations taken from a range of organisations.
Learning includes:
- How to set effective objectives
- How to keep momentum going, after objectives have been agreed
- How to amend objectives when circumstances change
- How to review progress and reward success.
List of Activities:
1. Objectives: what they are and why they exist
This activity introduces participants to the broad topic of setting objectives and seeing them through. It emphasises that objectives exist to improve performance, motivation and levels of satisfaction.
2. Introducing SMART objectives
Participants get to know SMART objectives and to understand the value of applying SMART when agreeing objectives.
3. Let's get specific
An activity that focuses on the Specific aspect of agreeing objectives. Participants work on improving examples of vague statements that are often put forward as objectives.
4. Measuring progress and success
Exercises and case studies that focus in great detail on the Measurable aspect of objectives. The activity emphasises the importance of considering all the measurable aspects that may affect objectives, not just the most obvious.
5. Agreeing individual objectives
An activity that concentrates on why objectives need to be Agreed by those involved rather than imposed on members of staff. This activity examines the benefits of gaining commitment to the objectives and focuses on how objectives are agreed during a one-to-one interview.
6. Setting realistic objectives
Exercises and a case study that focus in great detail on the importance of agreeing Realistic objectives that stretch people, but not to breaking point.
7. When will it all happen?
Exercises and case studies that focus on ensuring that objectives are Timebound. This activity emphasises the importance of including interim steps to check timings before agreeing final timescales where appropriate. The activity also guides participants through a full project-planning exercise, which will enable them to assess timescales as accurately as possible.
8. The organisational perspective
An activity that examines objective setting from an organisational perspective and illustrates how objective setting at all levels must tie in with organisational aims.
9. Departmental objectives
This is where objectives start to get more specific, giving a clear view of the targets and expectations of departments and functions. This activity examines departmental objective setting and asks participants to show where their own departmental objectives fit in to the bigger picture.
10. Team objectives
The key link between departmental and individual objectives. Agreeing team objectives can be more difficult than agreeing individual objectives as more people need to be involved in the process. This activity introduces the line manager to a method of agreeing team objectives that has been designed to gain maximum input and commitment.
11. Task-based objectives
Task-based objectives normally relate to discrete tasks or projects with a clearly stated outcome. This activity covers the benefits of task-based objectives while raising awareness of the problems associated with an overly task-orientated approach.
12. Developmental objectives
Developmental objectives are more difficult to set, monitor and review than task-based objectives but can be far more valuable. This activity focuses on what's best for your team rather than what brings the easiest results.
13. Monitoring progress
All objectives need to be monitored formally and informally. This activity helps the manager to work with team members to decide on an appropriate monitoring system. It also emphasises the importance to the manager of continuing to discreetly monitor progress to avoid any surprises as the buck suddenly returns home!
14. Reviewing progress
Formal progress reviews are an essential part of seeing objectives through to a successful outcome. This activity examines review methods and appropriate timescales.
15. Keeping up momentum and rewarding success
It's hard to keep up the enthusiasm that marks the launch of a project. It's even harder to keep the momentum going when objectives are ongoing and not so high profile. This activity looks at the importance of making specific efforts to raise the profile of work in progress, and to give reward and recognition of what has been achieved so far. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs plus the participants' own knowledge of what motivates individual members of their team helps them plan a rewards programme that ranges from 'Thanks David, I appreciate that' to a full-blown awards ceremony. The guiding themes of this activity are what's appropriate and what works.
16. Amending objectives
Things change and we have to meet changes with flexibility. Striving to fulfil objectives that have shifted in importance is a waste of everyone's time. There are also times when objectives will need to be amended because of fundamental flaws at the setting stage. If this happens, it must be accepted and lessons learnt from it. This activity examines the situations when amendments may be needed and looks at how to implement them.
374 pages, with 162 OK to copy pages.
