Every person has a goal. For some, it’s small, like buying a new phone or going on vacation. For others it is larger: for example, creating a business with a turnover of a million rubles a month or building a house for a family. Still others focus on the global and practically unattainable: becoming president, solving the problem of poverty in the country, establishing peace throughout the world.
Very often people confuse the concepts of “goal” and “dream”. Although they are similar to each other, they are very different in meaning.
A dream is a hypothetical object or phenomenon, upon achieving which a person will, as he believes, feel happiness.
A goal is an ideal or real object of a person’s aspiration, towards the achievement of which a person’s thought process and actions are directed.
The difference between these concepts is that the “goal” is measurable and creates a direction - a vector, the achievement of a goal. It has a direction of movement, and the dream simply exists. A dream pleases the mind with its presence, but the goal has a very real framework, and most importantly, to achieve it you can make step by step plan. As the saying goes: “A goal is a dream with a specific deadline”.
We are more fully exploring the principles of setting and achieving goals in the “” project. Connect and achieve your goals easier and faster!
Most people make goal setting too easy. We thought about her, and that’s enough. But setting a goal and achieving a goal are inextricably linked. The more precisely it is set, the easier it is to achieve.
There are several methods for staging it, they are all similar to each other like brothers. But the most common is the S.M.A.R.T. system. When setting a goal, it is necessary to take into account 5 main components that allow you to specify it as much as possible, making the steps to achieve it clear and consistent.
Only after it has been fully worked out according to these five criteria can and should be created a plan for its implementation and broken down into specific tasks.
Now several important points. Do not confuse “goal” and “task”. A task is a specific action, the implementation of which brings us closer to achieving the goal. For example, “Create a business plan for an online store” is a task. And “Provide a stable monthly income of $10,000 for your family” is the goal.
It’s also worth clearly defining what you really need. Buying a car within a certain period of time is a goal. The desire to ensure comfortable movement in the city is more like a task or a wish.
Determine what you really want. Many goals can be imposed by society, so it’s worth understanding your desires. You need to think carefully, and if you really want to achieve it, then go ahead! If it matches your deepest values and desires automatically.
There is nothing easier than achieving goals, and nothing more difficult than achieving goals. How many books have been written, how many trainings have been conducted, how much money has been earned from the ignorance of people who consider themselves losers. I am writing this note for myself, first of all, to understand what I myself know about this.
The most clear technology for achieving goals, which I became familiar with relatively recently. By the way, even without this knowledge I managed to achieve some results, but not always, or rather sometimes. So, let's decipher this strange abbreviation, which is also a step-by-step instruction for setting goals:
Here everything is described in detail: “SMART goals, or Conditions for setting goals.” But why is it not always possible to achieve goals, sometimes without even starting?
Based on your own experience I want to highlight several problem areas that are worth paying attention to.
Inarticulateness. When a goal is unclear, it is unclear how to achieve it, and it is unclear how to determine that it has been achieved. An example of a vague goal: to become a dancer. How do you know that you have already become a dancer? Hell knows. But here is a more clear statement: one year, five times a week for three hours, study dancing (or graduate from the choreographic department of the Institute of Culture).
Why do I need this? When you set a goal and cannot answer the question “Why?”, most likely the goal will not be achieved. And the body simply will not release enough energy to achieve it, especially when it becomes difficult or temptations arise. Motivation should be simple and clear, for example: earn money for a car, take a break from work, update the interior of your apartment, etc.
Call. Drive appears when, in the process of achieving a goal, you can surpass yourself a little. For example, achieve best result than before, to win a competition or create something that you haven’t created before, but this idea just energizes you. Most often, the challenge is hidden in the goal setting itself: it’s one thing to put brick wall It’s quite another to build a temple.
Deadline. Limiting deadlines acts like a battery for the brain: knowing that there is less and less time left, you begin to better focus on the most important things and cut off everything unnecessary. Even if the goal is very difficult, it can and should be broken down into steps and set a deadline for the first step, then take a break and move on.
Energy dissipation. It is best to focus on one important goal at a given moment, or maximum two. Focusing on multiple targets simultaneously dissipates energy: a river can turn the turbines of a hydroelectric power plant when all the streams merge into a single whole.
What can interfere? When setting a goal, it is important to pay attention to factors that may interfere with its achievement. Focusing on them helps you find potential problems, develop ways to solve them, and protect yourself.
Progress monitoring. It is important to see what stage you are at now and how much is left until the end. This is very energizing and stimulating, especially when your strength is running low and you want to give up everything.
Celebrating goal achievement. Achievements should be enjoyed and celebrated, especially if you have been working towards your goal for a long time. Our brain is designed in such a way that it releases neurotransmitters for different actions to make us feel pleasure. If we don't feel the satisfaction of achieving our goals, if we don't celebrate and praise ourselves, life ultimately comes down to an endless race to achieve. Do we achieve something in order to get pleasure and enjoy the result in the end, or not?
To understand how to achieve a goal, you don’t have to go into theory. You need to set yourself a simple goal and achieve it. For example: in a month I want to do 20 push-ups to surprise my mother. The boy said, the boy planned, the boy did. It's simple!
Wunderlist - a simple task manager
They really confused and made me sad, and quite recently I realized why.
First, I saw a speech by Maxim Batyrev (manager, author of the book “45 Manager Tattoos.” - Ed.), who, based on examples from his life, sorted everything out:
Then I came across Steve Pavlina’s book “Personal Development Course for Smart People,” in which I found ideas that confirmed and complemented my personal guesses. Below are a few key quotes.
“Whenever you set a goal to achieve something, always ask yourself the following question: “How does setting this goal improve my present reality?” If it does not improve your present reality, then the goal is meaningless and you can discard it. But if it brings more clarity, focus and motivation to your life when you think about it, it's worth it.
Set goals that help you feel strong, motivated and proactive long before the end result is achieved!
If you set a goal that improves your present reality, then what difference does it make whether it takes a week, a month or ten years to achieve the final result? The entire journey is fun and enjoyable.
What's even more important is that you feel happy and fulfilled at this very moment. You act in a state of joy, so you are also productive. Instead of pursuing a goal that you think will make you happy in the distant future, focus on a goal that makes you happy right now. Your goals don't actually have to be specific, clear, and measurable.
You don't need clear deadlines and a detailed step-by-step plan. All you need is a burning desire to take appropriate action.
Don't set boring goals that don't excite you. Focus on goals that inspire and motivate you in the present tense. Because this is the only place where you have any real powers.
If you are not ready to take action, it means your intentions are weak. You try to create something that you don't want badly enough, and it dies on the vine. Yours physical body is part of the process by which your intentions manifest. True desires will make you get up and start moving. If you find yourself completely unprepared to hit the nail on the head, then you've set the wrong goals.
Desire is the fuel for movement. If you try to use false desires as fuel, you will simply not move. If there is no movement, there is no motivation.
Achieving meaningful goals usually requires hard work, but if your goals are right for you, then such work will not bring you suffering.
Choose goals that are so exciting that you will not find it difficult to make serious efforts.”
In short, a big dream and desires - that’s what’s more important than all the recipes and recommendations. This is the main motivation and fuel of your ship called “Life”.
On my website there is already a list of reasons that . Today I decided to list my personal life principles on how to achieve my goal. I try to stick to them, whether it works or not... well, I try. 🙂 For example, now I’m trying to lose an extra 15 kg, if anyone is interested, join.
Perhaps someone has their own experience and I'd love to hear it, so feel free to comment. It's not just about achieving goals in work, but in life in general. Creativity, personal life, sports, raising children, whatever. In my opinion, the most important thing is not to burn out in the flames of enthusiasm at first and not to get stuck in the swamp of routine later. So, let's begin.
1. Ignore criticism. There is no useful criticism, no matter what anyone says. An assessment of another person, even an authoritative and competent one, is only a subjective opinion. No one will appreciate your work better than you. Be demanding of yourself: if you admit that everything turned out well and you are not ashamed of what you are doing, then this means that the chosen direction is the right one.
Do not enter into arguments with critics, do not try to justify your position - this blurs your attention and brings doubts. “Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your inner voice,” said Steve Jobs and he was right a thousand times.
2. Study other people's experiences. Some may think that this point contradicts the previous one, but this is not so. Other people's experience is a source of invaluable knowledge and inspiration, but know how to use it. Don't take on everything you learn: only seek advice when you really need it. Specific advice means its specific implementation in your work. No knowledge for the future - without immediate practice, it is not only useless, but also harmful.
3. Do only things that give you real pleasure. Make sure that your favorite job brings you money to at least eat, but don’t stop thinking about how to increase your professional level and income. If you are persistent and consistent, you will sooner or later achieve what you want. There are no areas where a real specialist cannot earn money. Passion for what you do and sincere interest is a reinforced concrete battering ram that nothing can resist.
4. Don't go deep into theory until you've had at least basic practice. Don’t carry tons of information into your head about the subject you are going to study. Don't go to seminars with people who teach something they've never done professionally. Don’t ask the billionaire for secrets about how he made his first million, ask Vasya how he opened his first stall.
Someone may say something like: if you want to earn a million, you need to earn a million. Is not more than beautiful phrase, in fact, behind every million there are their own “stalls”. Get a job in the field in which you are going to do business - even the smallest practice is worth a big theory.
5. Perceive movement towards the goal not as a decisive battle, but as a long war. Many people mistakenly believe that achieving a goal is a result, but in fact it is a continuous process. It is impossible to get what you really want with one single effort of will and strength. The high jump is preceded by running, but in the standings we will not see how fast the athlete ran, we will only see the height of the jump. Someone's success seems like a clearly calibrated plan, whereas before that there was a long series of hesitations, failures and failed projects, which allowed him to accumulate experience.
The Rovio company, which earned millions from Angry Birds, is seen by many as an example of super-success: the guys got together, wrote a game and the next day woke up rich and famous. In fact, there were six years of hard work before the birds, when Rovio released other games that did not find much popularity. And only knowledge and experience led them to a real breakthrough.
The process of moving towards a goal is cyclical, the next stagnation is actually the accumulation of experience, which, like a straightened spring, will allow you to move to a higher level. Don’t be afraid to lose a single battle, never despair, think strategically and remember one thing: “I will achieve my goal.”
6. Don't look for an original idea. When “business coaches” inspire their students that there is no point in doing what other people have already done, but that they need to look for some unoccupied niche that will allow them to instantly get rich, then they are simply saying what they want to hear from them. People are very pleased to think that somewhere in the information field of the planet there are fundamentally new ideas that just need to be thought of, and then it’s all in the bag.
In fact, all ideas that seem to come out of nowhere to an outside observer are the result of the development of someone's experience and knowledge. Nothing comes from emptiness new idea always appears on the basis of practice. The concept of the iPhone emerged during the development of the iPad, as a result of the experience and intuition of Steve Jobs and his team. Newton discovered his law of gravity not because an apple fell on his head, but because he constantly thought about this topic.
If you want to spend your life dreaming about great things, keep looking for a super idea. If you want to achieve something, start small. Study the usual average examples, because if they work for their owners, they can work for you. More practice, less ambition.
7. Don't change direction at the first failure. Some time after the start of any activity, the basic charge of enthusiasm ends, and it will probably seem to you that the chosen niche is not the most lucrative, the direction is a dead end, etc. It may seem that you are not suitable for this activity, that there is no progress and will not be made.
Categorically stop the psyche’s attempts to disperse attention to many objects. Don't panic, be patient and continue in the same direction. You need to go through at least several cycles of enthusiasm/apathy in order to accumulate real experience about your niche and understand how to achieve your goal here. If you rush from one idea to another, nothing will work out at all.
8. Look not only up, but also to the sides. It happens that after a long time you really understand that you cannot succeed in your field. There is no talent, there is not enough time, and most importantly, there is no desire. In this case, you shouldn’t throw away everything you’ve gained, but you just need to look around and see where else you can apply your knowledge.
One of my friends, tired of two decades of teaching at school, went free as a tutor. She did exactly what she liked, studied psychology in depth and sincerely fell in love with her new occupation. As a result, in a few years her income skyrocketed compared to the school salary, and it was possible to sign up for her classes only after a long waiting list. This is a great example of looking around when there seems to be no way up.
9. Don't regret the past, don't worry about the future. You should never think about what happened or, on the contrary, did not happen. Yes, almost every person understands that if they had done something differently, then now everything would be completely different. This is fine. This is exactly the experience I talk about all the time. I don’t care - you can’t change this, and as practice shows, you won’t even be able to draw a conclusion. You will probably step on the same rake again.
It's the same with the future. What's the use of taking care of it, building it? detailed plans, count every step. All the same, all these developments will be destroyed at the first collision with reality. All planning must come from daily practice, as a reaction to what is happening. The general plan should not be unshakable; never force yourself into a framework.
10. Envy successful people. Strange advice, isn't it? 🙂 In fact, it is very useful if you use it constructively. I don't believe in white or black envy, it's just different shades one emotion. Anyone who sees a more successful competitor will feel a pang of envy - this is a normal human reaction. It is necessary not to restrain this feeling, but to direct it in the right direction. Carefully study your competitors, understand what they do, who helps them and what, analyze which of their techniques can work in your business.
11. Use every day. Very important rule which is almost universally neglected. I can judge from my own experience that achieving a goal is usually perceived as a kind of brainstorming, mobilization of all strength and will. All this is accompanied by a powerful surge of enthusiasm. Everything is boiling around, the work is burning in your hands, but... after a while apathy sets in, disbelief that the result is even achievable.
So, instead of gushing with enthusiasm, moving mountains, immediately make it a point for yourself that in addition to all the feats, you are obliged to do part of some routine work every day. And then, when your exploits in the workplace fade away, these small steps will take you to your goal, sooner or later. For example, if you are writing a book and you come up with an idea for another, much more ingenious one, then in addition to many hours of thinking, do not forget to write several chapters of the old one, even if now it seems boring and uninteresting to you. If you quit, then exactly the same thing will happen to the new book.
12. Don't expect 100% readiness. How often do people refuse to realize their desires just because, as it seems to them, they are not ready yet. Analyzing my experience, I can say that everything I did in my life, I did precisely when I was unprepared for it. If you have any doubts about your readiness, just brush them aside. A person sitting in one place is unable to understand whether he is ready or not. Almost always, what you imagined “on the shore” turns out to be very far from what is “at sea”.
There is no such thing as complete readiness and there cannot be, especially if we're talking about about the implementation of ideas. Here I can only cite the motto of a man I respect very much, Richard Branson: “To hell with everything, get on with it and do it.” That’s exactly it - take it and do it, don’t think about whether you’re ready or not. You will understand in the process. Otherwise you will sit and wait. All life.
13. Acknowledge your shortcomings, but don't let them take over. We must honestly admit our weak sides, but this does not mean that they can be indulged. If you are lazy, then the worst thing you can do is say: “yes, it’s true, nothing will help me, I won’t achieve anything.” On the contrary, if you are pathologically lazy, strain your brain to automate routine work or push it onto someone else.
If you are aggressive and get angry easily, take up amateur sports. There you will not only be able to get relief, but will also achieve some results thanks to these negative qualities. Do you have bad memory— train, learn languages. Unlike a person with normal memory, who would never even think of sitting down to study textbooks, you will at least be able to express yourself in a foreign language if you show persistence.
14. Don't dismiss other people's experiences for personal reasons.. There is an opinion that there are certain “unethical” methods used by MLMs, NLP specialists, “black” businessmen, etc. This is all nonsense - there is a tool, but how to use it is up to the person himself. You shouldn’t dismiss the experience of all these sectarians, if only because it really works. Underneath the external “gypsyism” there is a lot of psychology: probably no one has more practice on how to train oneself to achieve results, how to subordinate other people to one’s goal.
Take a closer look at any working methods, try to understand how they work. The human psyche is the same everywhere, whether it concerns grandmothers selling dietary supplements or selling limousines to the rich. You can always apply something to your specific needs; you should not neglect such experience just because its bearers evoke bad feelings in you.
15. Think. Perhaps this point should have been put first, but let it be as it is. Unfortunately, most of our time at work is consumed by routine and routine, so we have almost no opportunity to think about our business. And this is very important: we need to constantly think about what we are doing, analyze, compare with competitors, and look for new facets.
If you constantly think in the right direction, then new thoughts will definitely appear, and then you yourself will be surprised that you walked around for so long and could not think of it. And it's simple - modern man very, very rarely consciously uses his brain, acting daily according to the action-reaction scheme. The brain adjusts to working according to a pattern and filters all ideas so as not to lose its rhythm.
And when to think and reflect if, having found yourself in the arms of the sofa after a busy day at work, you no longer want anything but to watch the news and sleep? My answer: refuse the sofa, and relax on the bike. Even being very tired, after ten minutes of leisurely cycling, I felt that my brain was cleared of unnecessary information and I could think about the matter. This is probably due to the increased blood circulation, but be that as it may, it really works! The worst thing you can do is sit down in front of your computer or TV to “relax.”
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Dream, cherished desire, life goal– at first glance, these are similar concepts. In fact, these words mean completely different things. A dream may be unrealistic, and a desire may be impossible to fulfill. In order for what you dream to come true, you need to move from wishes to goal setting. However, the goal can also remain unachieved if you formulate it incorrectly. Setting goals correctly and achieving them. This logical chain is the path to success.
Goal setting is the process of setting a goal. Many popular science books are devoted to this concept. According to psychologists, a correctly formulated task is a 50% guarantee of its achievement. Many people don’t know how to set goals correctly. Therefore, it is not surprising that trainings where professional psychologists teach the basic principles of goal setting have become popular. Unlike desires and dreams, a goal is a definite, clear concept, since it has a specific result behind it. This result must be seen. You must believe in achieving your goal. Only then can it really be achieved.
Formulations: “I want to expand my business”, “I want to increase my income” are examples of desires. To translate them into the category of goals, you need to specifically define what it means for you to expand your business. Open new branches? Expand the range of services? Attract more clients? Increase production volume? How much to increase or expand: by 20% or 2 times? The result you strive for must be measurable.
The result you strive for must be measurable.
It is best to write down a specific goal in your diary. To formulate it, use active verbs such as “do”, “earn”, “achieve”. Do not use the words “must”, “necessary”, “needed”, “should”, as they carry a semantic connotation of coercion and overcoming internal barriers. This is your goal. You want to achieve it, no one is forcing you to do it.
Achieving goals that are too simple is not fun. The task must be complex so that you have to overcome difficulties on the way to it; this is the only way to develop. But the goal must be real. Therefore, before formulating it, it is necessary to analyze the current state of affairs and evaluate the available resources and capabilities. It is unlikely to be possible to open 5 new branches at once or increase income 10 times. Achieve smaller goals first. Over time, you will come to what you didn’t even dare to dream about at the beginning of your journey.
Correct goal setting necessarily contains an indication of the time for its achievement. For example, goals to expand the customer base or increase production volume need to be specified in percentage terms (by 30%) and a period (1 year).
If you learn to correctly and specifically formulate goals for yourself, you will be able to clearly and clearly set them for others. The head of the organization must know the basic principles of goal setting. Then he will require his managers to correctly formulate the goals of their work. And this is a guarantee that they will actually complete their tasks.
The methods for achieving goals are:
A goal always leads to action, because if you do nothing, you won’t achieve your goal. And vice versa, in order to start acting, you need to set yourself a goal. There is no better motivation for action.
The company's corporate culture should include proper organization and effectively achieving the firm's goals. This is necessary to determine the direction of development and ensure the implementation of the company’s strategic plan for the near future.
Goals must be clearly defined for each level of the organization, each of its departments and divisions, as well as for each individual employee. And not only current ones, but also long-term ones. Only then will employees be aware of what they are doing and what result they should get, and will be able to give a more accurate assessment of their activities in terms of approaching the goal.
A certain result must be achieved. This is what we need to strive for. When a person achieves a goal, it is necessary to set a new task and specify what the expected result is. However, the use of this approach is advisable in relation not to one or several employees, but to the entire personnel of the organization.
Strategic Planning Process Cycle (Infographic)
You need to start from the company’s goal, formulated in quality policy. You need to focus on it when assigning tasks to departments. And on the basis of them, the goals of each sector are formed, the achievement of which is possible with the help of specific actions. The process is similar for the next stage: the tasks of the lower level are formed taking into account the goals of the higher level. The lowest level is the individual employee, for whom goals, objectives and activities are determined in this way. The formulation of individual goals for each employee is not necessary; team goals can be defined.
Setting goals requires taking into account a number of factors:
Employees must also be involved in setting goals. But the choice of ways to achieve them is the prerogative of the employee himself. It is the responsibility of managers to create the necessary conditions for achieving the goal (time, personnel, funds). During the work process, management assistance (advice) may also be required. In addition, it must monitor the timely completion of tasks and, if necessary, adjust goals. Another responsibility of managers is to compare the goals of different departments and prevent competition and contradictions between them.
The manager’s task is to monitor the completion of tasks and the work process, intervening in it if necessary. If " targeted management» is organized correctly, it will perfectly motivate staff, since success can be measured, and results in achievements will become obvious. Communication will improve within the organization - both regarding personal successes and the results of the entire unit. The coordination of individual goals and objectives with the overall goals of the organization will become real. And if an employee sees that he is participating in achieving common goal, then he does not focus on his interests. In addition, he better understands the work of others.
In 2009, the management of one organization took measures to achieve planned turnover indicators. The goal was to sell goods worth $7 million in 5 months. The CEO developed a plan according to which the task of 20 employees for the next 2 months was to call potential clients and communicate with those who had already purchased goods from the company.
Employees had to find out whether customers were going to upgrade or expand their computer fleet and purchase software. The call showed that clients are not against cooperation. The estimated value of the transactions was more than $22 million.
Those who called potential buyers, be sure to record their needs if customers were at least a little interested in the company’s products. This information was sent to the department that interacts with customers. The employees of the telephone sales department strived at all costs to complete the tasks facing them, and they succeeded. However, as it turned out later, the sales amounted to only $2.5 million.
What caused the failure? An analysis of the achievement of the organization's goals showed that in order to fulfill the plan, employees deleted old records and created new ones, while assessing the likelihood of sales too optimistically. For example, after calling a client in Yekaterinburg, employees found out that he wants to purchase products worth $20 million within 3 months, and plans to purchase $600 million in 2-3 years.
And the system indicated that the amount of transactions with this client over 3 months would be $600 million. That is, the key goal (sales) was replaced with a secondary one (filling the system with data on the expected amount of transactions in the future).
How to achieve goals using the “Ivanushka the Fool Strategy”
The changing economic situation, new technologies and competitors pose challenges to top managers and company employees. Past experience and solutions that have already been tested in practice do not give the desired effect. The search for new options is associated with risk, so there is a feeling of impasse.
To abandon yesterday’s actions and solve the problem, use the “Fool Ivanushka strategy.” Find out how this technology works from the article in the electronic magazine “Commercial Director”.
A practitioner tells
Eric Blondeau,
General Director of the Russian hypermarket chain Mosmart, Moscow
The basis of the organization's strategy is corporate resources. When building it, I recommend adhering to the formula “goal - mission - policy”.
The purpose of the organization must be specified. Every employee should know it. Our goal is to increase the company's capitalization. The goal is based on the mission, and that is based on the four postulates of the company:
The mission is a kind of foundation. Management priorities are based on company policy. Its focus is on people, assets, finance and products. Any employee who has been trained by the company is familiar with its policies. Management is entirely determined by it. It even reveals the ability of the organization’s personnel to achieve designated goals, the company’s architecture, etc.
The method of achieving a goal (how to achieve it) is considered in a general sense, namely, what activities the organization conducts. In order to avoid confusion and misunderstanding in the process of accomplishing tasks, managers should develop additional plans and specific instructions to achieve goals. The process of implementing all points of the strategy must be streamlined.
Formal planning has the following key components: tactics, policies, procedures and rules.
Tactics. To implement long-term plans, you need to create short-term ones that are consistent with them. Short-term strategy is tactics. Let us characterize the tactical plans:
Policy. Once strategy and tactics are developed, managers need to set additional guidelines to ensure that staff are not disoriented or misinterpreting the company's plans. That is, a policy needs to be developed.
Policy is a general guide for action and decision making. Its task is to make it easier to achieve goals.
As a rule, policy formation is carried out senior managers. It is being developed for a long time. It directs action towards achieving a goal or completing a task. It explains what methods should be used to achieve the stated goals. Politics helps to maintain consistency of goals and avoid making short-sighted decisions.
Procedures. It takes more than politics to lead action. It is also mandatory for managers to develop procedures. Using the experience gained to make future decisions can be very beneficial for the organization. Reminders of the past help prevent wrong actions. In the case of frequent repetition of a situation, when developing a solution, managers, as a rule, try to use a proven method of action, considering this to be correct.
A procedure is a description of the actions required to be carried out in a specific situation.
Rules. If the plan can be successfully implemented only if the task is carried out precisely, then management may decide that there should be no freedom of choice. It can be completely excluded even when there is a possibility of employee behavior that could cause undesirable consequences. Rules may be developed by management to restrict the actions of personnel to ensure that specific tasks are performed in certain ways.
A rule prescribes a certain course of action in a specific single situation.
The difference between rules and procedures is that they regulate the solution of a specific and limited issue, while procedures are guidelines for action in situations in which several successive operations are interconnected.
Strategy is a set of rules and techniques that allow achieving the main long-term goal of an organization's development.
When developing a company development strategy, you must comply with the following requirements:
An organization's strategy is a program that allows for forward-looking management. In this regard, management technologies, the level of personnel training, and the socio-psychological situation in the company must correspond to the content of the strategy.
A company may have more than one strategy. Let's consider the most important one - economic. It gives answers to the questions “What and how much to produce?”, “What methods and means to use for production?”, “For whom and when to produce?”
These issues will be revealed if the economic strategy clearly regulates:
By establishing rules and techniques that allow the effective implementation of these areas of activity, the economic strategy of the company from the moment its production profile begins to take shape, and all subsequent times while it operates, should have the goal of maintaining a competitive advantage, preventing bankruptcy, and ensuring good profits in constantly changing conditions.
Analysis of the aspects discussed above economic strategy allows us to understand that it is possible to develop effective strategic decisions only by processing large volumes of information of a different nature, which must first be collected. These are the main areas of activity of the organization when developing a strategy:
Components of economic strategy: product strategy; pricing strategy; interaction with the markets for resources, money, securities, reducing transaction and production costs; foreign economic and investment activities; staff incentives; preventing bankruptcy.
All these components of economic strategy are united by the fact that they form the motives that encourage the adoption of one or another strategic decision and ensure the effectiveness of achieving the organization’s goals.
Achieving an organization's long-term goal can be compared to running a marathon. This is a test of how resilient, disciplined and able to focus on the main thing you are. Following these rules will help you reach the finish line with dignity:
Rule 1. There must be one goal
A business should have one long-term goal. Otherwise, a conflict between goals is inevitable, fraught with the dispersion of efforts and attention in several directions.
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A practitioner tells
Mikhail Nikolaev,
Once upon a time, we made a mistake when we began to simultaneously tackle two long-term goals: to become one of the leaders of wine producers in Russia and to achieve self-sufficiency. After a short period of time, it became obvious that these goals contradict each other. It is impossible to make huge profits by producing premium quality wine. It's mainly those who make wine who make their fortunes. large quantities based on imported wine materials. Growing grapes independently for your own production (which is what we do) requires a lot of money, effort and time. Having understood this and thought everything through well, we diversified our business and began producing high-margin drinks - cognac and champagne. Although the main goal remains the production of Russian wine High Quality.
Rule 2. The goal should be as specific as possible
It is necessary that the degree of realization of the goal can be measured. For example, the task “expand production” is vague, it needs to be specified: “to double production output in 3 years by launching a new workshop.” In addition, external assessment is important - the opinion of independent market experts and rating agencies. Therefore, a different formulation of the task “to achieve higher quality products” is possible: “to receive high marks from experts.”
Reviews, wishes and recommendations from clients, as well as expert assessments help you achieve your goal without losing your way and not getting attached to short-term profit. You always want to release a simpler product, because it will not have an impact on the sales market. And feedback makes you want to invest in improving the product.
Rule 3. It is necessary to break the path to the goal into controlled stages
Develop a step-by-step tactical plan, during the implementation of which you need to:
This plan should be implemented within 3 years. The first year will be enough to reduce costs, the second will be enough to relaunch the line. In the third year we need to reach self-sufficiency.
Rule 4. You can’t give up, even if the circumstances are stronger
Even with competent planning and accurate determination of deadlines for completing tasks, there is a possibility that objective circumstances may arise that require a temporary suspension of actions or adjustments to the plan. However, returning to the original order is mandatory. The sooner it happens, the better. You cannot deviate from the chosen path and leave previous tasks unfulfilled while taking on new ones.
Rule 5. Plans need to be adjusted
On the way to your goal, you will most likely encounter unforeseen difficulties. Be prepared to change plans to suit new circumstances.
A practitioner tells
Mikhail Nikolaev,
managing director and co-owner of the company "Nikolaev and Sons", p. Moldavanskoe (Crimean region, Krasnodar region)
Our plans were not to differentiate brands by price, but after working for a year and analyzing the data, we saw that sales of premium wine were going just as well as sales of inexpensive wine drinks. When we increased the price of premium wine, produced in small batches and having a high cost, we were faced with a lack of understanding from buyers: they believed that a domestic drink could not be expensive. Nevertheless, the margin has increased - as a result, the return on investment of the project has increased. In the case of the economy segment, we had to work out a compromise solution with distributors, which made it possible to adapt the selling price to the low cost on the shelf.
The payback of this brand was made possible due to increased sales. As a result, the premium line became the face of the company, and the sale of inexpensive drinks made it possible to accelerate the movement towards self-sufficiency and raise funds for the development of the premium brand.
For example, you set a goal. The next stage is to involve personnel in its implementation and assess their ability to reach the end. It is best to make a presentation of the goal, and then brainstorm. Don't lose your calm if you are criticized. Listen to each employee's opinion. The ability to achieve goals with the help of your employees demonstrates excellent management skills.
In one of the organizations, sales decreased in 2003-2004. Some of the staff were laid off, while other workers found themselves in a state of uncertainty. They needed to develop a new market. There are approximately 20 people left on staff. We organized a meeting, reported on the current situation of the company, and outlined the main goal.
Each employee should offer his own way to achieve the goals and objectives and tell how he would solve the problem in a presentation.
A week later, 20 projects were ready, describing the specifics of a certain area of work. At the general meeting, proposals with the greatest value were identified. Based on them, we developed a consolidated plan, after which we determined individual goals for each employee. Great importance What mattered was that they practically set them for themselves and therefore were ready to begin implementing them.
The new strategy had a strong impact on sales: in the first 3 months, the company's revenue decreased significantly. However, the staff understood what was happening and continued to work hard. The management, having assessed the circumstances in which the employees found themselves, allocated funds for their financial incentives. By the end of the year, the organization experienced a 35% increase in sales.
A practitioner tells
Vladimir Mozhenkov,
General Director of Audi Center Taganka, Moscow
When setting goals for both yourself and your employees, you need to take the results already achieved as a basis. For example, sales revenue last year amounted to a certain amount. This means that this year you should achieve slightly higher results, but by no means less. You need to set goals taking into account available resources.
If the organization's loan is equal to 100% of its own capital, then this should be taken into account when planning. Only your own ambitions can be taken into account.
The goal must be quantifiable. You must serve so many customers, sell so many units of goods. Make your goals specific. For example, the goal is to sell 2,000 cars by the end of the year. You'll need to continually track your sales to see if you're getting closer to your goal. If it is formulated vaguely, then implementation will be impossible. After setting the main goal, you should break it down into smaller ones.
If a company develops progressively, this indicates its competent management. Let's explain with the same example. Your goal is to sell 2000 cars per year. In total, 10,000 cars were sold in the capital. That is, you occupy 20% of the market volume. Two nuances should be taken into account.
First- you must sell 2000 cars, even if only 2500 are sold.
Second nuance - a mandatory analysis of the situation after achieving the goal. For example, you sold 2,000 cars, but the total number of cars sold in Moscow is 12,000. That is, competitors sold 10,000, which indicates the need to refine your strategy. To achieve an organization's strategic goals, the bar must be continually raised.
In addition, achieving the goals you have outlined is possible only if the organization’s personnel are motivated to do so, and the company’s priorities coincide with theirs. This can be achieved by developing corporate culture by correctly developing a reward system, creating a trusting atmosphere, and providing the opportunity for personal communication between employees and management.
It is very important for the manager to correctly assess the employee’s potential and determine his priorities. Staff should see their boss as a role model.
The prospects for visualization as an HR tool for achieving organizational goals are diverse and large-scale.
To effectively manage employees, you need to influence them using various methods in a targeted and dosed manner:
The perception of most of these techniques is easier if they are presented visually.
Visualization in a general sense is a set of techniques and methods that make it possible to transform numerical information (static and dynamic processes) into a visual spectrum that is convenient to perceive.
Visualization makes it possible to clearly and easily demonstrate almost any process, from the personal results of each employee to overall achievements and strategic plans for the long term.
The high importance of visualization tools is due to several reasons:
This is not all the visualization possibilities. Considering that now everyone is using mobile devices and have constant access to the Internet, programmers have developed many tools that ensure continuous communication with each of the organization’s employees.
Here are examples of just some software that provides assistance in team management, capable of motivating and informing employees by ensuring their constant communication:
There is a simple method to achieve a difficult goal: moving towards it should be slow but sure. The name of this method is “kaizen”.
A practitioner tells
Michael Roach,
expert in the application of Tibetan techniques, New York
Among the techniques that I like to use, it is worth highlighting the “4 steps” technique for achieving the goal. Their Tibetan names are Shi, Samba, Sherpa and Tartuk.
Step 1. Decide on your desires. The thought must be clear. For example, you are the head of a company or your desire is to increase profits by 30%.
Step 2. Find someone who has the same desire and help him. That is, you need to find the owner or manager of a business that you can help grow. This is difficult because we usually see others as competitors and don't want to waste time and money helping them (think Coca-Cola helping PepsiCo). But this is the requirement of this technique: you need to provide free assistance to a colleague who wants to increase his income. Explain to him your initiative to help selflessly with the desire to plant a mental seed. Do other people's business one hour a week, for example on Friday evening. I don’t know how it is in Russia, but in the USA it is not customary to work on Friday afternoon. Therefore, an hour spent helping others will not have a negative impact on your business. What can you do for others? You can help with the website, marketing, and developing a new product.
Step 3. Provide real help. For example, while already conducting training activities, I found a Mexican competitor organization providing training, the goal of which was to launch its own training course. I suggested that she develop a joint program. As a result, several thousand listeners attended the lecture.
Step 4. Be happy that you helped someone else. As you complete the previous steps, you will plant a seed in your mind. However, it may not sprout if it is not watered and fertilized. How to do it? Before you go to bed, think about how you helped your colleagues. If thoughts bring joy to you, then rest assured that it will act on the seed like water and fertilizer. Regular watering will ensure fast shoots, and from them what you want will grow.
Mistake 1. There is no motivation, but you continue to work towards the goal
Because the matter cannot be left unfinished.
This is true. And the mistake is not that you don’t quit what you started, but that you work without enthusiasm.
And the point is not that, working reluctantly, gathering all your willpower into a fist, you spend a lot of effort and time, taking a long time to tune in to each action. And the fact is that you do everything less efficiently and even if you achieve the designated goal, you (or your customer) will not be satisfied with the result.
Motivation can disappear, no one is immune from this. However, to obtain excellent results its presence is mandatory until the completion of the task.
Mistake 2. The goal is formulated incorrectly
Inaccurate formulation of goals or defining them as desires leads to the fact that they become physically unattainable. And working with them is similar to shooting at a target that is not visible.
If the goal is formulated correctly, it will sound like a specific result that can be measured, seen or felt. Exist various techniques, proposing to use from 5 to 14 criteria when defining a goal to ensure the effectiveness of the formulation.
Mistake 3. The goal does not correspond to your values or is not yours at all.
An example is the desire of an honest person with the right values to make quick money using dishonest methods. And he doesn't succeed at all.
Another example: a person’s goal is to write a dissertation, although he does not need it at all, but his father insists. Or he wants to buy an expensive car to increase his value in the eyes of his colleagues.
If the goal is not yours, then achieving it will either be impossible or will not give you joy, a sense of satisfaction and the feeling that your efforts were not in vain.
Therefore, be sure to analyze the goal to ensure it aligns with your values. If you doubt that it is yours, its transformation is necessary.
Mistake 4. The plan is written in the form of actions. You think like a process person
This error is not so easy to spot for people with the process meta-program. According to “resulters”, who imagine the world in the form of results, achievements and checklists, “process people” lag behind life. But this is not so, they are simply characterized by “flow”. For them, complete immersion in the process and endless improvement is normal, since there are no specific exit criteria.
If the plan contains a list of what needs to be done, then its author is definitely a process planner. And the effectiveness of this type of plan is the lowest. They take too long to complete and in most cases cannot be completed at all.
If you see yourself as a “process worker”, don’t give up. Don’t try to transform yourself into a “resulter”, because you also have your advantages. Just use the templates developed by the “resulters” when making plans. Then you will achieve efficiency.
Mistake 5. Some steps in the plan depend on circumstances and other people.
If this is the case, don't rule out the possibility that you will fall behind the plan all the time through no fault of your own.
Mostly people take this for granted: “How could it be any other way? Even stores have opening hours!” But using this approach entails dependence on others. Of course, it is impossible to completely exclude the influence of factors beyond your control, but the plan certainly should not depend on them.
Mistake 6. There is no system to your goals, you grab onto one thing or another
Imagine that your task is to fill a bucket of water. To fill it, you take water from the lake with a mug. The bucket is your goal and the mug is your daily volume. According to the plan, the bucket will be completely filled, for example, in 20 days.
Now imagine that there are 5 buckets (or more, depending on how many goals you have) and you constantly pour water from the mug into different buckets. And in 20 days, not one of them will be complete. As well as in 40 and 60 days.
The goal will be achieved in approximately 80-100 days. Is this right for you? Most likely, in this case you will have to give up some goals. Or you will take on everything at once, but will not get the desired results.
However, focusing on just one goal is also undesirable. It can be compared to eating the same food for 20 days - you will soon get tired of it. Develop an overall plan and priority system.
Mistake 7. The goal is either too big and it’s not clear where to start, or it’s too small and doesn’t excite you.
To avoid being unmotivated, people often set goals that are too ambitious and don’t know where to start achieving them. Or, on the contrary, they are afraid of big goals and lose motivation. It may seem that the solution would be to find a middle ground, but this is not the right solution.
You need to set a goal so that its scale is sufficient for your inspiration. However, at the same time, it must be achievable and realistic. Don't look at the goals flat, use the matryoshka principle.
Mistake 8. You are constantly distracted and do not stay focused on the goal.
It's not really a measure of how well you can concentrate. After all, if a person is interested in what he is doing, problems with concentration do not arise. The difficulty lies in turning the process of achieving a goal into a routine.
To solve it, you need to be able to turn a routine into an interesting process.
Mistake 9: You burn out quickly new goal, and then your interest quickly fades away and you give up the goal
The success of your actions is guaranteed if you are faithful to the designated goal. There is nothing complicated here: if you are not ready to work until you achieve the desired results, then the goal is not yours and you do not need it.
Working with goals is difficult. The main difficulty is to determine YOUR goal. If you can handle this, the rest will be easy. It's like finding your love.
However, not everyone monitors the quality of the target. Basically, everyone strives to quickly “check the box” and collect as many of them as possible. As if this is the most important thing...
Mistake 10. You constantly put off starting actions and start them when there is little energy and time left for quality work.
The effectiveness of deadline motivation is, of course, the highest, but this option is “caveman”. It's time to join modern technologies.
Mikhail Nikolaev Graduated from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied, in particular, French and spanish languages, and received a Bachelor of Art degree. Additionally, he took courses in accounting, finance, marketing and advertising at the Wharton School, and also completed a number of internships, including at Deutsche Bank and in the marketing department at FC Barcelona. In 2012, he developed the startup project ExpoPromoter in Kyiv, and upon its completion joined the TicketForEvent team as a sales manager and marketer. In January 2013 he became the chief marketer of the Lefkadia company, and in September - General Director Trade House "Nikolaev and Sons".
LLC "Nikolaev and Sons" Field of activity: winemaking. Number of personnel: 150. Vineyard area: 80 hectares. Number of cultivated grape varieties: 24. Production volume: 180 thousand bottles of wine different varieties in year.
Michael Roach- one of the founders of Andin International, purchased in 2009 by Warren Buffett's fund for $250 million. The author of the book “The Diamond Cutter” (M.: “Open World”, 2005), in which he talked about the history of his company and systematized the Tibetan principles that allowed it to succeed. More than 3 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide. For the last ten years he has been conducting seminars teaching Tibetan techniques to businessmen.
