Setting goals – what actually works?

If you don’t know where you want to go, you will never get there. This is a quote I heard long time ago and that I always like to give as example when it comes to goal setting.

As there are so many theories out there on this topic I decided to test some of them in order to see which one will work for me. I could choose from hundreds of techniques, advice and methods. I could use images, graphics, lists, computer programs and in some cases my imagination or meditation would have been enough.    

In the past seven years I have tried several of methods and stayed with the one that helped me to get to the results I wanted.

What it works for me when it comes to both personal and professional goals is the following: breaking long terms goals into intermediate goals that will help me achieve the long term goal. Then I set other goals that will lead me to the intermediate goals and repeat this until I get to specific actions that I need to do in the present. I have also found very useful to set the goals following the SMART rule. Shortly the characteristics of a SMART objectives are:

Specific: Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what you are going to do.

Measurable: Goals should be measurable so that you have tangible evidence that you have accomplished them.

Achievable: Goals should be achievable; they should stretch you slightly so you feel challenged, but defined well enough so that you can achieve them. You must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to achieve the goal.

Results-focused: Goals should measure outcomes, not activities.

Time-bound: Goals should be linked to a time frame that creates a practical sense of urgency, or results in tension between the current reality and the vision of the goal. Without such tension, the goal is unlikely to produce a relevant outcome.

To be more specific, here is an example

Let’s say that you are a senior accountant and your long term goal is to become the Head of accounting in an international company, in the next 5 years.

What would it take for you to get there? (Intermediate goals for the medium term)

1. Find a job as Accounting Manager – December 2014

2. Master in Economy - 2016

3. Getting accounting qualifications - 2015

4. Working with certain operations and accounting standards - 2018

5. International work experience – 2018

6. Find a job as Head of accounting - 2019

What would you need to do to achieve every of these goals? (Intermediate goals for short term)

1. Find a job as Accounting Manager – October 2014

- Research on job market, requirements, jobs open on the market, companies that could be interesting – December 2013

- Preparing CV – January 2013

- Updating professional profile on online social media channels – January 2014

-  Increase online social network with 20% until April 2014

- Contacting recruitment agencies – March 2014

- Sending applications – minimum 1 per week – starting March 2014

And so on with every intermediate goal on medium term.

Regarding the form, simple lists like the ones from above are sufficient for me. However, for some people graphics, diagrams or pictures might work better.

Some specialists say that is helpful to share your goals with other people. For me this is not working at all and I prefer to keep my goals just for myself as I think they are something very personal. 
It is essential to periodically read your goals and cut of the list the ones you have already achieved or to update the list with new dates or new mini goals.

I believe that there are no good or bad methods when it comes to goal setting. Each of us should try out and choose the strategy or technique that has the best results for us, or even combine them.
The main thing is to have a goal and strive to achieve it.

Workplace conflicts

Conflicts are never pleasant and almost everybody will say that they don’t want to be involved in one. However, conflicts appear quite often at the workplace due to the fact that this is a place where people with different education, professional and cultural background are put together to work and therefore to interact both at professional and personal level.

Interpersonal conflicts are caused generally by office politics, gossip, rumours as well as by language and personality styles clashes. Another source of workplace conflict can be different the various ideas about personal success. The strong drive for work related achievement in some employees can clash with co-workers who do not emphasize work-related success in their lives.

Organizational conflicts are frequently related to the hierarchy and to the inability to resolve conflicting interests. Resource allocation, the distribution of duties, workload and benefits, different levels of tolerance for risk taking and different views on accountability are just some of the sources of organizational conflicts.

For both interpersonal and organizational conflicts one of the things that generates or amplifies them is assuming. “Never assume, always double check” is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned until now in the different work environments I have been.

So many times we make mistakes just because we assume things. Why do we tend to make assumptions instead of verifying things? Here are some of the most frequent situations:

We consider that the other person thinks like us.  In our head what we think is so logical that we automatically believe that this is what is logical for everybody. This is most of the times wrong. We have different understanding of things and facts, different background, different opinions, we are so different one from another that the chances for two people to think exactly the same about a situation are extremely low.

We misinterpret the messages from others. Not everyone is paying very much attention to the way they say things verbally or in written and sometimes messages that have no harmful meaning are interpreted as aggressive or offensive. Assuming that the person who sends us the message has something against us, without clarifying the situation can only generate conflicts.

We think we know so well a certain issue and we don’t need any further information. Therefore, we tend to assume the things that we are actually not sure about. 

We think someone will do something because we are convinced that is their responsibility. This happens quite often in teams working for a project where the responsibilities are not clear. Everybody assumes that someone else will do a certain thing and in the end nobody does it.

Staying away from conflicts at work it doesn’t mean agreeing with everyone and everything. What we can do instead is to acknowledge the situations that might generate a conflict and react in a professional and constructive way. Not making assumptions and not taking things personal are from my point of view, some of the golden rules when it comes to workplace relations.