First, the Objective should help in achieving the company goals and should be aligned with the corporate strategy or its vision.

You start by defining 3 to 5 objectives of the company, team or personal levels.

Based on the earlier information, objectives should be qualitative, time-bound, and actionable by the person or team.

  • Qualitative and Inspirational - The objective is designed to get people jumping out of bed in the morning with excitement. And while CEOs and VCs may jump out of bed in the morning with joy over a 3% gain in conversion, most mere mortals get excited by a sense of meaning and progress. Use the language of your team. If they want to own it or kill it, use that wording.
  • Time Bound - The goal/s should be doable in a month, a quarter.  You want it to be a clear sprint toward a goal.
  • Actionable by the Team Independently - This is less a problem for start-ups, but bigger companies often struggle because of interdependence. Your Objective has to be truly yours, and you can’t have the excuse of “marketing didn’t market it.”

Following the rules, here we have a few examples.

  • If we take this objective ‘’make our web application better,‘’ this objective is not definite. To make it effective, you should be specific on what you want to improve on. You can write another form of this objective to ‘’Reduce the time spent by our client to setup their account to 2 minutes’’, which is significantly more specific and distinct.
  • Instead of saying “improve marketing team”, you can do better by saying “Improve marketers ability for writing article entries and social media posts ” so you can create several strategies later on.
  • To make the objective measurable, “make a lot of money” can be translated to “Grow revenue by 15%” so that the key results have metrics put into place. It would be easier to compare the outcome by checking on the objectives first.

Characteristics of a Good Objective

A good objective serves as a vital foundation for any successful team or organization. It is well-defined, realistic, and achievable, providing a clear direction that keeps everyone focused on what truly matters. Good objectives are always time bound, ensuring there is a specific time frame for accomplishment and helping teams prioritize their efforts effectively. By being measurable, objectives allow managers and employees to track progress and celebrate milestones along the way.

To write good objectives, it’s important to ensure they are relevant to the organization’s overall strategy and priorities. This alignment guarantees that every department, whether it’s an engineering team, sales team, or marketing team, is working towards outcomes that benefit the business as a whole. Good objectives should also be communicated clearly to all stakeholders, so there is a shared understanding of what success looks like and how it will be measured.

When objectives are both challenging and realistic, they inspire teams to stretch their capabilities while remaining achievable. This balance fosters a sense of accomplishment and motivates employees to stay engaged. Ultimately, setting good objectives creates a roadmap for success, helping organizations focus resources, define priorities, and work effectively towards their goals.

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