Setting Objectives

The managerial purpose of setting objectives is to convert the strategic vision into specific performance targets – results and outcomes the company’s management wants to achieve and then use these objectives as yardsticks for tracking the company’s progress and performance. Well-stated objectives are quantifiable or measurable and contain a deadline for achievement. The experiences of countless companies and managers teach that precisely spelling out how much of what kind of performance by when and then pressing forward with actions and incentives calculated to help achieve the targeted outcomes will boost a company’s actual performance. Ideally, managers ought to use the objective setting exercise as a tool for truly stretching an organization to reach its full potential.