New Year, New Organizational Goals: How to Keep Our Business Resolutions from Slipping Away

With a start of a new year, many people set personal resolutions and have great intentions about achieving them throughout the year. In many cases, we find that we’re passionate and focused in January but have dropped our resolutions by March or April. “Ah, I’ll do it next year.”

In this area, organizations often exhibit the same behavior as individuals — hitting the new year running with plans to serve customers better and provide greater value to their communities. But without a clear plan in place to ensure success, these organizational resolutions face a similar danger of fizzling out by spring.

TransPro’s goal-setting process is designed to help organizations clearly define success and establish systems to measure progress throughout the year. Adhering to a process like this can prove an effective safeguard against failing to meet newly resolved annual goals.

  • First, we define the outcomes we want to achieve by the end of the year — not on a hope, but what a realistic outcome could be. For example, if I set a personal goal to run a marathon this year, I would define my outcome as finishing a marathon.
  • Secondly, we define clear metrics that allow us to measure and track our progress towards achieving the outcome on a quarterly basis. In my running example, I would set a benchmark time and begin tracking my progress against that.
  • Next, we define the key actions we’re going to work on to be successful using quarterly milestones. To finish a marathon, there’s no expectation that I can just start running in January and not stop until I reach 26.2 miles. I would develop a specific plan to build my strength and endurance by training using a combination of distance and speed variations and track my progress quarterly.
  • Lastly, we identify owners for each step in the process to create a culture of ownership to drive the organization towards success. In the case of completing a marathon, I would be responsible for driving my success, but may have friends helping along the way to show support.

TransPro supports numerous public sector organizations across the country through this process; allowing Board, management teams, and staff to align on success and execute on a plan to achieve success. As we begin a new year, defining success and developing a clear plan to achieve it can bring your organization across the finish line on your desired outcomes.

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