New year, new goals for your startup. But how do you set a destination for the business to ensure success and startup development? Choosing goals, especially those to be achieved by year-end, requires effort. It’s a rather complex task, and many people don’t know where to begin. But don’t worry, we’ll show you how to do it.
In this article, we guide you on setting achievable goals for the year ahead. Are you ready? Let’s get started!
Focus
Many people and companies aspire to do more than they can realistically achieve. Too many goals, too many projects, too many activities – all these “toos” mean that your company or startup might lose focus on core values and goals. Trying to do everything quickly without adequate focus on one thing.
The solution is to sit down, think, and concentrate on the most important sector. Consider carefully what is crucial for your startup. Does every little action contribute to the success of your startup? From all your goals and ideas, choose the three most important ones. Three is our brain’s favorite number, as it’s associated with processing limitations.
So, before setting goals for 2024, ask yourself: What three goals are crucial for our company? What three actions generate the most significant profits?
We Need Indicators
Choosing and setting goals is not everything. You need to answer the questions: How will you know when your startup has achieved its goal? For example, if your goal for 2024 is to expand your client base, and your website is visited by 50,000 users per month, with 10,000 people joining your newsletter, is that sufficient for accomplishing your goal? Are you satisfied with the results, or is it not what you expected? There’s a perfect solution for goal accomplishment called OKR – Objectives and Key Results.
OKR
Objectives and Key Results is a methodology popularized by Google. It combines the employee’s business and personal goals in a relatively simple way. Its one drawback, however, is the inability to be used selectively; it must be implemented throughout the company at all levels, instead of in selected departments.
OKR goals are always time-bound, just like SMART goals; they have a beginning and an end at which they should be achieved. Most often, they cover a quarter or a half-year. This involves setting 3-4 goals, although initially, there may be more, and then it is limited to a few most important ones. Each goal requires defining a set of indicators that measure the level of goal achievement – these are key results.
Each of these key results, usually 3-5, can simultaneously become a target, having their own key results. By establishing such a tree of goals, you can move from company goals through department or team goals to personal goals.
Effective Implementation and Monitoring of OKR Goals
Each OKR goal, even the company one, is associated with a person responsible for its implementation. While these goals should be ambitious, there is no obligation to achieve them 100%. Reaching the 90% target is also considered a success.
OKR involves regular summary meetings that allow you to assess the stage of goal achievement, identify obstacles, and figure out how to overcome them. This regular monitoring of progress, focused on achieving established goals, makes OKR not only a method for setting goals but also an effective way to achieve them at work.
Before setting goals, think twice about what you want to do. Remember that quality, not quantity, counts. Good luck in setting and achieving your startup dreams.
For any startup management inquiries, feel free to contact us. Visit our blog for more useful tips, and listen to our podcast to learn how other startup CEOs successfully navigate their companies.