Three Key Dimensions of Organizational Goals

Organizational goals provide purpose and focus for teams and organizations. They also provide a framework for tradeoffs and decision-making when considering opportunities or managing constraints. This article provides a quick reminder of the general process involved in organizational planning, focuses on three key goal dimensions, and provides tips for translating goals into tangible actions.  

Strategic Planning: A Refresher  

Much has been written about the process used to plan organizational goals, which mirror the steps for a formal strategic planning process. The general process, conducted across a team or organization over a week or months’ timeframe, includes:  

• Retrospective – Reviewing successes and gaps over a certain timeframe and identifying goals to carry forward or modify for the upcoming period.   
• Data Gathering – Gathering feedback from internal and external stakeholders to inform new goals and to build awareness of external factors and other criteria that may shape the organization and inform goal prioritization.   
• Environmental Scans and Analysis – Often organizations conduct a structured scan and analysis that considers the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis can be used to identify the actions that might leverage strengths to address weaknesses, maximize opportunities, and mitigate threats.  
• Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement – This step of the process identifies stakeholders that are both engaged and interested in the organization, as well as those who may have a lot of power, but are less involved.   
• Brainstorming and Clustering – This process is used to generate draft goals that can be then grouped and refined into different categories. The dimensions we review in the next step may help inform this process. It is also useful to summarize the drivers, or criteria, which are used to select the final priorities, so people know the “why” behind the prioritization.    
• Finalizing and Socializing – In this step, the goals are reviewed and vetted with key stakeholders and then finalized.    
• Implementing and Communicating – Good strategic organization plans do not sit on a shelf – they are used to guide prioritization and execution. Good plans help people stay focused and avoid being attracted to “shiny objects” that are interesting, but not necessarily essential.   

These process steps highlight that much of the value in strategic planning is in the process and discussions themselves – the collaborative learning can help clarify and cut through the noise of everyday organizational life, and the outcome shows the organization’s ability to reach consensus and move forward together.      

Three Key Dimensions in Goal Setting  

Let’s turn to a three-category framework that can help identify new goals as a starting point, sort through the initial goals you may have as an organization and reveal blind spots. These three general categories of consideration are seen in many different types of organizational models, from change management to leadership development. The categories are listed here as:  

• Results and Outcomes 
• Processes and Technology  
• People and Relationships  

These three areas support each other for organizational success but relate to one another in different ways and have different roles. 

Results and Outcomes  

This first category of goals is often what people think of when they consider organizational goal planning – it’s all about performance: outputs and outcomes. These are the “top line” goals that the organization generally must achieve to demonstrate their value to internal and external stakeholders. They generally capture and reflect the mission of the organization. Here are some examples of goals in this category:  

• Goals related to the achievement of certain sales levels, market share, or customer counts  
• Goals and metrics related to product or service delivery 
• Goals related to new product or service launches  
• Quality goals that are directly related to the mission-focused product or service, such as product or service defects, returns, or other quantitative or qualitative measures of satisfaction  

Process and Technology  

This second category includes all the systems – including technology systems – that are used to generate the organization’s results and outcomes. These goals relate to how the organization achieves its mission. Each of these goals may have its own outcome or result, but the emphasis is on results that facilitate the achievement of other outcomes or outputs.   

For example, in most cases, unless you are a technology firm that actually sells software and hardware, technology is an enabler of an organization’s success, not the direct reason for that organization’s being. Technology supports the organization's ability to be successful – it is not an end on its own.   

Here are other examples of organizational goals that fall into this category:  

• Business process improvement goals that involve process reengineering or Lean Six Sigma, and that may address previous challenges in achieving quality goals related to a product or service  
• Goals related to workflow mapping and role clarity, so that activities and handoffs between department and people are clear, with an effective balance of boundaries and integration  
• Projects that are designed to increase the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency, as measured by throughput, time-to-market, days-to-completion, or work-in-progress measures.   
• Technology goals that automate or streamline part of a business process or practice, where the launch of a software module may be the outcome or result that supports other goals of the organization 
• Launch of a new process or tool that assesses success in a specific area, like customer satisfaction surveys or ongoing feedback mechanisms 

People and Relationships 

This third category of goals relates to internal and external people and relationships. These are often goal areas that are not explicitly articulated in plans, as they are assumed to occur as part of regular business. However, making these “people-focused goals” more explicit can help make invisible labor more visible, and can help reward the bridge-builders of the organization who establish the networks and connections for the next big deal, partnership, or even acquisition. These goals are also critical for letting the organization’s staff know that they are seen and valued – that organizational goals are not just about delivery outward, but also about performance inward.     

Examples of these goals include:  

• Goals related to organizational human resources, such as recruiting and hiring, retention, employee development, diversity development, and performance management. For example, this could include goals related to recruitment event attendance, days-to-hire metrics, measures of diversity in staff, or staffing levels compared to targets.   
• Goals related to partnerships with other stakeholders or industry groups, such as teaming relationships, joint marketing efforts, or other collaborative initiatives that could build future business.   
• Goals related to community development and support, such as community outreach and volunteer targets, or cause-based fundraising. These types of activities can build internal and external goodwill, so making them visible and concrete keeps organizations accountable for giving back to the communities they work in.  

Making Goals Real – Following Through   

Once goals are set up, it is important to consider the forces that may detract or support them. Here are some factors that can hold an organization back from achieving its goals:  

• The perceived problem leading to the goal was not powerful enough to drive change. 
• The goal was not tangible or tactical enough to translate into concrete actions. 
• The benefits of achieving the goal were not clear enough to motivate change. 
• The goal was not expressed as a clear target – it was more of a statement of ideals. 

You can mitigate these risks by taking the following steps during goal setting:  

• Be clear about the pain caused by the status quo. Change is hard, so it is easier to make changes if there is a real reason to do so. In addition to thinking about the benefits that would come with achieving a goal, describe the pain associated with not changing.  
• Be concrete – with actions and benefits. The best goals are concrete, naming specific actions and the tangible benefits that are expected. 
• Make the written goals visible – it should not be a document that is just filed away or put on a shelf – present organizational goals in a sort, attractive format that is visible to leaders and employees as a reminder of what the group agreed to work toward.  
• Celebrate what you are proud of. Call it “goal setting.” In addition to developing goals that reflect changes or new items, making it a goal to continue doing something the organization is proud of that builds on strengths.  

Training Resources for Goal Setting  

Pryor has several online and in-person training programs that directly support strategic planning and goal setting.   

• Strategic Thinking and Planning 
• Strategic Goal-Setting 
• Managing Multiple Priorities, Projects and Deadlines 
• Using Business Analytics to Become a Goal-Oriented Manager 
• Video Series: Accountability 
• Leadership, Team-Building and Coaching Skills for Managers and Supervisors 

Project Management is also an important area for executing goals once developed. Pryor offers several online and in-person trainings in the Management, Supervision, and Leadership category that can help develop the broad range of skills needed to both develop goals and then see them through to completion, delivery, communication, and celebration.