Goal Setting
In some cases is it acceptable to set very high goals that may be unrealistic to encourage the team to work harder?
Hi Andrea! I think there is a difference between unrealistic goals and goals that stretch just a bit beyond the given expectations of what a team is supposed to accomplish. Any goal that is unrealistic and not achievable is a disaster and a demotivator to a functioning team; however, effective managers will often up the stakes just a bit, within reason, while collaborating with team members as to how best to achieve the goals.
Jay Hollowell
ML101 Facilitator
Setting high goals especially if you are gifted with high achieving, results driven, autonomous workers is achievable and can produce great results if everyone stays on task but "unrealistic" goals for any type of employee is a morale buster
Lofty goals are often inspiring and results-driven employees can thrive -- but a key determinant to success is employee involvement in establishing the goals and seeing them as "realistic"...
Employee involvement is key. All employees insights and knowledge are valuable. But, does the goal have to be realistic and or achievable if the employees are involved in setting the goals? Is the advantage not in having a certain unattainable qualities to the goal giving them something to still aspire to despite their involvement?
I think that lofty goals can be very inspiring, even when they seem unachievable. I was once involved in a project that seemed pointless because of the amount of work involved in a very limited amount of time. The manager said "Act like you CAN do it, even if you can't." I told my team our job was to act like we can achieve it, and to eveyone's astonishment we did. We were inspired to act in ways that went outside of the limiting boxes we had imagined to be our obstacles.
Setting a high goal may have its ups and downs. The ups of setting a high goal it motivates the person to achieve the task that is given to them. By doing so you may state high incentives after the task are met and also some people work better under pressure. The down of setting a goal that is set to high, it may allow the task to fall or not be achieved and it may discourage the person.
Setting goals too high can lead to disruptive team mechanics leading to resentment and conflicts if left unchecked. One altrnative would be as the team develops more chemistry, increase the goals on an annual or semi-annual basis.
If the goals are set too high and may be unrealistic, it could affect employee morale in a negative light. In reference to the course material, goals set using the SMART criteria would have a greater probability or achieving positive results.
Setting high goals can be costly..We should start small and work our way up.
Rhonda,
Great observation and I encourage everyone to think about those SMART goals. We always want to make sure they are stretching us & also realistic & achievable.
Ryan
I agree with you Nelly setting too high of a goal might discourage employees to simply give up or not even attempt to try. They may experience feelings of being overwhelmed and not make the effort of handling the work.
Dolly,
Exactly right & unfortunately I have seen this happen. Especially when the manager/leader is a high achiever & often a subject matter expert in the area. These individuals can tend to think everyone is as driven as they are & can achieve to their level. But as you said, often this is a huge demotivator, rather than motivating.
Ryan
I really don't think setting people for failure will encourage teams to work harder. I feel that goals could be hard but yet achievable.
Absolutely right. If we make the goals unrealistic & so far out of reach, often we are just trying to set people up for failure or somehow prove we (as the manager) are this super person. These goals help no one. Thanks.
Ryan
Absolutely. If a business strategy or a set of goals is not working and has not been working it is acceptable to set unrealistic goals so that they only choice is to completely rethink the strategy. Setting high goals that may be unrealistic can get workers thinking in a different way which can result in new thinking, excitment and more motivation.
I find that in some cases it is acceptable to encourage the team with high goals that may be unrealistic. I find that this method at times motivates the staff to attempt the impossible and achieve greatness in the process. They may find that what they thought could not be achieved is achievable.
It is important that when the unrealistic goal is not met, but yet great achievements were accomplished to make sure to acknowledge their achievements. Staff should feel a sense of accomplishment even though the goal was not met.
This is a great point Felicia & a couple of things come to mind as I read your post. First of all I think the key idea is to evaluate whether the goals seem to be unrealistic or are they truly completely unrealistic or not achievable. As you said, often we perceive goals as unrealistic because we don't push ourselves hard enough or realize what we can accomplish.
Your second point about celebrating the accomplishments made if we don't achieve those hard goals is also important. When we are challenging our staff to push themselves & take risks & really stretch themselves then we need to celebrate what they do accomplish & not punish them for not quite making it. If we take a punishment mentality we will find that none of our employees ever want to push themselves again & they'll always "play it safe" which is usually the path to mediocrity.
Ryan
I think this can work well as long as good communication accompanies this change. If employees don't understand the reason, especially behind the very high, unrealistic goals they can lose motivation.
Ryan
I think sometimes we need to think outside of the box with our approach to goal setting. Entrepreneurial ideas typically seem unattainable by non authors - with proper communication of how this idea can become fruition, having team by-in ,giving them the tools and support needed to accomplish the goal -will most likely make those who thought they couldn't see that they can. Atleast we strive to always reach higher and learn from our short comings.
