The 2010’s are in the books, and it’s time to start thinking about how we can make the next decade even more successful than the last one!
A popular goal-setting technique is to set SMART Goals. What are S.M.A.R.T. goals? They are goals that are:
- Specific–goals should have clear objectives for you and your team to strive for.
- Measurable–to gauge the success of your team, there should be qualitative metrics.
- Achievable–goals need to be reasonable, or else they will seem too far-fetched to even be attempted.
- Relevant–clear, reasonable, and measurable goals mean nothing if they don’t serve to accomplish a specific business objective that will advance you, your team, and your organization.
- Time-bound–deadlines are crucial because they hold you and your team accountable, and give you a chance to set new goals based on performance.
For example, let’s apply this mindset to a social media marketing team:
Specific: “Let’s increase our impressions on social media this month,” and not, “we need to be better at social media.”
Measurable: “We want to increase the number of impressions that we get by 5-10% each month.”
Achievable: “We usually get 10,000 impressions a month, so let’s try to hit 11,000 this month,” rather than “We usually get 10,000 impressions, but the biggest competitors in the industry average 2.5 million, so let’s do that!”
Relevant: “Our organization’s top goal is increasing sales of product A, so let’s make sure that our posts are highlighting product A.”
Time-Bound: “Let’s try to steadily increase impressions by 5-10% for the next three months and then see if that goal is too ambitious, or if we can try for even more than that in the next quarter.”
How does the Kdan Team set S.M.A.R.T. Goals?
The Kdan Team believes that being the most productive version of yourself starts with setting the right kind of goals. We went around our office and asked some of our different managers how they set S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Emily Lin, one of our Global Marketing Managers, puts a lot of emphasis on setting the most important goals:
“I select my team’s goals based on purpose and priority,” she explains. “This gives me a better idea of what’s really important to get done within a certain period of time.”
Our other Global Marketing Manager, Frank Lin, builds on Emily’s point, and suggests that one of the ways they determine which goals are most important is by placing value on different metrics.
“We look at all of the different metrics that we track, but certain ones have shown to be more important than others,” he adds. “If our main objective is to increase traffic, and we know which channels usually generate more page views, then we’ll prioritize the goals we set that utilize those channels.”
I-Hsiu Tseng, Kdan’s Data Analytics Manager, and her data team place a lot of importance on setting relevant goals. Since their job is performing analysis on large amounts of data, she and her team make sure to evaluate which projects are most helpful.
“We tend to spend most of our time deciding why (or if) we need to achieve these goals,” she explains. “Once we understand what the most important projects are, we’ll encourage each other to accomplish these tasks in the most efficient way possible.”
Finally, Albert Chang, the Business Development Director at Kdan, likes to work with his team to set achievable short-term goals that work towards our organizational objectives.
“So we always start from the big picture–the grand prize. This is the anchor for everything we do,” he says. “While the big-picture goals take more time, we must set small goals in between that build the momentum needed to accomplish our final goal(s).”
Help Your Team Meet Goals
Are you looking for tools to help your team accomplish your goals? Check out our business and creative solutions.
Does your team have any tips for setting effective goals? Tell us in the comments!
