Having well-defined goals and a clear vision for the future is integral to any business. How can you work for success when you don’t know where you’re going? It is beneficial to employees as well. Defined goals and a common purpose help them to be more productive. They know what they are working towards and are not left in the dark about long-term aims.
There will be times when your business goals will not change for a few years. But for the most part, organizations find that they have to set new goals in response to changing markets. Here are a few tips on setting your business goals for 2020.
- Recap the previous year
Before you can start looking into the future, you need to take a look at the past. It is important to recap the previous year and see how the organization evolved. Where are you at the start of the year? What were your goals? Did you achieve them? How did the business succeed or fail?
This is an important exercise for several reasons. First and foremost, it helps you set a baseline for the next year. Secondly, it helps you identify mistakes and errors. This allows managers to take action to remedy those errors and set up robust systems. Finally, it can help identify areas that need improvement and where you need to focus resources for the coming year.
- Think about strengths and weaknesses
A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a good way to start the new year. Such an analysis can reveal hidden strengths and unidentified weaknesses. What areas did the business do well? Is there room for improvement anywhere? No organization is perfect or unchanging.
Consider a company that planned to expand into a new service market in the future. But in 2019, key personnel whose expertise was needed left the organization. A SWOT analysis can show that it would be unwise to pursue the expansion strategy without re-organizing the company.
- Set SMART goals
Managers should be SMART when it comes to setting goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Try to make goals as specific as possible. Goals should also be measurable, otherwise, no one would know if you have achieved them or not. Set targets that can be achieved, impossible goals are disheartening to employees. Business goals should be relevant and time-bound. That is, they should have a timeframe.
For example, just saying the business should improve profits is not a SMART goal. Who should work on this? Will it take a year or 5 years? Profits should increase by how much? A SMART goal will answer key questions like who, what, why, how, and where. So a better goal would be to increase profits by 20% over 5 years in market A. This helps everyone to focus on what is needed to achieve the goal.
- Company mission and vision
When setting goals, always refer back to the mission statement of the business. Your goals should reflect the organization’s vision and be consistent over the years. Few organizations achieve success if goals are all over the place each year. This also provides stability for employees who know what is expected of them.
Focus on collaboration and communication
Every business will set different goals based on the industry, its needs, and its products. Regardless of the specific goals, it’s a good idea to focus on collaboration and communication within the company. Setting up systems to facilitate communication will help you achieve any goal.
In a global economy, no company can succeed without effective and efficient communication. Your customers demand instant responses and your employees should be able to deliver that. Does your phone system work reliably all the time? Connect it Networks (CIN) offers robust cloud services that won’t fail your business. From network infrastructure to cabling, CIN takes care of all the work so you don’t have to.
A centralized service that offers multiple features, devices, and services can help your business reach all your goals in 2020 and beyond. You can consolidate all your resources into one environment. Allow your employees to work from anywhere and use any device to make calls. Remote working or telecommuting can help you retain talent. Offer these benefits and more to your staff for better productivity.
If you think your business is too small to benefit from cloud services, think again. In fact, small and medium businesses need more efficient and cost-effective tools in order to compete with larger organizations. CIN services can help put your business on the same level as billion-dollar corporations. Contact us today and find out how we can help you achieve your business goals!