When you consider your New Year’s resolutions for 2022, you should consider setting some professional goals. While you’re at it, encourage your team to set professional goals! A new year is an excellent opportunity to evaluate performance and progress over the previous year and set goals for growth and development. If you need help knowing how to guide your team in setting professional goals, this article is a great starting point.
Don’t Take On Too Much
Encourage your team just to pick one or two professional goals to focus on for the year. It can be tempting to think of everything you want to improve and set goals across multiple areas. However, this can be overwhelming and difficult to achieve, leading to giving up not long after the year starts. It’s much more successful and productive to choose just one or two goals to work towards, such as managing time better or learning how to use new software.
Be Specific
It can be discouraging if you don’t see progress on your goals, making it challenging to keep working towards them. As a result, it’s important to make sure your team sets specific and measurable goals. Additionally, they should set up a plan for tracking progress. This way, when they are feeling discouraged, they will have something they can look back on to see how far they have come.
Encourage Flexibility
Make sure your team knows that it’s okay to reevaluate goals later. Sometimes a goal seems reasonable at the start, but personal life events or changes in business dynamics can cause unexpected obstacles. Ensure your team knows their goals don’t have to be set in stone, and invite them to consult with you or another team member if they need advice on making their goals more attainable down the line.
Ensure Goals Have a Purpose
Don’t turn setting professional goals into a checklist item. For your team to make real progress and be motivated by their goals, they need to know their purpose and fully understand what they are working towards. Your team should have thorough discussions about why they set their specific goals and the benefit they hope to gain from them.