OBJECTIVE SETTING MINI WORKSHOP FACILITATOR’S NOTES © Copyright Wendy Wyatt 2012 DISCLAIMER The contents of this publication do not constitute advice and it is presented for your personal information only. The information in this e-book is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. Neither the author nor publisher can guarantee results. They cannot accept any responsibility or liability for damage or losses of any kind whatsoever. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that their work conforms to relevant legal and organisational requirements. It is strongly recommended that you download and save the facilitator notes and workbooks within a month of purchase. There are no guarantees that any website will be live forever.
Allow 2.5 hours to run this mini-workshop. This includes a 20-minute break. They will need one after an hour and a bit – depending on when you reach a good place to pause. I’ve suggested a good place to break. The timings of each workshop can vary as groups respond so differently. See appendix one on how to manage this.
1. INTRODUCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES FOR THIS WORKSHOP (Allow 10-20 minutes) Check that everyone knows each other. The time this will take depends on the method you choose and how well they know one another already. For some ideas, see Mixers on the training resources tab on my website www.evviva.co.uk
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Discuss the objectives for the workshop with the group. Here are some examples: We are having this Workshop so that: - We know why setting objectives is important - We are familiar with the concept of SMART objectives - We understand why SMART objectives work best - We are proficient at drafting possible SMART objectives with our staff prior to the appraisal Ask - Is there anything else we should add? NB before any one points this out – explain to them that these objectives are not SMART! If there is time, you will revisit them in section five of the workshop and ask the group to write SMART objectives for the workshop. This workshop will be more valuable if real and current possibilities for objectives are discussed. In some instances this might mean that an individual employee’s poor behaviour or performance will be revealed. The manager must maintain complete anonymity for the employee. Ask the manager to use a pseudonym. Explain to the participants that, if there is any danger that the person could be identified, this approach is too risky. Offer to discuss such issues privately after the workshop. Different levels of knowledge and experience within the group often present a challenge to the facilitator. You will keep the more knowledgeable participants with you if you ask them to help you during the workshop by sharing their advice and ideas. Encourage participants to ask questions throughout the workshop.
2. WHAT ARE OBJECTIVES AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? (Allow 30 – 40 minutes) The discussions in this section are really important because they will help to gain the participants’ commitment to writing good objectives. Ask - them to read or talk through the following brief notes, which appear in their workbooks.
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An objective moves your organisation forward. It improves performance, resolves problems and enables opportunity to be exploited. An objective gives people something to aim for. It gives people focus – and meeting an objective is very satisfying. An objective must be written in a way that makes it very clear whether or not it has been achieved. No debate. Great objectives are inspirational, motivational and can have enormous power to help drive an organisation forward. Most objectives should ultimately link to the business plan, so that: - If all the individual targets in a department are met – then the department’s targets are met - If all the targets are met in every department - then the targets in the business plan are met Ask – Is there anything else they would like to add to this, from their experience? DISCUSSION – Let’s look at the sorts of objectives that would be useful in this organisation – starting with targets. Ask – (and write the answers on the flip chart) - What are the most important TARGETS for this organisation? - Which of these could be the basis of an objective for an individual or several individuals? If the discussion is stalling, you could ask - Which targets are not being met currently in the organisation? - Which targets could be stretched – making them more challenging? Ask - (and write the answers on the flip chart) - What are the other PRIORITIES for the organisation? - Which are the greatest OPPORTUNITIES to follow through? - Which of these could be the basis of an objective for an individual or several individuals? Ask - (and write the answers on the flip chart)
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- Which IMPROVEMENTS would have the most positive impact in this organisation? - Which are the most pressing PROBLEMS that need to be resolved in your department? - Which of these could be the basis of an objective for an individual or several individuals? Improvements and problems could be linked to: - Your organisation’s processes and procedures – how well they are being followed or how they could be developed - Operational Problems - Waste or inefficiency - How people are working together - Improving the quality of work, the product or service - People taking on more responsibility - Developing peoples’ skills Display the flip chart notes from these discussions on the wall (if allowed) so that managers can refer back to them when they have a go at drafting some objectives for their people. Ask - them to take a couple of minutes to note down in their workbooks the topics most relevant to Objective Setting in their department. There are headings in the workbook for TARGETS, PRIORITIES, OPPORTUNITIES, IMPROVEMENTS and PROBLEMS. They will need to refer back to these in section five – The Objective Writing exercise. NOTE: Remind participants that often an objective becomes irrelevant, unambitious or even unrealistic as the year progresses. So they should be reviewed regularly. Six monthly reviews really are the minimum. Ask the group why they think that individuals will benefit from having objectives. Possible answers include: - People will know what is expected of them - People will know how well they are progressing - People will be more motivated - People will have a sense of achievement - People will be able to take on more responsibility and grow their skills and experience
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Ask the group how they will benefit as managers if their people have objectives. Possible answers include: - I am more likely to meet the business plan targets - I will be able to exploit ideas and opportunities - I will be able to focus on what will make a difference - I will be able to see the big picture and not get tied up with unimportant tasks - I will be able to assess progress - I will be able to solve problems - I will be able to motivate my staff - Everyone should have a clear idea of what is expected of him or her and that will make day-to-day management easier for me – with less fire fighting. Read them this quotation, to illustrate why it can be good to have an objective: Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to. Alice: I don’t much care where Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)
3. WHAT ARE SMART OBJECTIVES? (Allow 20 - 30 minutes) Ask – Does anyone know what SMART objectives are? (Usually someone does! So let them explain to the group.) NOTE: They may well say that A is for achievable and this is commonly used. So they are not wrong. For those of us that feel that achievable is too close to realistic, A for Agreed is more useful. It is an essential ingredient! To be effective, objectives need to be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time bound (List these on the flip chart – with room to add examples) If an objective is truly SMART, there can be no argument about whether or not it has been met. Discuss each aspect of SMART: www.evviva.co.uk
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WHAT IS MEANT BY SPECIFIC IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING AN OBJECTIVE? A job can be a complex thing! People need to know what is expected of them. It can be difficult to know where to make a start and what to work on for the best results. An objective, which sets out exactly what is to be achieved in a task or project, focuses the mind. Ask - Can you give an example of a specific topic suitable for an objective? They may well mention the targets, priorities and problems to solve that are written on the flip chart sheets from the previous discussion. WHAT IS MEANT BY MEASUREABLE IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING AN OBJECTIVE? A measurable objective will ensure that people know whether or not they have succeeded. Ask – What are the important things we measure in the organisation? Refer back to the targets discussed in the previous section. What else is measured? Measures could include: - KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) - Finance and budgets - Increase in numbers – such as sales, profit margins, customer satisfaction, etc. (by percentage or a defined figure) - Decrease in numbers – such as costs, complaints, absence, etc. (by percentage or a defined figure) - Timescales for processing customers queries, handling paperwork, etc. The measures need to be clear – not using words such as ‘more’ or ‘increase’. Would increasing sales by a single pound/dollar/euro be an achievement? Probably not. You need to be specific. ‘More’ is just not good enough. Discuss – Some things can’t be measured easily. So it is really challenging to write a good objective. What sort of thing can’t be measured? Behavioural objectives are particularly tricky. You can’t ask someone to improve their attitude by 60%. What could be measured instead?
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Here are some examples: If they are inflexible – they could be set an objective to work in a number of different areas in the next few months If they are lazy – they could be set output objectives and be monitored weekly Ask – How would you write an objective for someone who: - Does not work well in the team? - Has a high level of absence? - Is a poor timekeeper? The answer is to look at the impact of the behaviour, the problems it causes and what it would be like if the problem didn’t exist anymore. Ask – are there any particular behavioural problems you want to tackle through objective setting and which it would be useful to talk through now with the group? (Remember to maintain anonymity). Share experience and expertise. WHAT IS MEANT BY AGREED IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING AN OBJECTIVE? It is the agreement between the appraiser and appraisee that the objective is appropriate, worthwhile and possible. That it is SMART. Discuss how it feels when you have been told to do something and have not had the chance to have any input. If there isn’t agreement between the manager and the employee about the objective, there is unlikely to be commitment or co-operation. At this point, participants may well ask you – ‘Well, what if an employee does not agree to the objective.’ Ask the group whether any of them have had this problem and if so, how they handled it. It is another chance to share some expertise. The answer to the question clearly depends on the culture of your organisation, but here are some pointers to discuss if your group wants to explore the issue: - You may not have a lot of room to negotiate if the objectives have been handed down from on high. In the public sector in particular, this can be a problem. The government sets many mandatory performance targets, so www.evviva.co.uk
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some of an individual’s objectives linked to these won’t be negotiable. However, make sure that at least some of the objectives you set for each individual are ones that you can agree between you. These could relate to the person’s development or behaviour. - Find out why the employee is unhappy about the objective. What is the context of their concern? - If it is because they feel that they do not have the skills – support their training. - If it is because they have not got time – review the priorities for the job and decide what can be dropped or delegated. - If they feel the objective is not reasonable – they may or may not be right! Get to the core of the issue and see if there is some room for manoeuvre. - You may need to reconvene the meeting once you have sought further clarification and/or the appraisee has had a chance to come up with another proposal that will meet your requirements. - Definitely reconvene the meeting if tempers are becoming frayed. ‘Let’s stop here. We will both have a think about it and get together again on Monday at 10.00’. It is also worth noting that: - It is the manager’s job to come to the appraisal with some ideas about relevant objectives, but - It is a great idea for appraisees to come along with ideas too - Objectives appraisees set for themselves are often tougher than those managers set for them! In practice, if the objective meets the next criterion – being realistic – refusal to work towards an objective is, in my experience, extremely rare. WHAT IS MEANT BY REALISTIC IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING AN OBJECTIVE? It must be possible to achieve the objective. Never set anyone up to fail! However, an objective must be challenging to be worth achieving and give an employee a sense of fulfilment. Ask – Have you ever been asked to do something that you felt was unrealistic? Discuss examples, how it felt, how it was resolved. WHAT IS MEANT BY TIME BOUND IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING AN OBJECTIVE?
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An objective needs to be achieved within a certain timeframe. Sometimes there are milestone dates on the way and these can be very useful with a large project. Sometimes there are deadlines to be met. Ask – Look at the flip chart sheets that set out the possible topics for objective setting (from section two). Pick out one or two and discuss the sorts of time scales that would be appropriate. Would it be more achievable, and less daunting to have some milestones set along the way? That is to say, break the objective down into smaller parts to be achieved in, say a month. Discuss the resources you may need to help employees meet their objectives. These could include investment in equipment, training, development, time, etc. When setting an objective consider the sorts of things that could prevent achievement. If the objectives are in addition to their day-to-day work (such as special projects), do make sure that you balance the objectives with the other work the person has to do. YOU COULD HAVE A BREAK HERE 4. ARE THESE OBJECTIVES SMT? (Allow 20 - 30 minutes) If you have plenty of time left, ask the participants to discuss these examples of objectives in small groups or couples for 10 minutes and then share the results with the group. If you are pressed for time, do the whole exercise with the full group. Bear in mind that we will not be able to assess whether these objectives are realistic, as we don’t know the context. Also we can’t agree them. So for this exercise, we will have to make do with SMT! Ask - Are these objectives Specific, Measurable and Time bound? Why? Why not? If an objective is not SMT, give an example of how the objective could be rewritten in a way that is SMT. The objectives are in their workbooks.
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1. To improve the quality of our product - NO - Quality would need to be defined - What are the problems causing the issues about quality? Would it be more effective to have an objective about resolving them? - By how much should quality improve? - How would it be measured? - By when? 2. To reduce packaging costs by 5% within the next 6 months - YES - A good objective! 3. To reduce the amount of stock we are holding by 2% - NO – BUT GETTING CLOSE - It needs to be time bound. By when should this be achieved? 4. To increase the perceived effectiveness of the customer service team - NO - What is the starting point? - What is the problem? - What would constitute an effective customer service team? - How much influence can we have over people’s perceptions? - Can perceptions be measured? 5. Write a new training policy and gain approval by the end of July this year - NEARLY - But approval may not be forthcoming. An objective must be achievable by the person for whom it has been set 6. Reduce stationery costs. Meet a target of 2% within the next three months and a total of 5% by the end of the financial year - YES - A good objective! - And it has a milestone
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5. OBJECTIVE WRITING EXERCISE (Allow 30 - 40 minutes) If there is time, revisit the objectives for the workshop (the ones you discussed at the beginning of the workshop) and ask the group to improve on them by writing SMART objectives. For example - By the end of this workshop: - I will have shown that I can write an objective that is SMART - I will have identified the types of objectives I want to agree with my staff - I will have a plan to meet with all my staff to discuss their SMART objectives during this month Ask the group to have a go at writing three objectives. You could introduce it like this - The appraisal round will start shortly. You all have people to appraise and they need objectives for the next year. Bearing in mind the priorities of the organisation, the needs of your department and the people in it, write three SMRT objectives that you will be able to discuss with employees. (Obviously they won’t be able to be AGREED yet but they can be SMRT!) Refer back to the flip charts you created with the participants in section two (the discussions on targets, priorities and problems). Put them up where they can be seen. During section two, they also made their own notes. Ask them to refer to those too. Allow them 10 minutes to draft their three objectives. Then ask them each to share one of the objectives they have written. Ask everyone to check whether they think it is SMRT and if not, how it could be made to be SMRT. (If you still have some time available, ask them to share the other objectives they have written). Clearly the length of time this exercise will take depends on the number of people in the group and their ability to write a SMART objective! 6. CLOSE (Allow 10 minutes) Tell them that this exercise brings the workshop to a close.
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Check that the objectives of the workshop have been met. If they have not, discuss the next action with the group. Ask them to complete a brief action plan (there is one in their workbook) for the preparation they need to do for objective setting – this could include reviewing department targets to identify suitable objectives, looking at particular challenges the department has, considering individuals’ development needs, considering qualifications, etc. Discuss how the actions and ideas will be followed up. The main reason some workshops are not effective is because there is no follow through. Thank them for their participation and ask them to complete an evaluation form if you wish. You will find an example which you can copy, paste and adapt, by clicking the training resources tab on my website www.evviva.co.uk
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