Company goals in 2025: Lead your team the SMART way
Master the SMART Framework to Transform Your Company’s Goal-Setting in 2025
With competing priorities and endless tasks, it can be challenging to zero in on what exactly will move the needle in your business. However, one major foundation for success is setting and following company goals that are clear, measurable, and attainable. Consequently, if you don’t have defined goals it will affect everything from team productivity to overall profitability through lost focus and scattered energy. Therefore, it is essential to set both short- and long-term goals; however, keep in mind that short-term goals are the ones that lead to long-term goals, so those arguably deserve more emphasis.
What are SMART goals?
Company goals ensure that you will stay focused, allocate resources effectively, and keep your team motivated and connected. In particular, one method that is known for producing increased clarity and accountability is setting SMART goals: for both short- and long- term, set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals. Moreover, short-term SMART goals can be centered around the next 90 days, while long-term SMART goals can be used for 1, 3, or 5 years ahead.
As research by McKinsey indicates, when implemented effectively, goal setting can significantly boost employee engagement and overall organizational performance.
Here’s a breakdown of each SMART goal component with company goal examples for each:
S – Specific
First, to be effective, goals should be clear and well-defined. Instead of a vague objective like “improve sales,” a specific company goal might be “increase product sales by 20%.”
M – Measurable
Second, goals need criteria to track progress. For instance, tracking the increase in monthly sales allows businesses to measure if they’re on target.
A – Achievable
Third, to ensure success, goals should be realistic given the resources, skills, and timeframe available. Setting an achievable goal prevents discouragement and boosts motivation, like aiming for a small percentage increase rather than an unrealistic 50% leap.
R – Relevant
Fourth, know how to determine business goals by consulting your broader business objectives. By doing so, you can ask yourself what aligns with your company’s culture. For instance, a goal to improve customer service is relevant if customer retention is a priority.
T – Time-bound:
Finally, each goal should have a deadline to create urgency and encourage steady progress. A time-bound company goal could be “increase sales by 10% within the next quarter.”
Examples of SMART company goals and objectives
For example, let’s look at an example of a $5M professional services firm that set clear company goals for the next year and identified three milestones to support the overall company goal:
Company goal: increase annual revenue from $5M to $8M in the next 12 months.
First milestone: Add two new service offerings that generate $1M each in the first year (Q1-Q2).
Second milestone: Increase revenue per client by 20% through cross-selling and upselling (Q1-Q4).
Third milestone: Improve client retention from 75% to 90% (Q1-Q4).
To get the full team buy-in into the company goals, the management team energized the rest of the company by
- Sharing the “why” behind each goal,
- Encouraging questions and ideas to foster group connection,
- Reporting on progress to keep the team focused and motivated,
- Celebrating milestones early and often, and
- Continuously tying everyday work and decisions back to the overarching long-term goals.
Additionally, consistent communication is key to fostering buy-in. Effective communication strategies can help ensure that your team is aligned and motivated
Common traps to avoid when setting company goals
It can be tantalizing to want to immediately start creating a list of business goals upon reading about this SMART method. Before your mind starts racing and planning, be mindful of these common pitfalls:
First, avoid setting unrealistic goals. You will lose stamina and your team will lose motivation.
Secondly, steer clear of goals that are immeasurable. You will have no way to track if you are following through and on pace with your larger vision if you create something that can’t be defined.
Finally, resist focusing solely on the short-term or the long-term. Look at both. SMART goals can be used for immediate targets and overarching business goals. Short-term wins lead to long-term triumphs.
Let’s be SMART!
It’s time to make 2025 your best year in business yet. Once you’ve identified and addressed these common traps, get focused on being SMART. Write a list of short- and long-term company goals that you are aiming for in your business. Next, instead of going after all (which is much too scattering), choose 1-3 short-term goals to focus on tackling that will make the biggest steps toward your long-term goals.
It is more than SMART of you to utilize SMART goals in your business because this framework will help you set clear and effective goals that can
- First, drive productivity,
- Second, foster a motivated, goal-setting culture,
- Third, raise the energy of your team, and
- Finally, ultimately lead to improved team performance.
As a result, SMART goals means more alignment. Consequently, more alignment means more desired outcomes. And who wouldn’t want that?
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