Setting Team Goals in 2021: 8 Steps to Manage & Motivate

How to set effective goals for you and your team 

We all have things that we want to accomplish. Every year people make New Year's Resolutions. Some people want to run faster or get that big promotion or hit their sales target. It is common knowledge that setting goals can improve performance and personal outcomes, but how can you ensure the effectiveness of goal setting? The effectiveness of goal setting is impacted by the types of goals that you are making. 

Effective goal setting is an important skill for managers to learn. A 2020 study examined the ability of manager set goals (which were not connected to employee pay) to increase team productivity. The findings revealed that “when managers set goals for the team, team production is, on average, 19.8% higher” (Fan & Gómez-Miñambres 2020). 

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1. Use Personal Best Goal Setting

One type of effective goal setting is personal best goal setting. A 2019 study focused on the personal best goal setting and student engagement for 368 Australian secondary school students. Personal best goal setting focuses on improvement for the individual student instead of having each student aim for the same goal. This type of goal setting takes into account the personal needs and abilities of the student. Each goal is based upon what the student views as their best and their previous performance, not upon external benchmarks. 

Personal best goal setting was measured through a questionnaire in which statements were rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The statements included: 

“When I do my schoolwork I try to do it better than I’ve done before”

“When I do my schoolwork I try to do the best that I’ve ever done”

“When I do my schoolwork, I try to improve on how I’ve done before”

“When I do my schoolwork, I try to get a better result than I’ve got before”

The results demonstrated that “goal setting may be a viable strategy to positively impact early levels of engagement, positively impact engagement at any given point in time, and increasingly impact engagement across time” (Burns 2019). Setting a personalized goal improved student engagement. This strategy of goal setting can be applied to contexts outside schooling. Personal best goals can be set by examining previous performance and setting a goal that is slightly above that past performance. 

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The use of personal best goals is congruent with Fan and Gómez-Miñambres’ 2020 study mentioned above. Along with their findings on the increase in team production that is related to goal setting, Fan and Gómez-Miñambres also found “this effect is strongest when goals are challenging but attainable” (2020). This is another way to describe personal best goal setting. An appropriate goal is won which requires effort but will be achievable. 

2. Have Monthly support Meetings and Incentives 

A 2019 study focused on entrepreneurial achievement through goals, incentives, and support groups involved small business owners from Medellin, Colombia. One experimental group, included participants receiving $19 for every goal completed and attending monthly support groups to set goals, discuss progress, and potential ways to reach goals. The results showed that for “the condition with both the prize and support group treatments, realized sales that were almost one level higher than the other groups” (Aguinaga 2019). The combination of monetary incentives and support was effective in goal completion, shown through sales increases. 

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3. Change How Employees Perceive Management

The manager-employee relationship has an impact goal progression. The efficacy of goals set by managers depends on how employees view their manager. The results show “the perception that managers are deliberative had the greatest positive direct relationship with subordinates’ goal commitment, followed by the directive style” (Lill 2020). 

A deliberative style was characterized as high on intellectual competence and warmth. A directive style was considered high on intellectual competence but cold. The other two types of management that were included in this study were hostile (intellectually careless and cold) and complaisant (intellectually careless and warm). 

To assess managerial goal setting style, employees answered a questionnaire, using a rating system from 1 (least) to 5 (most). Some styles included: 

• Deliberative: How keen is your manager to clarify uncertainties, regarding proposed goals, through mutual reasoning?
• Directive: How assertively does your manager communicate his/her expectations for assigned goals?
• Hostile: How prone is your manager to undermine subordinates’ attempts to reason about assigned goals?
• Complaisant: How willing is your manager to sacrifice organisational requirements to promote subordinates’ interests when setting proposed goals?

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Social perception of managers was also assessed with a questionnaire where employees rated their their boss’s: 

• Intellectual competence: How clearly does your manager explain why proposed goals are necessary?
• Warmth: How concerned is your manager with the impact that proposed goals may have on subordinates’ welfare?
• Intellectual carelessness: How impulsively (irrationally) does your manager set goals?
• Coldness: How disregardful is your manager about the impact, whether positive or negative, of assigned goals on subordinates?

 Employees are more likely to complete goals set by managers that they respect, and even more likely when the manager is personable. If you are a manager it would be helpful to examine your leadership style to ensure that employees can perceive you as deliberative or directive. 

4. Help Set Self-Concordance Goals With A Specific Plan

This is a similar concept to setting personal best goals discussed above. Self-concordant goals are goals that reflect personal values instead of external or internal pressure. Like personal best goals, self-concordant goals are personalized to the individual. 

Self-concordance can be measured through a questionnaire. Here are some items rated on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all for this reason) to 7 (completely for this reason) (Koestner, Lekes, Chicoine, & Powers 2002). Why do you want to work on this goal?  

• External pressure: ‘‘because somebody else wants you to, or because you’ll get something from someone if you do”
• Internal pressure: ‘‘because you would feel ashamed if you didn’t – you feel that you should try to accomplish this goal”
• Identified desire: ‘‘because you really believe it is an important goal to have”
• Intrinsic desire: ‘‘because of the fun and enjoyment which the goal will provide you – the primary reason is simply your interest in the experience itself” 
• Integrated desire: ‘‘because it represents who you are and reflects what you value most in life” 

A 2002 study examined self-concordance and goal progress for participant’s weekend goals, such as reading a book or meeting someone new. The findings “showed that self-concordance was significantly related to goal progress when combined with implementation intentions” (Koestner et. al 2002). 

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Implementation intentions refer to the specific time and place a participant identified to complete their goal, three possible distractions, and a plan of action for each distraction. The combination of self-concordance goals and a specific plan of when and where the goal was going to be completed had a positive impact on goal completion. 

This study demonstrates that goal setting is effective when goals reflect personal values and desires. Goal setting meetings should include discussions of possible challenges and actions one can take to overcome those challenges. 

5. Foster a Sense of Purpose

There are also personal characteristics that contribute to how effective goal setting is. A 2019 study examined New Year’s Resolutions of librarians as a way to examine goal setting practices, looking specifically at personality traits that lead to setting resolutions. The results showed “respondents with a clear sense of purpose in life were less likely to give up on their goals than those with less clear sense of purpose” (Anderson 2019). Those with a clear purpose in life were more likely to preserve to attain their goal. A manager might remind their team of the purpose of their work and how it benefits others. It may also be helpful for executives to share their vision for the future and how employees are a part of making that a reality. 

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6. Start With Small Goals 

Reaching previous goals increases the likelihood of completing future goals. In a recent study researchers found that “goal setting is most effective if subjects were able to achieve previous goals'' (Fan, Gómez-Miñambres, & Smithers 2020). It was also found that “attaining an assigned goal in the past increases the probability of attaining personal goals'' (Fan et. al 2020). This study demonstrates that reaching goals can be built on momentum. These results suggest that it is useful to start with small goals that will be easier to attain, then move on to larger, more long term goals.

For example, a small goal to start with might be to answer 3 emails before lunch then a larger goal may be to complete a spreadsheet by the end of the week. Use the positive momentum from the small goals to propel you to reach even bigger goals. 

7. Create a Supportive Organization Climate

Similar to the impact of the way that managers are perceived, the workplace atmosphere has an impact on the effectiveness of goal setting. A 2019 study based in the United States demonstrates that organizational climate has an impact on the effectiveness of goal setting. Finds indicate “that a formal organizational process used by proposal development teams for setting project goals is highly effective and that an appropriate OC [organizational climate] further intensifies the positive effect of such a process” (Zwikael 2019). 

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In this study top management support was measured using a questionnaire as an indicator of organization climate. Statements were rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Here are examples from the top management support questionnaire. 

1. The senior executive clearly articulated the vision of the organization
2. The senior executive challenged the team to think about problems in new ways
3. Help was available from the senior executive when the team had a problem
4. The senior executive really cared about the well-being of team members
5. The senior executive cared about the team’s opinions 

Organization Climate was measured with the following statements: 

1. People in my location (e.g. team, department) are encouraged to come up with innovative solutions to work-related problems
2. Our location has established a climate where employees can challenge our traditional way of doing things
3. In my experience, our location helps learn from the activities of other groups in this organization
4. In my experience, our location learns from the activities of other organizations

This study shows that making formal goals, ones which are communicated clearly, is extremely effective. Once there are formal goals in place, a supportive and positive environment increases the likelihood of goal completion. To maximize the positive impacts of goal setting, there needs to be a workplace culture that encourages the sharing of ideas. 

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8. Make Goals Specific and Appropriately Difficult 

A 2020 study looks at the impact that racial diversity has on goal setting and the impact that goal setting has on task performance for government employees. The participants were 602 employees from 42 New York State agencies. 

The results show that racial diversity had a positive impact on goal setting by affecting goal specificity and difficulty. The positive impact of racial diversity was strengthened by the formalization of goals. Formalization is the process by which a goal is made clear. Increased formalization of goals was linked to increased task performance. (Jong 2020). 

In this study goal difficulty and specificity were measured through questionnaires. Think of the work goals that are set for you and rate the following statements on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (Jong 2020). 

Goal Specificity 

• My goals at work are very clear and specific.
• I understand fully which of my job goals are more important than others.
• I understand fully what I am expected to accomplish on my job.

Goal Difficulty

• The job goals in my work require a great deal of effort.
• A high degree of skill and know-how are necessary to do my job well.
• My job goals are very challenging.

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LIFE Intelligence: Goal Setting App for Leaders & Teams

LIFE Intelligence is a total life management app. It can be used alone, or, as a wellness and leadership development tool for teams and companies. The app consists of 9 missions, or topics, teaching everything from mental resilience to leadership. Mission 2, on self-awareness, can increase your ability to make self-concordance goals. Mission 3 discusses values, which digs into your sense of purpose. Mission 3 also is specifically designed to guide you through setting and meeting goals, with project management frameworks such as those used in agile development.

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Mission 6 shares how to manage stress when tasks get overwhelming, and support teammates through tough times. Finally, Mission 9, on leadership, ties it together to share how to motivate and encourage a team with an appropriate leadership style involving both warmth and competence. If you’re interested in a novel kind of goal setting app, don’t just track: use LIFE Intelligence go get a 360 degree view on personal, team, and company goals.