On December 30, 2011, our last blog post for last year, we talked about Getting Ready for 2012 and the importance of setting goals for the New Year. As important as it is to set goals, it is just as important to keep track of your company or department goals. Even more importantly, are they being executed or just staying on paper? Now that we have completed the first month of 2012, it is the perfect time to re-visit your goals and convene with your team to see what is working and what is not.
Preparing for your Meetings
Your first step in preparing for the meeting should be examining your goals and determining your success or completion rate for January. Make sure you calculations are accurate, and send them out with your agenda, so that your team will have the opportunity to review the information before hand. They might catch errors or have information that might change your calculations. You should also collect all information and metrics relating to your goals for reference should any questions arise in your meeting.
Conducting your Meetings
The objective of this meeting is to review your progress with your team and to get feedback on what needs to change. It is important that your acknowledge successes and give recognition to the appropriate people for their contributions. On other hand you should also address areas of concern and create an action plan of how to get back on track. The action plan should be created with your team’s input; this is the best way to get their buy-in.
Accountability is Key
Above all else, it is imperative to keep track of who is accountable for what. Make sure that you thorough minutes are recorded during your meeting minutes and send out to team so they too have a record of the progress and a clear picture of where everything stands. Our web application makes sharing minutes hassle free! Reassign resources and talents where needed, if this will change the outcome of the rate of completion or progress on certain goals. Every goal/task should have an “owner”. Assigning tasks to specific person or group of people allows you to have a source of contact for that task. You can privately periodically touch base with them individually to find out their progress.
The final thing you should know is that goal tracking meetings are better conducted early in the year. This gives your ample time to make adjustments where they are needed. You have all the tools you need, schedule your meeting soon!