Setting goals is an important part of growing your business—everything from meeting your revenue targets to expanding products and services to growing your team. Adding context to your goals can help to make them feel more achievable and motivating to work toward. While you might be able to set your goals without any problems, adding context can be a challenge. A Detroit executive coach can help you and your company create goals with context so your team has something concrete to work toward. Our team at The Simmons Advantage can help you get started with some tips.

Evaluate the current state of your company

Part of setting realistic goals requires you to know your starting point. Do an in-depth dive to evaluate the current state of your company. While setting goals is important, it’s more important that they’re realistic. You can try to shoot for the moon, but if you’re more likely to reach the top of a mountain, it’s better that you understand your limits. For example, someone who’s never run a mile in their life probably isn’t going to be prepared to run a marathon next week. Know your starting point before trying to set your endpoint with your goals.

Identify where you want to be

Your goals aren’t always an endpoint. Instead, they can work as a checkpoint along the way. For instance, you can set goals for the growth of your company 10 to 15 years down the road while setting smaller goals to help you reach that ultimate goal. But before you set any of your goals, it’s crucial that you know where you want to be when you accomplish them. What will your business look like once you reach that point? What will your revenue stream be? You need to be able to identify what it means to accomplish your goals while setting them, or you’ll find yourself climbing a never-ending ladder.

Analyze the steps to get there

Distance runners can run for a long time without stopping. However, they don’t often take the entire run as one chunk. It’s broken into smaller, bite-sized pieces that are easier to manage. They’ll approach mile markers by judging their pace and speed and adjusting accordingly. Identify mile markers for your goals where you can check back and evaluate your progress. You would hate to set a goal for one year from now and not look at any feedback until 11 months later, only to find out you’re not close to the pace you need to reach your goal. Setting up steps and checkpoints along the way will help you to know whether you’re on pace or need to re-evaluate.

Create projects that meet your objectives

Your company’s goal won’t often be met by passively going about your business. It’s essential that you put parts of your plan into motion by making internal adjustments. Change will bring about more change, so you’re likely going to need to organize teams and projects that can get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Align goals with the company’s vision

Where does your company want to be in five years? If you own a business that you want to grow into an international conglomerate, you can’t think small. Your growth strategies need to align with your vision of the future so you can reach your overarching goals.

Get in touch for more

If you’d like to learn more about adding context to your company’s goals, get in touch with us at The Simmons Advantage. We’re your Detroit executive coach who can help you set more meaningful goals. You can schedule an appointment with our team by sending a message via our online contact form.