As a leader, do you want to accomplish a certain set of organizational goals? If so, make those goals clear to each and every person in your organization. The goals should be clear, specific, quantifiable, and measurable in terms of time and output. For example, a sales organization would spell out "we are earning $50,000 in the month of May." It is expressed in the present tense. An engineering team might spell out "The planning is complete," and "detail drawings are released to the production team." Planning routines like Microsoft Project carry out goals planning in an organized fashion. Several styles are available, but the most popular is the Gantt Chart in which task elements are shown with timeline starting and completion points. As work is completed the bar so indicates. Late starts and late activities are clearly indicated. Actual completion date is shown when accomplished.



There is a cost connected to proceeding with planned goals. This should not be a surprise. Resources need to be put in place in a timely manner so that the goals have some guarantee of succeeding. This could be planned hires, office environment expanded and arranged to receive new staff, and needed equipment put in place to accommodate activities. Computer networking is a must in a modern organization. Training of both managers and front-line employees is essential in a plan for success. Rather that react to day to day conditions the organization plan drives activity, which flows from the plan in place. The master plan shows all of this clearly.

Rather than drifting aimlessly day to day, the organization is driven by the plan to meet short term and long term goals, and individual activities are paced by what the plan indicates. Individuals need to know how they are measuring up against the goals in the plan and can get that feedback with periodic reports. This periodic feedback will be cause to put corrections in place so that the goals are met. Corrective actions can be made in the form of short-term staffing adjustments or realignments to meet the needs of the units most requiring assistance.

Without the discipline of clear goals, including but not limited to a project schedule with attendant weekly report updates, activities drift aimlessly like a ship without a rudder. Work, any kind of work, will be found to fill the allotted time, and nothing supporting the goals is accomplished. The manager's goals are not met and he becomes frantic and workers wonder why the boss is running around with sparks flying. Organized published goals and schedules are the answer, and it is easy to learn to initiate, update, and report to those involved in the project.