Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Make the Goal Clear

This may seem obvious, but I'm going to say it anyway. It should be clear to everyone on your team what the goal of the team is. So my challenge question to you: Is the team goal clear to everyone on your team? Before you say, "of course," how do you know? If I came into your team and asked each member, would they all tell me the same thing?

In the spirit of practical leadership advice: today would be a good day to write down your team's goal. Verify with your team that you have it right and that it is clear. Finally, post it somewhere as a reminder. I bet you find that it's not as obvious as you think it is.

2 comments:

Stuart Helwig said...

In our small ISV (6 employees - 3 of which are developers), the development team has more than one goal at any one time. We may be working on 3 distinct areas of functionality for the next release, enhancing our web site, and any of the various other hats you need to wear. So each member may have 2 or 3 key goals at a given time.
Do you think such a small development team should have one clear overriding goal (say "hitting the target for the next release" which would probably not be specific enough) - and if so, do you think this simply becomes a mission statement of sorts?
I know if you asked any of my team members what "their" goal was you'd get different answers from each, but if you asked what "the teams" goal is, you'd probably get a fairly consistant answer.

Ken Flowers said...

Stu -
You've got it right. I'm focused on the team's goal here. Notice though that each person's 2 or 3 key goals ought to be in support of the team's goal, or mission if you prefer.
I'm glad your team members are all on the same page. Good for you!