Why Setting Up Of Targets Is Important For Business Performance

Every journey starts with a destination and time frame in mind. If there is no destination then that is called wandering. Business is also a journey which you embark because you want to achieve something – money, fame, knowledge, satisfaction for something done with the best of abilities, etc.

 When you set up targets at the beginning of the year you get a direction for the future and you get a chance to analyze and look back  at the plus points and the minus points of  the past year.

Once you set realistic and smart targets it is possible to chalk out a plan for achieving them. Hence , they give you a direction and you start thinking of how to make them real. Some of the things which get included in the plan are:

• What resources you need to achieve the target?
• What strategies you need to set to achieve the target?
• What is the financial implication for achieving  the target?
• What improvements are needed in the existing structure of the organization?
• What would be the KPPs – The Key Performance Parameters?
• What attitudinal changes are required in the organization -  as the first step taken in order to hit the target is to set a positive frame of mind that it is achievable and possible?
• The whole team has to have that positive spirit?

The answers to these very questions give you the direction and you start seeing the path ahead.

But, the targets should be smart , realistic , achievable and time bound as only then responsibilities can be assigned and valuable resources like time and money can be allocated.

I believe that brain storming to set the targets  on the basis of past performance and the future trends  is a must at the outset of every year .

The periodic review of the targets set surely give a clear idea about where the business is heading to and if inspite of a lot of effort and planning the targets become difficult to achieve then those situations tell you a lot about the market conditions and hence again you can gear the direction accordingly.