Some words used to describe grand are: elaborate, great, principal, & main. This makes sense to me when think of goals as they can be great and lead to great outcomes, or they are the principal driver of the strategy behind a program. They can also become too elaborate to be effective, or we allow the goal to overshadow everything else.
I am pleased that as an industry, we are speaking about goals and objectives more frequently! We have realized that not all goals need to be Grand, but they must always be SMART! Many of you may be familiar with this acronym. If not, below are examples to describe the SMART process of setting goals:
Specific: Implement Phase 1 of a Corporate Strategic Meetings Management Program by June 30, 2013
Measureable: Achieve 12% savings for group meetings by December 31, 2012 (not: show meeting savings to my boss)
Achievable: Implement a meeting registration process for North America and Europe by December 31, 2012 (not: implement global SMM program)
Relevant: Conduct training for occasional planners in new registration process by October 31, 2012 (not: meet with occasional planners about travel trends)
Time bound: Note we used an end point for all of our examples; this is what is meant by time bound. Taking the date out of any of these would make them irrelevant, because we wouldn't know if we had achieved the goal or not.
The secret here is to develop goals that make sense and that are not too grand or too elaborate. If they become too grand or elaborate, they become extremely difficult to achieve or measure.
Another key element for your grand goals is that they are in alignment with the overall goals and objectives of the corporation. For example, if your corporation is undergoing a major rebranding initiative or large acquisition project, this may NOT be the right time for your goal of implementing a Strategic Meetings Management program. However, if the company is stable and is focused on increasing productivity and improving outcomes, the time is perfect for your SMMP goal!
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