New quarter, new you. As we’re at the start of a new quarter, it’s the perfect time to reassess how your team is tracking against your quarterly and yearly goals.
Our COO, Eunice Lee, shared her leadership advice with Fast Company, which includes reinforcing the behaviors we know will help us reach those goals, instead of overemphasizing the goal.
Check out the awesome advice from Eunice and other top business leaders below and on the Fast Company Executive Board.
14 WAYS TO HELP TEAMS REACH THEIR QUARTERLY GOALS
It takes team effort and accountability to cross the finish line together.
Setting quarterly goals is necessary to get your company over the finish line year after year, but what’s the point of setting goals if you lose track of those objectives? Developing a strategy and check-in process that holds everyone accountable is essential to keep your team on the same page and ensure they have the resources they need to perform their specific responsibilities.
To help managers and their employees forge a better path for moving the business ahead, 14 Fast Company Executive Board members each offer a strategy that has helped them obtain the results they were looking for and why it can work for your team as well.
1. REMOVE DISTRACTIONS AND AUTOMATE TO FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS.
Maintain laser focus by relentlessly cutting out noise and distractions. This approach enables me to concentrate solely on what truly matters, significantly boosting efficiency. Additionally, consider leveraging AI to handle routine tasks, allowing you to invest in human capital where it counts: creative solutions and strategic thinking. – Alex Goryachev, Alex Goryachev
2. MAKE YOUR QUARTERLY GOALS PHYSICALLY VISIBLE AND REVIEW THEM WEEKLY.
Many establish quarterly goals and forget to revisit them until the end of the quarter. So, make them visible and at the top of your mind by creating a system that forces you to review them weekly. If they fall off track, identify an action plan for the week to get them back on track. And if all fails, review why you didn’t achieve them. It might be a simple case of not making the goal SMART. – John Bernero, M3 Design
3. PLAN A STRATEGY THAT IS FLEXIBLE.
Have a flexible strategy and then flex it. This agility not only helps in meeting set goals, but it also ensures that the strategy remains relevant and effective in a business environment where change is happening much faster than quarterly. – Jeff Fettes, Laivly Inc.
4. ALLOCATE RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY TO REACH SMART GOALS.
To reach quarterly goals, a small business should define SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives aligned with its overall strategy. Allocate resources effectively, then develop actionable plans with clear deadlines. Foster communication and collaboration and celebrate milestones to keep the team motivated and on track for success. – Evan Nierman, Red Banyan
5. APPLY LEAN, SYSTEMATIC MANAGEMENT TOOLS.
The key to hitting quarterly goals is having the organization visualize its targets and status daily. We use lean management tools to systematically plan, execute, assess progress through KPIs, and adjust tactics. This iterative process, using root cause analysis as a means to learn, helps us meet goals. Visualizing helps us plan and do better. It also fosters collaboration and adaptability. – Mike Field, The Raymond Corporation
6. LEAN ON CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAM COLLABORATORS.
We develop yearly objectives and key results (OKRs) aligning with our five-year vision. These OKRs are then broken down into quarterly goals covered at our quarterly business meeting. We have monthly operating reviews to help support teams that need it and celebrate teams that are doing well. We utilize cross-functional teams, which are led by up-and-coming leaders, to execute these goals. – Nishant Anand, Altais
7. LET MANAGEMENT TRACK BIG GOALS AND TEAM MEMBERS FOCUS ON ACHIEVING SMALLER WINS.
Quarterly goals can be overwhelming due to their size and ambition. It’s crucial for management to track big goals, but team members should focus on smaller, achievable objectives. Smaller goals are easier to attain and, when combined, lead to significant successes. By the quarter’s end, you might find you’ve surpassed your targets! – Barry Lowenthal, Inuvo, Inc.
8. LEARN HOW TO SATISFY YOUR TEAM.
Find out what makes your employees tick. The instant answer may be a bonus or even a promotion, but there may be other things that might also spur them on, such as taking a group trip somewhere. Be creative. People get motivated by many things, not just money. – Zain Jaffer, Zain Ventures
9. COMMUNICATE YOUR GOAL EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY.
Communication, support, and accountability are necessary. You have to communicate the quarterly goals clearly and explain why you believe they are achievable. You need to ensure that the leaders and their teams have the support they need to attain those goals. Finally, you have to hold people accountable and be an agent of positivity when goals are hit and a leader who holds people accountable when they aren’t. – Richard RB Botto, Stage 32
10. COME UP WITH NEW IDEAS THROUGH COMPANY BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS.
Continuously try new strategies and tactics to stay on track with quarterly goals. When teams are behind on KPIs, we set up brainstorming sessions with our entire agency for fresh perspectives. Keeping new ideas top of mind boosts team morale and prevents work from becoming stagnant. Teams have a renewed positive energy when they try different things, and our clients love the creativity—it’s a win-win. – Geri Johnson, Next PR
11. BREAK QUARTERLY OBJECTIVES INTO WEEKLY AND DAILY TASKS.
To reach quarterly goals, we set our vision, then create clear objectives, and finally, we break them into weekly and daily tasks. This method turns big ambitions into manageable steps, ensuring progress, team focus, and inertia. Success comes from daily discipline and small wins. Why does this work? It’s because success is not pursued; it is attracted by the person you become. – Sean Kon, Innovation Refunds
12. ENSURE OBJECTIVES ALIGN ACROSS THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION.
Cascading MBOs (Management by Objectives) is our go-to strategy for reaching quarterly goals. It ensures alignment across all levels of the organization, giving each employee visibility into how their work directly impacts business objectives. This transparency fosters accountability, teamwork, and a shared sense of purpose, driving us closer to achieving our targets effectively. – Kermit Randa, Symphony Talent
13. OFFER A POTENTIAL PLAN AS YOU SET SPECIFIC GOALS.
An effective strategy Naris Communications uses to reach quarterly goals is to design a tentative plan at the same time we create the goal. This strategy is effective because it provides a starting point for the team to set clear objectives and performance indicators, build a solid plan, and determine the resources needed. – Keera Godfrey, Naris Communications LLC
14. REINFORCE THE BEHAVIORS THAT WILL HELP YOUR TEAM REACH GOALS.
Instead of overemphasizing the goal, at Scopely, we focus on reinforcing the behaviors we know will help us reach those goals. We base our employee feedback cycles on our cultural tenets, such as “Play to win” and “Iterate to greatness.” If people are excelling at exhibiting these traits, we are winning as an organization. – Eunice Lee, Scopely