In this cast, we recommend how to start setting annual goals, and why we do not like “SMART” goals.

Many managers are going through goal setting efforts right now, for 2008. We get lots of questions about goals, and goal setting, this time of year. Sometimes, they’re dispiriting. Managers seem to spend an awful lot of time word-smithing their intent into corporate frameworks. All that time would be FAR better spent thinking about the goals themselves, and how the achievement of those goals will help the organization.

A lot of managers have to create goals that are “SMART”, and we don’t recommend your doing so unless you have to. We dislike them SO much we almost called this cast, “SMART Goals are Stupid.” (We REALLY don’t like them). In fact, we spend a good bit of time in our introduction talking about SMART goals, so beware. The fact that the technique is so widespread and so often ineffective causes us to want to address it fully.

And hey, who would have thought that our answer would be “MT Goals”?

Cool.

Today, we finish our discussion on the fine art of Scheduling One-on-Ones.

This cast describes how to schedule your One on Ones.

We get lots of questions on One on Ones (O3s). And, we’re happy that we do, because O3s are the heart of the Management Trinity. We find a lot of managers struggle with when to have their one on ones, whose calendar takes precedence, what days of the week are best, etc.

In this cast, we talk about ALL those factors, as well as the benefits of varying techniques that we’ve seen different managers use to schedule their O3s.

We finish with the single most important guidance regarding O3 scheduling you’ll ever hear, so stay tuned.

This cast describes a simple way to handle a group interview.

Interviewing is one of the real tragedies in most companies. It’s so easy to do it well (once you get over the Horstman Curve), but so few are willing to take the time. Oh, sure, everyone wants to complain about lousy output (low retention, poor performance, attitude difficulties, etc.), but no one seems to be willing to think systemically about the problems.

Come to think of it, there are thousands of companies who never get to the idea that turnover, low morale, and poor performance might just be the output of a broken process: interviewing.

And one of the worst ideas in interviewing is GROUP interviews.

But, since you may very well get one at some point, we have a simple (three key points!) set of suggestions to help you make it through.

SEVERAL months ago, I blogged about an impressive General Manager and his impressive Plant Manager who had set a GREAT “SMART” goal. (You needn’t read the post, as I’ll reprise it here.)

The Plant Manager had been named to his role for a newly acquired facility, at which many of the employees spoke Spanish primarily. The GM rightly surmised that leadership and management require excellent communication, and the language barrier was significant. So, the GM set an objective for the Plant Manager, which met the standard of a “SMART” goal:

“You and I will have lunch - entirely in Spanish - by (date).”

I’ve owed you an update for quite a while, and here it is.

After missing the initial goal (more on this later), the GM and his Plant Manager DID have lunch, entirely in Spanish.

We at Manager Tools believe that the setting of a goal with a measurable outcome [”entirely” and “in Spanish” do that quite nicely] and a clear deadline [the lunch was on both calendars] is a significant motivator of managerial behavior.

Interestingly, the Plant Manager missed the first deadline. He did so in part because he was knee deep in pressing plant issues, issues that the GM and I and others completely AGREED were pressing and worthwhile efforts. But working on other pressing issues is ALWAYS possible, and an oft-used reason for failing to achieve a goal. Those other issues are the very reason for the clarity of the goal to begin with.

(And a postscript: we don’t subscribe to SMART goals, but this client used them, and many of you are forced to work with them. We have a future cast on SMART goals, and the Manager Tools better alternative. - H)

This is the second of our casts that describe our recommendations about calendar management.

Last week, we covered some basics of calendar management the most important of which was that effective managers think about managing their priorities a WEEK at a time - thinking in terms of weeks is the most effective way to stay strategic, and therefore effective.

We then covered our first, and perhaps most surprising point - Family First. Simple in practice … schedule time for your family ON YOUR CALENDAR first. And then give THAT commitment the same level of focus as your other priorities.

This week, we cover our remaining points relative to managing your calendar …

• Schedule time for email
• Nail down your strategic objectives
• Block out one-on-ones
• Schedule time for a weekly network building lunch