I understand your concern that with so many objectives in your organization, it's hard to determine what's most important. Of course, the answer you will often hear is that it's all important.
Soon after our Board endorsed our 10 year strategic plan, the senior management team was tasked with developing a set of objectives for achieving the plan. They were thorough in their work, defining 348 objectives for achieving the 5 strategic goals the plan proposed. I asked one of them if he would tell us which were the 5 that were most important. And I got the above answer: "It's all important." I persisted, "if we were unable to do anything else, which should we ensure gets done at all costs?" He referred me to the 5 strategic goals.
Our people want to know what's most important. They understand there are many things that we work on and must accomplish. But what's most important? Without this, and a long list of must-do objectives, it can be paralyzing and demotivating. I made it a habit each year to pick one objective from our annual set as our flagship objective. Achieving this one was what we should enure happens above all else. It was mobilizing for my team, and they appreciated the added focus.
Think about this when you develop your annual plan. |