Finishing Strong!
After the COVID chaos of 2020 and the year that seemed like a decade, 2021 feels like I just blinked and we are already halfway to 2022. I am sure most of you were as uncertain as we were at ETHIX360 on January 1st of what to do first. Vaccines were close, but not there yet. COVID was raging after folks couldn’t take being cooped up any longer and got together for the holidays. January 6th happened. How could we possibly focus on 2021 goals and objectives?
But that didn’t relieve of us of goal setting for 2021. Many of the clients I talked to about this set more tactical goals due to the uncertainty – preparing to fully reopen offices, stores, restaurants, and factories. Rapidly updating policies to make those re-openings safe. We all have teams, and those teams need goals to establish their personal growth goals, incentive bonus targets, and a rallying point.
Now at the midpoint of 2021, nearly 70% of Americans are vaccinated or at least have one shot, with over half a million more getting one every day. The lives of fully vaccinated folks are returning to normal – shopping, dining, exercising, and yes, going back to the office! Somehow, things are again beginning to feel right, and we can shift our focus from what do we HAVE to do tomorrow, to what CAN we do to finish 2021 strong, and ready our posture for 2022.
Generally, it’s close to the time that most companies begin 2022 goal setting, and if that’s where your company is, then get on a board. Be bold. Be optimistic. But don’t waste the back half of 2021, its more than a runway for 2022 you know!
Setting Mid-Year Goals
Setting mid-year goals is a challenge for many reasons and having a short time to accomplish them is clearly the most challenging. So many moving parts, yet… not everyone is back to work and things are GETTING normal but they sure ARE NOT normal quite yet. But do we want to look back at 2021 and see a missed opportunity to improve? A missed opportunity to take steps forward that are enduring and meaningful?
I have encouraged a number of clients to take this opportunity to set achievable, meaningful, yet realistic goals that they can accomplish before New Year’s Eve. To ring in the New Year with a sense of accomplishment because we did something big, something enduring, and not just celebrate that the year is over.
We should not wait for the future to embrace it, and by doing mid-year goal setting we still have time to set and achieve goals that matter. Sure, we still have all the tactical goals to deal with, and cope with all the clean-up that 2020 left us with. But we can and should do more.
OKRs and MBOs
A close friend of mine for many years is one of the thought leaders around OKR programs. OKRs comprise an objective—a clearly defined goal—and 3–5 key results—specific measures used to track the achievement of that goal. What’s very interesting is that they are typically not tied to compensation, and that is purposeful. That also is what makes them especially appropriate for now and mid-year goal setting.
Many of us were raised on MBOs – Management By Objectives, a cascading set of goals that tie everyone’s individual targets to a common framework and are generally used to then evaluate performance in determining incentive compensation. And with MBOs, we’ve all used at some time S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound). As they have been so dominant in practice for so long, I’m not going to dwell on them.
OKR’s, alternatively, represent incremental improvement to the process and are applicable right now in mid-year goal setting. In fact, it’s a framework you may want to stick your toe in the pool for and go for a test drive. They may be something you embrace and adopt going forward as a standard practice.
There are three key concepts on OKR’s that you can take and run with, although to truly embrace and adopt the process you need to be committed to it and I would suggest the assistance of a professional consultant that is schooled in the art. The three are:
Objective - “Where do I want to go?”
An Objective describes where you want to go and sets a clear direction. Think of it as a point on a map, a destination like New York.
Key Result - “How do I know if I’m getting there?”
A Key Result shows you how you’re progressing towards your Objective. Think of it as a signpost with a distance marker.
Initiative - “What will I do to get there?”
An Initiative describes what you’ll do to achieve your Key Results. Think of it as a description of what you’ll do to get to your destination.
Pretty straight forward and easily applicable to a 6-month horizon. There are a few more key concepts that are relevant in terms of this discussion – Moonshots and Roofshots – and in this context of mid-year goal setting, I’d encourage a mix of the two.
So what’s a moonshot? A moonshot is ambitious, and these are the goals that allow us to achieve beyond expectation. Pick a project, for example, that you had to put on hold this year because of all of the effort and distraction expended recovering from COVID chaos. But let’s start now! Something that in an ordinary year might have been achievable and maybe even seem ordinary, but in a half-year, with COVID malaise, it becomes a moonshot. Something that you and your team can look back on next New Year’s Day and say, “can you believe we actually got that done!”
Roofshots, on the other hand, are objectives that are maybe less exciting but no less critical. These are the objectives that ultimately become building blocks for everything we do. Mix them in as well because after all we want to end 2021 fundamentally better than we started, and in a better position to crush 2022. Make sure that you don’t just pick up 2022 where 2020 left off.
I’d love to hear what some of your moonshots and roofshots are, and I know they will inspire others to FINISH STRONG!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
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