It's easy for teams to lose alignment over time as strategies fade. Engineers dive deep into code, designers into UI and UX. Without constant communication, people forget the bigger picture priorities from months ago. Long-term roadmaps start feeling vague versus actionable.
Shared team goals bridge this gap powerfully. They make high-level strategy feel concrete and tangible, guiding daily choices and activities. Goals crystallize the key results and outcomes that leadership cares about, syncing efforts to what matters most—driving execution.
When I was at this one company, an engineer spent over a month building a complex proprietary recommendation algorithm. However, leadership was prioritizing launching simpler MVP features first to gain market share. Despite the engineer's work being technically sound, it diverged from leadership's roadmap prioritization.
Without well-defined team goals translating strategy into execution, this mismatch went unnoticed. The engineer thought he was driving impact but his work didn't align with broader priorities. Deadlines started slipping as misalignment compounded.
Clear shared team goals could have prevented this confusion. They would have provided the engineer visibility into focusing first on rapid iteration versus personalized recommendations. Shared goals drive teams toward what leadership considers the highest priorities and outcomes. This prevents wasted efforts on technically sound but misaligned work.
Importance of Team Goals
Creating and defining clear team goals and communicating them broadly is a proven best practice for driving execution. By setting well-defined goals and sharing them openly, all levels align on the specific outcomes that matter most.
Studies show that groups with clearly communicated goals outperform those without by over 200%. Leading companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft all implement goal setting rigorously. While techniques vary, visible goals unlock execution. For any product team looking to transition strategy into tangible results, establishing explicit team goals and communicating them widely is a foundational step and it's considered a well established best practice.
Some of the benefits of sharing and communicating team goals include:
- Alignment - Shared goals get everyone working towards the same priorities.
- Clarity - Provides clear expectations so there's no confusion about what success looks like.
- Transparency - Open communication on goals builds trust.
- Coordination - Enables better cross-functional coordination.
- Commitment - People commit more when goals are visible.
- Motivation - Shared goals tap into natural motivation.
- Tracking - Open goals enable tracking progress and results.
- Visibility - Highlights cross-functional dependencies needing coordination.
- Agility - Visible goals make it easier to realign if needed.
Responsibilities
Create Team Goals
When creating team goals it is a collaborative process among your teammates. Good goals will need to align with the strategy and roadmap. Your peers should never feel like goals were imposed on them. They should feel as if they committed themselves to the goals they want to achieve.
🚨 Important: Good goals will need to align with the strategy and roadmap.
Anything that the team has committed a substantial amount of time to should contribute to a goal. This includes planned product work, engineering, design work, and on-going product support such as making sure the site is functional for users and with no downtime.
A commonly recommended framework for goal-setting is to follow the SMART methodology of making goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
S - Specific: Goals should be specific, clearly defining the who, what, and why of the goal. Specifics help focus efforts and measure progress.
Ask yourself: What are you planning to do and what is the impact if successful?
M - Measurable: Goals should be measurable with concrete, quantitative criteria to track progress and results. Measurable goals provide clarity and accountability.
Ask yourself: How will you know if you hit your goal?
A - Achievable: Goals should be challenging but achievable given resource constraints. Unrealistic goals demotivate. Achievable ones provide incentive to stretch.
Ask yourself: Is your goal unreasonable?
R - Relevant: Goals should align to overarching strategy and objectives. Relevant goals help focus efforts on what matters most.
Ask yourself: Does your goal align to your team or company strategy?
T - Time-bound: Goals should have a defined timeframe which creates urgency and prompts action. Time-bound goals enable tracking progress.
In summary, S.M.A.R.T. goals are:
Specific - Clear on what's expected
Measurable - Quantifiable metrics to chart progress
Achievable - Ambitious but attainable
Relevant - Aligned to strategy
Time-bound - Defined timeframe
S.M.A.R.T. provides a proven framework for setting goals that drive results through focus, clarity, and measurability.
💁♀️ Tip: While goals provide focus, retain flexibility in them so that you can pivot as conditions evolve. The main idea is that while well-defined goals provide clear direction, they will need to require room for flexibility in execution.
Good vs Bad Goals
Here are a few examples of how you can apply SMART Goals in your work.
Increase Trial Signups
- Bad goal: Redesign pricing page and trial signup flow by end of month.
- Good goal: Redesign pricing page and trial signup flow to increase trial starts 15% month-over-month.
Annual Revenue Target
- Bad goal: Hit $10M in total revenue this year.
- Good goal: Grow total annual revenue to $10M by upgrading 20% of free users to paid plans and reducing churn by 10%.
User onboarding
- Bad goal: Improve user onboarding
- Good goal: Increase new user 7-day retention from 42% to 50% in Q2 by optimizing onboarding flow.
Mobile performance
- Bad goal: Make mobile app faster
- Good goal: Reduce mobile app average load time from 6 sec to 3 sec and improve conversion rate 2% in Q3.
Customer support
- Bad goal: Improve customer satisfaction
- Good goal: Decrease support ticket response time from 24 hrs to 6 hrs and improve CSAT score from 4/5 to 4.5/5 by EOY.
Developer efficiency
- Bad goal: Improve developer workflows
- Good goal: Reduce average Jira ticket handling time from 3 days to 1 day by implementing automation, measured by data report.
The key differences are that good goals are specific, measurable, time-bound, and focus on outcomes over outputs. They connect activities back to broader objectives and metrics.
Goals to Outcomes- Making sure goals are met
How many times have you missed a goal before the quarter ends? Maybe you wanted to update docs or pay down tech debt, only recalling them at quarter's end? The 11th hour scramble is an avoidable annoyance.
It's common for teams to lose track of goals without regular check-ins. For example, an engineer may be aiming to improve the site search relevance this quarter. But day-to-day tasks distracted him, and he didn't revisit the goal. By mid-quarter, no progress occurred.
Situations like this show why consistent tracking matters. Goals need regular revisiting to spur execution. Setting check-in cadences when goals are set reinforces follow-through.
Regular check-ins are crucial, but even with robust rhythms in place, goals can still go off course over time. A weekly stand-up provides rhythm to reassess progress. A monthly review meeting dives into metrics. Quarterly OKR tracking treats goals as living, not set in stone. However, unexpected events like technical outages can still disrupt progress. Organizational shifts may redirect resources too. Some falling behind is inevitable. When this happens, early communication is crucial.
As soon as goals appear at risk, loop in your manager for transparency. Discuss the circumstances candidly and brainstorm mitigation strategies. If significant changes are required, engage stakeholders early to align on implications. Explain the situation necessitating changes while mapping out creative solutions to get back on track.
The key is frequent communication when goals need realignment. This allows openly adapting goals while rapidly developing plans to mitigate setbacks. With transparency and quick response, teams can pivot objectives when situations call for flexibility.
Some examples of getting your goals back on track:
Reduce Scope:
- Focus on the 20% that drives 80% of impact
- Break goal into smaller milestones for quick wins
Ask for Resources:
- Get cross-functional or external help
- Bring on additional team members
Adjust Timelines:
- Extend deadlines to be realistic
- Project new path needed to catch up
Re-Prioritize:
- Swap lower-priority goals blocking progress
- Rank by importance of metrics
Increase Efficiency:
- Streamline processes slowing execution
- Remove unnecessary steps
Engage Stakeholders:
- Get input to remove roadblocks
- Reset expectations through communication
Strengthen Tracking:
- Increase progress check-in frequency
- Analyze trends to projection path needed
Refocus Efforts:
- Laser focus on the vital few metrics
- Use peers as sounding boards to spark creative ideas
- Pause lower-priority work to redirect internal capacity
The main focus is on soliciting help broadly, aligning on tradeoffs, removing distractions, and securing additional resources to get key goals back on track.
Growth Practices
Include Counter Metrics with goals
Counter metrics track unintended consequences, not just desired results. For instance, a goal to ship a major new feature may seem positive. But counter metrics would capture risks like increased bugs, slower performance, or user confusion. Without monitoring these potential downsides, product quality could suffer despite hitting the delivery metric. Counter metrics encourage foresight into risky areas that goals could overlook or exacerbate. They prompt teams to ask "at what cost?" and make informed tradeoffs.
By defining metrics that watch for pitfalls and underbelly effects, not just progress, teams take a systems view. Insightful teams define counter metrics to capture both progress and pitfalls. This dual lens empowers sound decisions, providing the full picture when pursuing outcomes. Insightful teams incorporate counter metrics for a balanced perspective.
Use Goals to motivate your team
Goals can be highly motivational, but it's important to understand and reflect on each team's preferences. People have different goal motivations. Some love bold challenges. Others want attainable targets. Reflect on varying perspectives. Are team members reach-for-the-stars or play-it-safe? Then customize goals accordingly. Give ambitious visionaries big stretches. Offer incrementalists clear, realistic aims. Recognize motivations are personal. Sync goals to natural motivators. Let each person operate in their sweet spot. Personalized goals amplify engagement by matching targets to mindsets. (Is this paragraph to individual sentences)
The main ideas are to avoid blanket goals, tailor goals to individuals' motivations, and sync targets with mindsets to maximize engagement.
Here are some key things to consider when shaping goals with your team:
- Align with company strategy - Ensure goals ladder up to support strategic priorities.
- Know motivations - Understand what energizes each person - bold challenges or attainable targets.
- Gather input - Incorporate team feedback into goal shaping to boost commitment.
- Set clear expectations - Define measurable outcomes and success criteria.
- Allow flexibility - Build in room for adjusting goals as situations evolve.
- Check resources - Verify the team has the skills, tools, budget needed.
- Identify dependencies - Map out reliance on other teams to coordinate upfront.
- Communicate context - Share the 'why' behind goals for meaning and motivation.
- Consider team dynamics - Factor in how personalities mesh for pairing up.
- Watch workloads - Balance stretch goals with sustaining day-to-day output.
- Set milestones - Break goals into manageable chunks to maintain momentum.
- Discuss challenges - Acknowledge potential hurdles the team may face.
- Focus on value - Keep goals tied to generating tangible customer and business value.
- Group related small pieces of work into one goal- Combine smaller tasks like experiments into a single goal focused on overall impact vs individual components.
- Segment goals by work type for focus - Have distinct goals for separate work streams like design vs engineering tasks.
Shaping strong goals requires balancing strategy alignment, team input, clear expectations, and focus on value-driven outcomes. Well-defined goals encourage team commitment through shared purpose. They align and motivate teams to accomplish meaningful results. With care taken to provide clarity and autonomy, goals focus teams to deliver what matters most to the business and customers.
Picking Achievable Targets
Picking achievable goals requires guessing what's realistic. To estimate well, compare plans to relevant baselines. For example, for a retention goal, see how past efforts impacted metrics as a starting point. Or for a redesign, reference lift from previous refreshes. Build on precedent and past learnings to inform projections. Discuss assumptions openly with the team. Estimate the plausible impact range based on data. But leave room for surprises. Achievable targets are grounded in facts yet flexible. With open debate and baseline insights, teams can set ambitious but grounded goals. The key is leveraging history while allowing flexibility to adapt targets as needed.
When setting goals for new work lacking past baselines, look externally for clues. Research similar efforts from other companies or competitors. See what results they achieved and how. Use external benchmarks to estimate realistic targets. For example, for a new pricing model, check how pricing impacted conversion elsewhere. Or for entering a new market, see if adoption curve data is available. Frame external findings in your context.
Talk to your network to get perspectives if public data doesn't exist. External insights reduce risk of unrealistic goals when no internal history exists. Anchoring targets to some facts balances stretch and sanity without baselines. The key is letting external data inform assumptions to ground new goal setting.
Frameworks
OKR's
OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, are a popular framework used by many leading companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter for setting and tracking goals. OKRs focus on defining measurable objectives and concrete results. They keep teams aligned, empowered, and focused on what matters most.
Objectives are qualitative descriptions of the goal's desired outcome. They should be inspirational, memorable, and motivational. Key results are quantitative metrics to evaluate achievement of the objective. Key results make objectives actionable and tangible.
Here is an example of an OKR with both a qualitative objective and a qualitative key result metric:
Objective: Improve employee satisfaction and engagement (Qualitative)
Key Results:
- Increase employee NPS score from 7 to 8 by end of Q3 (Quantitive)
- Maintain or increase employee satisfaction survey engagement rate of 85% in Q3 (Quantitive)
- Qualitative: Receive feedback from focus groups that the employee experience has improved in Q3
In this example, the objective aims to improve the qualitative outcome of employee satisfaction and engagement. The first two key results are quantitative metrics - specifically an NPS target and survey engagement rate goal.
The third key result is qualitative - feedback from focus groups that the employee experience has improved. While quantitative metrics are ideal, qualitative measures like user feedback can also be valid key results as long as they are specific.
🚨 Important: Quantitative is numbers driven and qualitative is behavior and observation driven.
Overall, OKRs offer several benefits. They align organizations around strategic priorities and focus efforts on measurable outcomes versus just tasks. They drive engagement by connecting team goals to company goals. And they provide clarity and transparency on expectations and progress.
Final Words
Team goals are pivotal for translating strategy into reality. Well-defined goals rally organizations by outlining specific measurable outcomes that ladder up to strategic objectives. They provide clarity to guide teams while allowing flexibility in tactics. Regular check-ins ensure accountability. Most importantly, goals connect individual efforts to the big picture so that autonomous teams stay aligned on what matters most.
Crafting effective goals requires balancing strategy, motivations, resources and delivering value. Goals should stretch teams while remaining achievable. They must offer clarity yet allow flexibility as conditions shift. Through thoughtful shaping, communication and tracking, leaders enable teams to execute strategic visions synergistically. Shared goals empower people by illuminating the meaningful impact of their work. With care, goals become accelerants that propel organizations from plans to real-world results.
Next Steps
- How to write S.M.A.R.T. Goals
- SMART Goals- A How To Guide
- Balancing Success Metrics with Counter Metrics