Accomplish your Goals in 2016

Leaders, new year celebrations are over and so is the excitement over new year resolutions. It's time for the grind. Without a good plan and implementation strategy they will remain just resolutions. Since it is also time for some of us to set our annual individual and organizational goals let us walk through the process of setting up ourselves for success.

In order to accomplish the goals you need to first establish SMART Goals; where SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. It is not just enough to write a goal that you want to reduce your weight or you want to earn a million dollars. You need to specify how much weight you want to lose and examine if it is achievable, is it relevant for your body structure and age and by when you want to do it. More the clarity on the goal more is the likelihood of accomplishing it.

Once the goals are established, next break them down into specific tasks. Determine which tasks need to be completed sequentially and put them in order. For each task determine measurable outcome. Determine what resources are needed to carry out each task and make sure that you have them available. Establish timeframe for completion of each task. Set up milestones to review task completion and its impact. Consider any obstacles that may impede your progress and map out possible solutions to each obstacle.

Finally assess your progress. Work from your daily and weekly schedules. As you reach milestones review next tasks and required resources. As you progress, update everyone involved in achieving your goal. Step back quarterly to see if your goals are still achievable and relevant. If the goal no longer creates value revise it. When you feel  or think you have achieved a goal, confirm from others that they agree that the goal has been accomplished and the desired impact achieved.

Most literature on the subject does not go beyond this point however there is one more important thing that keeps you motivated. In order to achieve your goals successfully you also need an accountability partner. The accountability partner is the one who will not let you rest when you feel lethargic and will be your cheerleader when you are on course. Hence it is important to choose an accountability partner. It could be someone from your own organization or from your neighbourhood. And if you cannot find one you could look for that support from The Freedom Journal which will take you step by step to your #1 goal in 100 days.

If you like this post please share it with your friends. If you have feedback about this post or if you would like to share your experience please leave your comment. You can also get in touch with me at rakgoyal@gmail.com.

Quality and Leadership

There are four important goals that contribute to success of any project. They relate to - Safety, Quality, Time and Cost. Given that safety is non-negotiable, it is not a variable in the equation. Of the remaining three, many a times I have seen quality being sacrificed at the altar of time and cost. 

I was in a dilemma. One of the key vendors who had assured me delivery of a critical piece of equipment in time, at the time of ordering, was now dragging his feet. He said, "I can only deliver it by end of the month". We were just in first week of March and that meant three weeks of delay. Considering a week's float in the project schedule later, it still meant two weeks of actual delay.

My project team had worked overtime and found an alternative. With our float completely consumed and with some luck, we would be able to meet our time target with marginal increase in cost but significant difference in quality. My team was pushing for a decision while I was struggling with the dilemma.

What should I do?

Project managers across the world are faced with similar situations everyday and more often than not they decide in favour of time and cost.

There could be other considerations. A friend recently shared a story with me. A large bearing manufacturer required a very high quality wash to remove small particles remaining in the ball bearings which otherwise would erode the bearings over time. If the wash medium could be cleaned further by an order of magnitude the performance (wear and tear) of the bearings could be guaranteed by a factor of 10 X implying that you may never have to change bearings of your Car unless it is damaged in an accident. The cost of doing this was prohibitive and therefore there were no takers.

Enter new disruptive technology. The wash medium could now be cleaned at an affordable price to the level one could have only aspired before. You thought every ball bearing manufacturer would fall for it. Surprise! Surprise! Still no takers? Now the manufacturers are worried about the volume of business that they will get if the quality is improved by 10 X. A significant segment of their business, the spare parts market, will vanish in no time.

Though cost, time and other business considerations have their own benefits in short term, the benefits of choosing quality over these far outweigh in the long run. So ask the question what will be cost of my decision over the life cycle of the project or how will it serve my customers. 

This is what I did. I renegotiated the time for project completion. What? Am I grateful for it? You bet.

If you like this post please share it with your friends. If you have feedback about this post or if you would like to share your experience please leave your comment. You can also get in touch with me at rakgoyal@gmail.com