If you listened to Podcast 5 on Motivation  you know the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are rewards we get for doing something, they come from outside of us. Intrinsic motivators are those that come from within us, the act of doing something is in itself, rewarding.   

Goals are intrinsically motivating. We want to accomplish goals. Benchmarks and expectations have been proven time and time again to improve performance.

If you want more engagement and motivation starting tomorrow then set effective goals.  Generate energy within your team around a common challenge. Goals help us to achieve results.  But beware, not all goals are motivating.  Goals need to be crafted effectively.  And they need to be discussed collaboratively.

Locke & Latham's Goal Setting Principles: Clarity, Challenge, Commitment, Feedback, Task Complexity

We want to incorporate these principles into goal development, the SMART acronym helps us to do that. SMART goals = Specific, Measurable,  Achievable, Relevant, Timebound

SMART goals are invaluable.   Let's highlight the difference between Performance and Learning Goals.  

Performance is about the outcomes; this is what we typically measure. They commonly answer, “Did we perform better or not?”  Learning is about engaging the mind to enhance performance.  It is a way to engage others in the meeting of the performance goals through understanding and action.  Both are meaningful and important.  Learning goals help us to reach performance goal.

Let’s say we are missing important project deliverables in our team. We could set the following goals:

Ø  Lame Goal: Improve timeliness of project deliverables.
Ø  Performance Goal: Improve timeliness on project deliverables by 5% in the next 60 days. (also SMART)
Ø  Learning Goal: Identify 2 obstacles that affect project timeframes in the next 30 days.

Performance goals are about the results we want, improving timeliness. Learning goals help us to achieve the performance goals, in this case, understanding obstacles. They move us towards the results by connecting actions and learning to the overall goal.

If your organization has performance goals, financial, sales, service, production, quality, etc. focus on learning goals in your team.  Engage employees in the attainment of the goal by learning about the causes and possible solutions to achieve the overall goal.  Learning goals lend themselves to collaboration. They also strengthening problem solving and critical thinking skills.  

Here’s another example at a larger organizational scale.

• Company goal increase revenue by 20%
• 500 people in the company
• You're in a service area
• Your team focuses on reducing complaints & defines the following Learning Goals:

1. Identify the top 2 most common customer complaints by x date.
2. Research 2 solutions for each of the complaints that would aid in the resolution of these complaints by x date.
3. Determine the best way to train the team on the new process, practices by x date.
4. Assess progress towards improving complaint resolution by x date.

This experience engages your team in problem solving, teamwork, and supports the larger organizational goals. So the big question is, what goal could you engag

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