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that, every year, individual and team performance goals which are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time bound) be negotiated and agreed to within the team and ultimately with management. Project goal setting should be a formalized process encouraged and embraced by the organization. The first step is taken by the team and results in setting those few critical team goals (usually 4 to 6) which, if appropriately and successfully addressed, have a major impact on the project's progress during the year or significantly affect prospects for approvability and/or marketability. Every member of the team should have the opportunity to participate in this process, and, within the team setting, debate and negotiate those goals felt most important. |
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Each team member must also share collective responsibility for the team's commitments to the organization. This is a key issue, for at the end of the year, an individual's performance assessment also reflects whether or not the team's goals have been met. Often times this is quite a problematic issue, particularly if a team member feels able to contribute only minimally, if at all, to the achievement of a particular goal and that the member's own performance is measured by the line function on the achievement of the departmental objectives for which the individual is responsible. If, for example, a team decides that one of its key goals is developing a publication plan, a quality control chemist might feel somewhat uncomfortable having his overall performance judged by whether or not this marketing activity is completed on time. If, however, the team is to own its own project, then all team members must share responsibility in owning these goals which are felt by the team to be most important to the project's success. The project leader must ensure that every team member understands this important principle. |
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Team goals often are activity-based initiatives or outcomes which are fairly easy to articulate and measure, i.e., reaching a specific milestone by a certain date, publishing results in a particular journal, or developing a specific plan of action within a projected time frame. However, team goals also reflect how well the team is working together. For example, are team problems being resolved effectively in win-win situations? How is information being shared within a project? Are team members supportive of one another? These softer goals tend to be overlooked, but they are extremely important and reflect attitudes and behavior which, if not properly managed by the project leader, influence whether the team meets its more activity-based goals. |
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Once team goals have been agreed to, the team has a framework within which it can operate and a reference point against which its performance |
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