Many people start the new year with lofty dreams of the months ahead. If you’re a business owner, then those SMART goals are often connected to the ambitions you have for your company. For instance, you might tell yourself that you’ll hire the perfect team, or double your revenue by the time the year is through.
While there’s nothing wrong with reaching for the stars, long-term goals aren’t always as effective as you might think when it comes to boosting motivation. In the technology world, the development of new innovations and the arrival of transformative trends may mean that your vision of the future quickly becomes outdated.
The complexity of business planning in an agile sector is why many tech companies have begun to work in short-term cycles of three months or less.
Let’s explore how ninety-day objectives can help you to grow more rapidly as a technology innovator.
The Benefits of 90-Day Goals
Running a successful tech company isn’t just about having the right skills in your workforce. Teams perform at their best when they’re focused on a collaborative goal. This means that planning for your future might be the key to keeping your professionals motivated and inspired.
For some companies, a 12-month target is a perfect way to ensure that your employees are keeping their eye on the prize. However, for other, more disruptive technology companies, it may be easier to work in shorter cycles that allow you to respond proactively to changes in the marketplace.
A lot can happen within 12 months, particularly in a space where new, and revolutionary ideas are emerging almost daily. One sudden change in the sector can be enough to render your goal irrelevant, leaving your team confused and uncertain about what they need to do next.
By planning the future of your organisation in 90-day segments, you ensure that there’s plenty of room to adapt to trends and alter your course when necessary. This means that your staff superstars are always working on the most relevant mission.
Setting Your 90-Day Business Goals
To map your growth over the next three months, the first thing you’ll need to do is refine your overall goals as an organisation. While it might be realistic to say that you’re going to double your revenue by the end of the year, it’s far less likely that you’ll achieve that objective within 90 days.
Short time limits require you to think about your future from a different perspective. The following tips will help to direct you towards success.
Step 1: Define “SMART Goals” Targets
Think about the specific areas that you want to focus on in the next quarter. For instance, maybe you want to use marketing automation to access more leads while reducing your budgetary spend. On the other hand, you may want to invest more money into the customer experience.
Whatever your intentions are for the next 90 days, make sure that your mission is:
- S: Specific
- M: Measurable
- A: Attainable
- R: Realistic
- T: Time-based
It may be helpful to write your aim down so that your employees can refer to it whenever they’re making an important decision for the future of your venture. Three-month SMART goals may help to stop your staff from feeling too overwhelmed by what’s expected of them in the year ahead.
Step 2: Get Your Whole Team Involved
Once you have a maximum of three SMART goals in mind for your business to achieve in the next ninety days, get the experts involved. After all, they know best what they can realistically accomplish over the next ninety days, and they’ll be able to indicate whether three months is a reasonable timeframe for your objectives.
Ask your team to offer feedback on your proposed plan. This is a great way to come up with some creative solutions for any problems you might face in the months ahead. Additionally, it creates accountability in your organisation, as everyone will leave the meeting with a firm understanding of what he or she needs to do.
Step 3: Make Every Goal Actionable
Finally, once your business has agreed on a set of key objectives, you’ll need to unpack each idea and transform them into actionable directions that will drive your company towards success. Don’t leave your professionals to guess at what they’re supposed to do each day, week, and month.
The best goals are easy to understand. They come with guidelines that help everyone in your organisation to know precisely what they need to do in any set of circumstances. The more precise your targets are, the less likely you are to be waylaid by disruptive changes in the industry.
Should You Be Using 90-Day Cycles?
In the technology sector, 90-day aims may be the key to agility and success.
Three months is neither too long nor too short. This means that it’s easier to keep track of whatever might be happening in your niche and respond accordingly.
Not only do short-term ambitions combat procrastination, because they push your employees to act immediately, but they also ensure that you’re more likely to see the results of your efforts in less time.
What’s more, if a 90-day target doesn’t work out exactly as planned, it’s a lot less upsetting to go back to the drawing board and make some changes to your choices. Waiting an entire year to notice a mistake might mean that you fall too far behind your competitors to catch up.
Strategic goals are the key to success in any business environment. In the technology space, bite-sized chunks can help you to reach new heights, one step at a time.
Resource On Demand is Europe’s first specialist Salesforce Recruitment Company. We assist the world’s leading organisations to grow their technology teams. Supporting companies to fill roles that span across digital marketing, marketing automation, Human Capital Management, CRM system management, software testing and Salesforce.
The team at Resource On Demand have access to an extensive database of key talent, registering over 8000 professionals each year. To find out how we can support you call us on +44 20 8123 7769 or rod@resourceondemand.com.