Here at Silicon Beach Training we offer a wide range of Management Training & Leadership Training courses, and a topic that regularly appears in a lot of them is SMART objectives. So what are SMART objectives? In this post we take a look at how you can use them effectively.
Goals, aims and objectives are often confused. All describe things that you want to achieve, however I see goals and aims as broader, more aspirational intentions whereas an objective is a narrower more defined task you need to achieve in order to meet your long term goals and aims.
All managers and leaders must be able to set effective objectives for their staff, whether they are to achieve project or task objectives, personal development objectives for people to grow in their role or performance standard objectives aligned with a competency framework, values or behavioural guidelines.
When setting objectives for your team you will need to ask yourself:
What are my team’s targets and goals for the coming period?
What standards do I need the team to maintain / improve?
There’s nothing more daunting than being promoted to a management role. All of a sudden you’re responsible for the effectiveness of a team rather than just your own work, and you’re expected to make decisions that can have a big impact.
In this short video our trainer explains how we teach Decision Making skills on our Management Skills for New Managers Course in Brighton, Sussex. She provides us with her 3 Decision Making tips and we see her in action with a group of delegates:
“I thought the Management Skills course was really excellent and thought provoking, and I learned a lot. In particular, I think the trainer was excellent. She imparts knowledge, gets everyone involved and makes participants think and learn through this process. She also is obviously hugely knowledgeable in her field and has practical experience in what she discusses.” Philip Wilkinson – Business Link for London
Well Christmas is over, and if you’re anything like us you’ll be recovering from a few days of over indulgance! It’s at this time of year that we start looking back on the last 12 months as well as looking forward to the New Year – so here’s the Silicon Beach Training review of 2009 .
But the use of Social Media has gone way beyond band promotions and teenage twittering! Using Social Media networks has become a very important part of the marketing mix for businesses, helping them to connect with their customers online in a way that was impossible just a few years ago.
We’ve seen a huge amount of interest from business in how they can use Social Media effectively, and we’ve been writing about it extensively on this blog (see the Social Media News section for a range of articles, hints and tips!).
We’ve also launched a newSocial Media training in Brighton, Sussex, which has already proved popular.
“You can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.”
One of the hardest things about being a manager is managing yourself. Over 140 delegates per year come through our public Management Skills for New Managers training course here in Brighton, and before we teach them about managing a team we first cover a range of techniques for managing yourself .
One thing we’re often told by attendees is that they find it easier to give advice to other people than to think about their own approach to problem solving and to give themselves advice.
This short article describes a simple but highly effective 3-step process to reaching objective solutions for yourself. Visit our Free Resources section for a range of other Management Skills Resources and Leadership Resources
What Advice Would You Give?
To quote Albert Einstein, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.” We all know what it feels like to give others good advice, but when it comes to giving ourselves advice it doesn’t seem to be as simple. It can be difficult at times to employ clear thinking when we are so personally involved. Especially in emotionally charged situations such as dealing with personality clashes, handling conflict and managing stress. However, I believe that people do have the resources within them to meet their own needs – it’s just a matter of accessing them.
Here at Silicon Beach Training we offer a wide range of Management Training & Leadership Training courses, and a topic that regularly appears in a lot of them is SMART objectives. So what are SMART objectives? In this post we take a look at how you can use them effectively.
Well Christmas is over, and if you’re anything like us you’ll be recovering from a few days of over indulgance! It’s at this time of year that we start looking back on the last 12 months as well as looking forward to the New Year – so here’s the Silicon Beach Training review of 2009 .
