Most organizations set goals for the year. Whether you serve in ministry, a non-profit, or a business, these goals will likely determine how time, energy, and resources are allocated throughout the year, so getting these goals right is essential.
But before the wet cement around these goals dries, ask yourself five organizational questions to make sure your plan is solid. These questions will help you gain greater clarity and confidence, and they’ll give you a track to run on for the future.
Where are we stuck? Every organization has blind spots or sticking points that are derailing their momentum and potential. Simply put, they’re stuck. To move beyond “stuckness,” it’s helps to conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Conducting a SWOT analysis will help you better understand what’s happening internally and externally.
Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses reveals what’s happening within the organization through your existing programs, services, products, structures, as processes. Evaluating Opportunities and Threats helps you look externally to discover new ideas and opportunities, and to pay attention to the threats that have the ability to undermine your organization and mission. From all of this data, you can formulate a plan of action to move forward.
The best way to conduct a SWOT analysis is to assemble a small team of leaders that can think objectively about the currently state of the organization, and strategically about the future direction of the organization. Who you gather around the table is the greatest predictor of a successful SWOT analysis.
What is our greatest growth engine, and how can we invest in it more strategically? Every organization has services, programs, or products that produce the greatest organizational growth and impact. The question is, “How can we invest more strategically in these growth engines?” Rather than allocating your time, personnel, and financial resources to low-return activities, identify what generates the greatest growth and the deepest impact. Then, align your resources to those activities.
The best way to identify growth engines is to look at organizational metrics over an extended period of time. Don’t just consider a few weeks or months of data. Look at the last couple of years. Once you’ve identified a growth engine, you’ll have to make some hard decisions about what changes need to be made to give greater attention to these growth engines. These hard decisions might require you to reduce funding in other areas, restructure organizationally, or even cut “dead wood” so that your growth engines are no longer encumbered.
How are we developing existing and future leaders? An organization can only grow when it has the leaders necessary to scale. Author Jim Collins observes that organizations risk long-term decline when their short-term growth outpaces their ability to get the right people in the right seats. Robust growth without robust leadership development eventually leads to a decline. This is difficult to see when you’re actually experiencing growth, but if you don’t ask, “Who are our future leaders?” and then create a plan to develop and deploy these leaders, you’ll hit an organizational wall that stops you in your tracks.
How can we improve the health of our organizational culture? Having a healthy culture is essential in any organization. You can have the biggest goals, the greatest strategy, and the most talented team, but an unhealthy culture will undermine all of them. For example, if you have a low-trust culture, silos will form and an “us vs. them” mentality will sidetrack your efforts. If you have a culture that shows little regard for your team members, you’ll have a hard time keeping great talent. If you have a culture that doesn’t value growth, feedback, or coaching, mediocrity will become the standard of success.
Do an assessment on your organization’s culture, and then take the steps necessary to improve. One resource to help you get started is Gallup’s Q12 Employee Engagement Survey. This easy-to-use and cost-effective tool will give you an immediate snapshot of your employee engagement level and help you better understand where to focus improvements.
What are our “Who will do what by when” goals? Goal-setting is common, but goal reaching is far less common. Why? Because our goals often lack the appropriate clarity and accountability to ensure fulfillment. The first step is to set good goals. I recommend Michael Hyatt’s S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal framework. S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Risky, Time-Keyed, Exciting, and Relevant. Once those goals are established, ask the question, “Who will do what by when?” In other words, every action step under every goal should have an owner—somebody that is held accountable to reach a specific step by a specific deadline. This will ensure your goals are translated into action and deliver the intended results.
To make your future count, ask these five questions to make sure you’re investing your time, energy, and resources on the right priorities.
