Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom A Brief History of Goal Setting

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom A Brief History of Goal Setting n this this two-part post, we’ll highlight three of the most common goal-setting methodologies present in organizations today and will discuss the pros and cons of each. Management by Objectives (MBO) If you’ve worked in an American organization in the last several decades, you probably have experience with the MBO approach to goal setting. While the American corporation was in its formative stages, journalist Peter Drucker was invited to take a close peek inside General Motors. Drucker recognized that corporate environments tend to operate in silos in which employees get stuck in an “activity trap” â€" they’re so focused on what they’re doing that they forget why they’re doing it. These silos can’t be effective unless hierarchies are integrated from the top down. Leaders and their employees must decide on and commit to a common challenge that then cascades through the organization. In The Practice of Management, which was based on Drucker’s leadership observations at GE, he first described his Management by Objectives (MBO) theory. In MBO, employees participate in setting goals and are then evaluated on the fulfillment of those goals. Managers focus on what employees are achieving rather than exactly how they are achieving it. In the MBO model, every level of management participates in an organizational goal setting process so that the plan can be implemented with maximum buy-in. Early on, managers agree on the system by which performance will be evaluated and rewarded. Next, managers identify goals in every area for which they are responsible and share these goals with their teams. Once teams understand their targets, each manager works with individual employees to transfer knowledge of the bigger picture and set goals that are aligned with organizational and team objectives. The manager then steps into the role of monitor, checking progress often and assessing if and how well goals have been achieved. In their 2014 book 100+ Management Models: How to Understand and Apply the World’s Most Powerful Business Tools, Fons Trompenaars and Piet Hein Coebergh said that an important aspect of the MBO approach is that when employees are involved with goal setting, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities. In the MBO system, employees are more self-directed than boss-directed â€" a shift from the industrial age of work in which employees simply did what their managers told them without asking questions or providing input on the best course of action. Although Drucker was undoubtedly a genius, he did not discover the panacea for all things ailing corporate management. The MBO approach has well-documented advantages and disadvantages. A chief advantage, of course, is its egalitarianism. Several research studies, including the recent Gallup State of the American Manager Report, have indicated that employees who have a say in their goals and the best way to achieve results are more engaged in their jobs. MBO also forces management layers to align on a common vision and actively communicate that vision from top to bottom. Promotion and compensation decisions can be made more objectively and micromanagement is less of a problem. And best of all, the model can be used in any organization regardless of type or size. Over the years, though, drawbacks to the approach have emerged. MBO requires a systematic, rigorous process that not all organizations have the discipline to undertake. Secondly, the emphasis on process sometimes overshadows meaningful actions and outcomes. Goals may be overly idealistic, failing to take into real account hurdles (like financial resources) that teams or individuals may face. MBO may also lead to competition instead of collaboration as teams focus narrowly on their objectives and put them above the greater good of the organization. This can result in actions that achieve results by whatever means necessary, and quality and the integrity of reporting can be compromised. For more on the history of goal setting, head over to Intuits Fast Track blog.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Be More Productive if Youre a Night Owl

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Be More Productive if You're a Night Owl Are you amorning person? Or do you function best at night? For teenagers, science supports the idea that theyre not morning larks they do better with later school start times and not being forced to function at 7 a.m. But as we grow older and have children of our own, we often experience a shift in our body clocks and begin to function better in the mornings. Instead of getting revved up at 10 p.m. for a night on the town as we did in our 20s, were asleep in the Laz-Z-Boy by 9 p.m. Lumosity, the company known for online games that claim to boost your brain power, says that it recently decided to look at its users to determine when and how people prefer to train their brains, and how age may figure into the equation ofperformanceand learning. Lumosity researcher Daniel Sternberg says the results show in a study of 714,188 participants, brain performance peaks at different times of the day depending on the cognitive task you are engaging in. Specifically: On average, people perform better at working memory and attention tasks in the morning, and creative tasks later in the day. Night owls may do better completing their critical daily tasks at night when they are most productive, and saving their creative thinking for (read more here)

Use Agile Marketing to Bring More Visibility to Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Use Agile Marketing to Bring More Visibility to Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Being ready for the next big trend or story is essential to building your personal brand online. But in order to effectively stay on track with what is going on in your market, it is important to have good research and analytics in place. Are your conversations in alignment with what’s being shared on social media? There are several ways your brand can take advantage of agile marketing in order to stay ahead of what is to come and be prepared for news and events. Today a personal brand should be actively engaged on social media on a regular basis, and tracking content and trends is essential to build an audience. Knowing and needs of your audience is a good start along with staying flexible in your content marketing plan. Use Agile Marketing to Increase Brand Awareness Creating a regular social media posting and monitoring schedule is vital to the success of your brand. Here are some important tips on staying one step ahead of the latest news and trends online: Track the latest hashtags What topics are most popular in your niche on social media? These hashtags can change daily, and your brand will want to stay informed of what is trending and any current events that directly impact your market. A slow response can hurt your image, and this is especially important to monitor with scheduled posts and tweets. As you plan ahead it’s good practice to keep a shorter schedule in case anything changes online. Conduct thorough research Much like a news reporter your brand should be researching the latest topics for your niche, and who your influencers are. There are several online tools available to help you find information quickly with narrowed results based on keywords, top shares, the most engagement, ect. This will better enable you to pinpoint the latest news in your industry and somewhat predict what is to come. Be ready for change Keep an eye on how your brand’s tweets and posts are being perceived, and make the necessary changes based on the response. Sending out automatic content without activity can send a message to your community that you are not fully involved in their interests. Conversations and replies not only provide great customer service, but helps you become a better business with new ideas for what to share next. As you involve agile marketing as a regular part of your personal branding strategy it’s good to remember that this is a process which involves careful attention and planning. By staying on top of the latest news and trends your business can build a great reputation online. The time spent researching your community is well worth the effort and can pay off in a big way if a trending topic goes viral in your niche.

Four Tips to Help You Prepare for a Bigger Family

Four Tips to Help You Prepare for a Bigger Family For as long as you can remember, you have always wanted a big family. Now that you are married and have settled down, you and your hubby are already proud parents of a couple of amazing kiddos. As you are happily preparing to add another baby to the mix, you are realizing that you and your spouse will soon be outnumbered by your kids â€" and you want to be ready in as many ways as possible for your expanding brood. Fortunately, preparing for a larger family is not impossible or overwhelming â€" it merely takes some pre-planning and a proactive approach. For example, check out the following tips: Focus On Organization The more family members you have, the more you have to juggle. Creating a large family calendar is a great place to start; use a magnetic dry erase board to keep track of everyone’s schedules â€" if you want, you can assign each family member his or her own color. In addition to noting when the well-baby checkups and school picture days will take place, the calendar can also include child-specific info like who needs to bring his gym shoes to school, when science fair projects are due, birthday party invites and more. Creating a  Google Calendar  is another great way for parents to stay organized and updated on any last-minute schedule changes. Near the calendar, establish a spot for important things you use all of the time and dont want to lose like your car and home keys, as well as a basket for permission slips and bills. Consider Upgrading Your Vehicle That cute little sedan you bought when you were first married is now bursting at the seams with your family members. Before your next little one arrives, it is definitely time to shop for a larger vehicle that is capable of safely taking everyone where they need to go â€" as well as hauling all of your gear. A great big family vehicle that can handle an expanding family well is a high performing  pickup truck like the Chevrolet Colorado. The Colorado is roomy, comfortable to ride in and drive, and it feels more like a car than a truck. The 2017 model is a budget-friendly $21K and gets 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway. The Chevy Colorado also boasts plenty of safety features, essential to your growing family. Save Both Money and Specific Items While you are excited to expand your family, your paychecks will probably not automatically grow along with your number of kids. Learning to save money, spend less and keep key items will go a long way in helping to prepare financially for a big family. Strive to set aside a certain percentage of every paycheck â€" start with five percent and if possible go up to at least 10 percent; this will give you a great nest egg over time as well as help pay for those rainy day emergencies like new tires for the truck and braces for your daughter. In addition, save all of your baby items â€" everything from the crib and stroller to clothing and toys and use them again for each new family member. While you probably will have to toss some mashed carrots-stained bibs and broken rattles, you can save a ton of money by not having to re-purchase  all of the baby essentials. Carve Out Couple Time As your family grows and you spend more and more time caring for your little ones, don’t forget your significant other. Try to establish a regular “date night” with your honey; if money is tight you can go grab coffee at a local café or head to the dollar cinema for a funny film. Consider trying out a new hobby or eating at a new restaurant by signing up for  discounted activities  in your area. Weekly date nights are a great way to catch up with your husband and have adult conversations about topics other than Thomas the Tank Engine and tween drama. If hiring a babysitter is on the pricy side, consider trading child care with a close friend. Whether you hope to eventually have 3, 5 or 10 kids, spending some time preparing and thinking long term will definitely help you prepare for an expanding family. By the time you are done having babies, you and your sweetie will feel like seasoned pros in the large family department, and can maybe help advise young couples who are preparing to bring their first baby home.