How to Track Team Goals

I have seen many design teams focus on tracking ineffective metrics. I use a modified approach that has been very helpful to me and wanted to share it with you all. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 Often design functions look to external-facing teams that use KPIs such as Gross Profit Margin (GPM), and try to apply the concept internally. These type of KPIs break down if your team fails to meet the goal. EG: If your KPI was 70% adoption of an internal B2B platform but you achieved only 60%, you'd spend countless meetings and reviews figuring out why. 𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. Furthermore, achieving a KPI is tough without giving your team a clear understanding of "𝚆̲𝚑̲𝚢̲?" Instead, I have found it helpful to use modified OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). I "Start With Why" and lead from there. Here’s how I combine the best of these two worlds: 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: Achieve 70% adoption of the internal B2B platform by the end of Q4 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 we can achieve our larger, company goal of more streamlined tracking capabilities. (This is now your "𝚆̲𝚑̲𝚢̲", rather than your KPI) Notice there is a clear link to the broader corporate goal. Instead of measuring success on the Objective, measure it on the smaller key results / KPIs that service the objective. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬: (These are your KPIs) 1️⃣ Conduct 50 comprehensive user training sessions by the end of Q1 2️⃣ Establish a robust support system to address user issues with a resolution time under 24 hours by end of Q2 3️⃣ Implement a feedback mechanism to gather insights, aiming to achieve a 75% response rate by the end of Q2 4️⃣ Launch an incentive program targeting key influencers to motivate platform usage, aiming to achieve 80% adoption from influencers by the end of Q3. 5️⃣ Achieve an average open rate of 70% and a click-through rate of 40% for all platform-related communication by the end of Q3 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: If you do these smaller tasks, and achieve these results, it is now 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 you won't succeed in obtaining your objective. Since everything is tracked at a smaller detail, it's much easier to spot smaller wins or opportunities that resulted in the final result. If you don’t achieve your objective, you can analyze your KPIs. Did you miss any? If so, retarget that KPI and maintain the others. If you achieved all KPIs but still didn’t hit your target, consider it a 𝐰𝐢𝐧 and then re-evaluate whether the KPIs were appropriate or if external factors influenced the outcome. Because you tracked smaller KPIs, and not the objective, this becomes a faster conversation with more concrete data. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 Sometimes teams can do everything right, and still not have the desired outcome. Teams shouldn't be penalized for this. This strategy lets you measure results, praise the team's accomplishment, acknowledge the outcome, and avoid placing blame on the team.

It's not just about setting goals for the company/department/team, it's about how you *operationalize* them. Here are my 8 steps to consider for for actioning the goals you just decided on. I love this time of the year, I really do. Everyone is buzzing with goals – and the team is (hopefully!) feeling energized. But like personal new years resolutions, you start to see the excitement and clarity fizzle out in the upcoming months. Work happens. Requests happen. Fire drills and pivots happen. It's naive to believe the team will remember the goals if we don't exhaustively repeat and document them, too. Just because we mentioned it in a call or meeting doesn't equate to 100% recall. Here are the 8 steps I saw work in-house to combat this and operationalize the goals (they need a plan!): 1. Set the goals at the company-level and ensure they cascade down (Company > department > team > individual) 2. Document these goals in a series of documents correlated to the audience waterfall (The company ones should be readily available for anyone to find -- pinning in a general channel is a great option, dept. ones in dept. channels, etc.) 3. Ensure you discuss and/or document how you backed into the goals (what's the why and the how) and link to where you're tracking the progress/performance (transparency) 4. Have dept./team leads decide on their goals that back into the company goals (bonus points if the leads bring in their ICs to the process, too) -- being part of the process gives into more buy-in 5. Use 1-1s to ensure *everyone* understands the company, dept., and team goals, and then use this time to discuss their individual goals that tie into these 6. Designate team owners of the goals (ideally not managers). These are the champions for that individual goal, and have a responsibility to: 1) Create a document for that individual goal 2) Create a work roadmap to achieve the goal 3) Track & report on the goal 4) work with stakeholders to project manage the work. I find this step SO helpful - and where the magic of operationalizing comes into play. This document can also be a table of contents that hyperlinks out to individual project briefs and other documents for the work. I know this may feel like documentation overload, but it's absolutely needed. It creates clarity. 7. Repeat the goals exhaustively. Anyone should be able to rattle off the goals at any time if you repeat it enough – power of repetition! Bonus point if you can come up with a catchy acronym. 8. Report on the goals monthly and quarterly via performance and progress Tl;dr: power of repetition (and when you think you've said it too many times, say it again), transparency, documentation, team activation, designated owners, mini work plans, and consistent reporting/tracking. What'd I miss, or what would you add?

You wake up with numbers in your head—and panic in your chest. Growth. Retention. Runway. You’re carrying a vision so big it won’t leave you alone. You see it. But your team doesn’t. And here are the metrics no one is talking about: - 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy. - Only 23% can link their work to company goals. - Just 12% apply what they learn to the job. This means you’re sitting in a room full of smart, capable people... …who want to help you win… …but have no idea what game they’re playing. Let that sink in. Founders think the problem is "the team." It’s not. A team is a group of people who work together to achieve a common goal. Your people show up. The work is there. But is not strategically directed. The problem is not “the team”. The problem is the translation of the goal. No one follows a leader they don’t understand. You want to start leading your team to SEE your vision? Here’s the playbook I give founders stuck in this loop: 1. Set one clear goal with a timeframe. → “Reach $300K in sales by June.” Concrete. Shared. Real. 2. Break it down by team. → Marketing, Sales, Product—everyone owns a slice of the win. 3. Assign clear ownership (only 1 owner per goal). → A goal without a name is a ghost task. 4. Define specific KPIs. → Measurable. Trackable. Updated weekly. 5. Put those KPIs into a live scoreboard. → One sheet. Visible to all. No mystery. 6. Review it with your team—every week. → Make it matter. Friction disappears when everyone sees the same picture. Alignment isn’t a pep talk. It’s a system. Do you feel this misalignment in your company? I’d love to hear where it shows up. Let’s talk in the comments.

To be effective, the implementation of your nonprofit organization's strategic plan needs to be connected to how your team already works. Because no matter how smart your strategy is, it won’t implement itself. One way I help my clients get to that clarity is by using a bit of an OKR approach: Strategic Priority → Intent → 𝗢bjective → 𝗞ey 𝗥esult Areas If you're not already familiar, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework developed at Intel by Andy Grove to help turn strategic priorities into focused, measurable actions. Defining what you want to achieve and how you'll track progress. The 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 piece was added later by purpose-driven organizations. It’s vital as it helps everyone align on why this focus matters now. I like this OKR-plus-Intent chain because it forces clarity at every level. Grounding goals in purpose, sharpening what success looks like, and giving your team a shared language to move forward with. Looks like this: • 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 is the big-picture area your organization is focused on.   Ex. Strengthen community engagement.    • 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 explains why this priority matters now and what change you’re trying to create.   Ex. Build deeper relationships with families and create two-way feedback.    • 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 defines what you want to achieve in the next 90 days. Clear and actionable.   Ex. Launch a consistent feedback loop by September 15.    • 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 outline how you’ll measure progress with specific, trackable indicators that show movement. (You'll have 2-3 for each objective).   Ex. Launch at least one regular, structured feedback channel (monthly family forum, digital survey, or suggestion box) by ________. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 𝟭. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 Look at team routines already happening and build on those. Ex. One org added a 5-minute “strategic check-in” to their existing weekly huddle. No new meeting. Just a clearer focus. 𝟮. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. Clear ownership builds momentum. Ex. Instead of “Program team will lead community events,”-> “Simon will coordinate three listening sessions by Sept 15.” 𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲. Strategy should evolve as your team learns. Ex. One team checks in on Key Results with: • What’s coming up? • What’s off track? • What needs to shift? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨: Because it turns strategy into action your team can actually take. You build from what’s already working, so it’s doable now, within currently available resources. And create clarity and rhythm, making it durable over time. Doable and durable means progress without the pressure cooker. So no burnout needed.

How to get s*** (sales) done 🚀 Everybody celebrates a winning point in sports, the same applies to sales, everybody celebrates when the deal is closed. But what I’ve found quite challenging is all the process behind that deal to actually happen and how to set goals, track them and measure the performance of a team until we switched to the OKR methodology. The great thing about this methodology is that if you structure it correctly it can combine the hairy ambitious aspirational goals with the key results that need to be tracked to make those happen. Setting sales quota and weekly goals helps measure each team member's progress but also motivates them to constantly improve in order to meet the goals set for the week, the month and the quarter. OKR → Objectives (what) and Key Results (how) 🔍 Here are some tips for applying this methodology: How to set my objectives? First, you should answer the following questions based on a 30-90 day period: ❓ What is important to achieve? ❓ What do we want to change? ❓ What do we want to see differently? How to set my Key Results (KRs)? Keep in mind that KRs are our focus and work as a "whole" to achieve a specific objective. These should be: ✅ Specific and time-bound ✅ Aggressive yet realistic ✅ Measurable and verifiable 💡 Tip: Do not include more than 3-5 KRs per objective and remember to measure them weekly to review progress. 💡 The most important tip: As with every other important project in your team, it takes time, patience and showing up everyday. Even the famous author of the methodology (John Doerr) states that to actually be successful with OKRs you need between 12 to 18 months. #OKR #ObjectivesAndKeyResults #GoalSetting #TeamPerformance #StrategicObjectives #Leadership #Productivity #SalesManagement

When I work with leadership teams, the topic of accountability inevitably comes up. My question for any team who is struggling with meeting benchmarks, setting goals, and growing revenue is simple: are you meeting on a weekly basis? The best teams that I work with are deliberate and consistent about their weekly meetings. It’s a non-negotiable opportunity for your leadership team to come around the table and look at some measures of accountability. 1️⃣ Look at your objectives with owners. The owners of the organization’s goals should report to the leaders about what’s on track, what’s off track, and why that’s the case. 2️⃣ Build out a scoreboard that’s focused on habits. Measure these habits weekly and look at the outcomes monthly. Which habits are on track, and which are off track? 3️⃣ Look for opportunities to report out on the next week. When your habits and objectives get off track, consider why that is happening and set some objectives to get them back in line. Those teams that I referenced earlier? The best ones? They’re also deliberate and consistent about measuring the scoreboard and identifying winning habits and ones that need to be improved. Take a look at your calendar. Talk to your team and get your standing weekly meeting on the books. #getstrategydone #leadership #consistency