Within an organization the most important way to measure results is through the objectives. The objectives come off the view Y mission of the company and are the only navigation tool for subordinates, since they will be the main measure of the failure or success of each department. It is for this reason that objectives must be posed clearly from the beginning.
The characteristics that an objective must have in order to be well written are:
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- The objective must be measurable. Being measurable means that it must have a standard of comparison with which the results of the process can be contrasted. For example, we can give as an objective: "Increase the production of the plant by 2% over the production of the previous month" instead of "Increase the production of the plant". As we can see, this last objective completely lacks a measurement pattern, which will lead to disorientation of the organization.
- The objective must be verifiable. As said in the previous point, the objectives must be verified at the end of the planned period or process.
- The goal must be achievable. In some companies it is not uncommon to meet objectives such as "Increase sales by 80% compared to the same month of the previous year" when the growth pattern actually says that throughout history growth has been only 5% compared to the same month of the year previous. This type of poorly planned objectives causes demotivation in the personnel who are working to meet it, which in the long term produces a decrease in efficiency and productivity. It is also important to note that it is not about defining easy and predictable objectives, on the contrary they must be difficult to achieve but reasonable.
- Objectives must be in accordance with organizational guidelines and plans. The objectives must go in the same direction that has defined the superior control of the company. This point despite being a bit "obvious" is often not taken into account by the different departments of a company, in cases where each unit functions as an island, separated from the common good organizational.
- The definition of objectives must integrate the opinions of subordinates. The objectives must be elaborated in conjunction with the subordinates of the company to achieve optimal results.
