Russell,
yes, a goal that is too hard or too easy are both unreasonable.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I find sometimes I set unrealistic goals for myself because I'm being overly ambitious. Now from our course, I see how important setting reasonable goals are.
First, they should be 'smart' goals. Every year in Dec, I have a launch meeting with my team for the upcoming admissions year. I have each rep write down goals for the next year (ie: 2-4). If there are too many, then the rep will get 'lost' and not accomplish anything. If there's only 1 and they miss it, they will feel like a failure.
I have them go over them with me to see how reasonable they are. If a rep is really failing then saying they will be 100% to budget may not be realistic. Once they are agreed upon, I give them out to them quarterly and at the end of the year to see how many they accomplished. The reps really seem to like it!
Katrena,
yes, they must be reasonable & achievable.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Goal that are SMART are reasonable goals. An unreasonable goal? I will lose 20 pounds in 2 days. LOL
Ranjeet,
this is a good point & we do need to make sure that our goals are specific. I could see the argument that an increase in the number of calls has the potential to increase retention, however this should not the lone tactic nor goal.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think a reasonable goal is one that includes each of the SMART components. However, I believe that often in the workplace, at least 2 if not two of these components are missing. The goals set by management that are not reasonable tend to be those that are not specific enough or are not realistically measurable. For example, the goal may be to increase retention at a school. One of the measures is the number of calls retention advisors make per day. The more calls one makes doesn't necessarily mean that will result in increased retention. And retention itself has several different causes and aspects to it - it is a little vague to set that as a goal.
Rose,
yes, excellent synopsis of what makes a good goal.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree,a supervisor just making a statement that "something" needs to be done and not being specific about a deadline or a measure of the goal is tough to achieve. An achievable goal is one that is specific with a deadline and reviews along the way to see if that certain goal needs to be modified or if it still remains acheivable as is.
Juliet,
this is a good point & I would add that an unreasonable goal is also one that is too easily achieved.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
To me a reasonable goal is a goal which is challenging but at the same time is also attainable. An unreasonable goal to me is a goal which is too difficult to achieve given the resources and time allowed. What's unreasonable to one might be reasonable to another but generally speaking most will agree when goals are within reach or way out of someones capacity.
Sondra,
yes, most of the time we set the bar too low, not too high, we must make sure we are challenged.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
A reasonable goal to me is one that is not to easy however it needs to be challenging but attainable. I really enjoyed the SMART goal technique and I have incorperated it within my personal and professional goals.
Sondra,
this is definitely one of the characteristics of a strong goal.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
A goal that is attainable and measureable.
Cindy,
and I've found that many of us set our goals too low, rather than too high.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Reasonable goals are attainable. They are challenging to accomplish but well worth the effort.
Amanda,
so true, the goals must be challenging, but attainable.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think this ties directly into confidence, as well. If the goal set is unattainable from the beginning, then those required to meet said goal know that they are entering into a futile effort. If one does not manage to reach their set goal, no matter how good of a job they do to attain, it breaks down their morale. This, in turn, can directly correlate to lack of confidence when setting out to attain future goals, which is not where any supervisor/manager wants their team.
Malerie,
yes, we have to keep focused to make sure our goals are kept in the forefront of our thinking.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
