Targets should be aspirational and realistic. There is nothing more frustrating than failing.
Setting targets is not pure mathematics in a competitive multi-dimensional environment. It has many factors which determine its success. A Leader has to be aware of all the key factors that influence the performance. These factors have to be built-in while setting up the targets.
Leaders need to be aware of team members who do not give their 100%. Some don't even try. Want to know why?
In my various assignments, this had been a challenge initially. Here is what I did and, it worked.
I firmly believed in aligning the team with their targets. Alignment gives ownership. 100% of team members will go all out to achieve their targets.
There can be various bases of setting targets among the team members, past geography performance, special events, shortfalls in the earlier period and, seasonal influence. It actually does not matter much if the targets are accepted by every team member. There can be reasons for the target not being accepted and, it primarily hovers around trust. Some ways that worked for me are :
1. Target setting logics being built bottoms up. Here the team member could question the logic but, no individual discussions would be allowed. Usually, a top-down approach does not create excitement in the team. A bottoms-up model hardly fails.
2. At times, as a Leader, if we see a major favorable factor coming in, we must discuss the same with the team. Use it to motivate the team. Share your views and ask team members to huddle and list actionable. Provide additional logistics and resources and genuinely trust your team to deliver.
( A telecom operator closed down in 2015 in India and, the Haryana team got aligned to do 100 X of their regular Mobile Number Portability achievements, 100% of team members did their ever best. The smallest circle in the country had the maximum share gain. Awards and accolades followed)
The key is alignment and, ownership. Do try. Have a dialogue, have a stretch. Listen and be heard.
An aligned team always surprises with their performance.
