Mission: A compelling target, goal or objective

Great so you now have a collective understanding of why your club exists - a compelling purpose. Now – what are you going to accomplish this quarter, this year, this period? What is the mission? A second key component to creating a successful team is to define what it is you collectively are going to accomplish. Another way of looking at this is, what is the goal or objective?

In general people respond very well to meaningful challenges that stretch their capabilities and cause growth. In addition, a collective goal can create a sense of urgency, excitement and build commitment.

A key part of this exercise is to identify a mission or goal that is specific and measureable. (You may have heard of the term SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.) The reason SMART goals can be so effective is that they are "real" and everyone who is in the "game" will have a clear measure of progress.

Now don’t worry about the mission or goal encompassing every aspect or element of your team’s work. That would be nice but it is not always realistic. However, if you can pick something that you believe is indicative of the overall success of your team then – great! Often in organizations sale targets, revenue or profit are useful measures. Other options include safety parameters or growth targets.

In project teams, a balanced scorecard of various elements creates an overall target for people to aim for. Often these will include – client satisfaction, budget, schedule, safety and quality.

As a leader, you can facilitate the creation of a meaningful target or goal for your group which will then allow you to base decisions and actions on whether or not such things contribute to the achievement of the goal.

A key benefit of this approach is that decisions are taken out of the "personal" and linked to the organizational need - a great way of building credibility with your team and organization!