146 / LEADING THROUGH CHALLENGESBalancing targets
Getting the right results
The targets you set for your team should
stretch everyone but also be realistic,
in line with the SMART criteria. Ensure
that the aims you set are balanced;
alongside financial targets, include
goals in areas such as speed of response,
product and service quality, customer
and team satisfaction, and brand
development. List the desired results
in each of four key areas—customers,
operations, people, and finance—so that
no one objective takes assumed priority
over another. Review results in each
area monthly so that you can prove
progress to yourself, your team, and
your investors.
Setting service level
agreements
Clarify the results you expect from
interactions between purchasers and
providers or between departments in a
service level agreement. You can then
present the obligations in a written
format—minimum or maximum
standards and timescales, or other
measures of reliability or availability,
for example:-^ Our obligations: to provide you with
information within four hours of
request, etc.
-^ Your obligations: to respond to service
requests within four hours of phone
call inquiry, etc.
Results are what it’s all about. They are the synthesis of all your
thinking, planning, and enabling as a leader. To get what you want
from a project, you should clarify standards and objectives from
the outset. Your targets need to be realistic, and they also require
a means of measuring the performance of all involved.CUSTOMERS
>>^ Customer service^
staff motivated
>>^ Customers satisfied
>> Customer experience
enjoyable
>>^ Lifetime loyalty
promoted81 %
of customers are likely to
give an organization repeat
business after a good
service experience
US_146-147_Balancing_targets.indd 146 01/06/16 12:03 pm