Visualizing Success: How to Set Up Effective Quarterly Goals

How to set effective quarterly goals

Where do you start? Here’s our six-step strategy to help clients and your company meet quarterly goals.

1. Visualize the big picture. Where do you want to be in one year?

Start with primary goals for the year and the initiatives that can help achieve those business goals. 

Examples of goals include:

• Reaching a particular revenue target
• Signing on a specific number of customers
• Increasing production by a certain percentage

“Every goal set should be moving you in the direction of your long-term goals and should include key metrics and parameters for measuring if you achieve or exceed the goals,” said Caitlyn Wells, founder at Upwell Strategies.

If you are having difficulty setting goals, consider motivating yourself with a different mindset. “Instead of goals, call them ‘intentions,’” said Allison Maslan, founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network. “This means that instead of something you will try to make happen, you will make it happen.” 

2. Create quarterly and monthly segmentation.

Break your initiatives into four parts, each representing one-quarter of the year. In addition to the initiatives, set milestones for each quarter that are action items for the responsible parties on the team, and establish a deadline within that quarter. Since there are three months in each quarter, use a 12-week time frame to spread out the milestones in a way that is realistic for your team’s available time, skill sets and resources. 

“Start with three main goals for the quarter,” said Nikki Venus, CEO of Nikki Venus & Company. “Then dive a little deeper and break those down into three goals for each month. Each monthly goal should directly support hitting one of your quarterly goals. From there, get even more granular: Set three weekly priorities that help you knock out your monthly goals.” [Read related: The Best Business Advice]

Jon Coogan, host of the Mindset Mavericks podcast, also advocated using the 30-30-30 system, which employs three steps:

1. First 30 days: setup phase

What needs to be put in place to make this goal possible? New hires? Process updates? A system for tracking progress?

2. Middle 30 days: adjustment phase

This is when you review what’s working and what isn’t. Are the numbers tracking? Is one part of the plan failing? If so, now is the time to tweak things.

3. Final 30 days: execution push

This is the all-in sprint. By now, you’ve made your adjustments and it’s time to focus on finishing strong.

3. Plan weekly milestones and meetings.

Set weekly milestones for each month. To ensure everyone understands what the milestones are — and who is responsible for which tasks — hold a standing daily meeting of 10 to 15 minutes. Those involved with each milestone can provide updates on what they have completed and what they are working on, as well as share wins and seek help in removing obstacles.

Schedule a separate meeting if a longer explanation or concerns need to be addressed. It’s important that the standing meeting’s sole purpose is to update the team, not to have detailed discussions. This method will allow your meetings to be highly effective and efficient. 

“The difference between goals that work and those that fade into the background comes down to three things: how they’re set, how they’re managed and how they’re communicated,” Coogan said.

4. Focus on communication and collaboration.

Every two weeks, connect with the team for 30 minutes to an hour (depending on how big the team is) to ensure things are moving as planned. It will help keep everyone on target during each of the 30-day milestone periods to reach your quarterly goals. 

“Check in consistently and adapt when necessary,” said Marc Hardgrove, CEO at The HOTH. “If something does not work, don’t be afraid to change course. … The key is consistent effort, clear communication and a commitment to continuous improvement to get you to your destination.”

5. Stick to the list, but pivot when necessary.

Even the best-laid plans go astray due to unforeseen circumstances, and there will be unexpected things you didn’t anticipate. Sometimes things change because people decide to add to the initiatives or milestones list, which is called “scope creep.” 

It’s essential, however, to initiate additions or changes only when necessary. It’s OK to pivot the direction of goals or a project when there are signs your plan isn’t working, in light of new research or after feedback from customers. 

“Usually it’s helpful to review historical data — meaning what you aspired to do last year or last quarter,” said Dr. Marcia Layton Turner, executive director and founder of the Association of Ghostwriters. “Did you hit your goal? Was it difficult? Use those results to set new goals, with a push to stretch beyond what you did last quarter.”

Whether it’s a new milestone or a pivot in the company’s direction, it’s important to thoughtfully review those changes and determine if they will make a positive difference to your primary goal.

You need to ask yourself and your team the following question: Will adding the new initiative be enough of a benefit to risk delays or use up resources that may hurt reaching the previously set milestones? If the initiative doesn’t fit, then it’s essential to recognize the effort of the team member who proposed the change, but explain why it doesn’t help in reaching the current milestone and primary goal.

6. Review and reassess.

Once the process is set up, analyze the model going forward. Before starting a new year, plan a strategy session with your team. (November is a good month for this.) Take the plans from the previous four quarters and review what was accomplished in terms of the primary goal. Reassess any areas where the team missed the target.

Use the misses as examples to identify learning or skills gaps, communication or teamwork issues, or employee motivation problems that need to be addressed. That framework and any changes made to it sets the stage for the new primary and quarterly goals that have to be developed for the next year of business.

Entrepreneurs are a fairly optimistic group and can get sidetracked easily. It’s essential to focus on and complete current initiatives so you don’t have too many incomplete projects.

You will soon discover that it will be difficult to move forward if there are too many unachieved initiatives. You will also be forced to tack on new ones because you’re trying to keep up with industry trends and your customer needs. [Read related: Tracking Industry Trends]

Best strategies for goal development and management

By creating quarterly goals, you can establish habits that can help your success rate by:

• Making each quarterly goal and milestone as actionable and specific as possible. It must define the action that can contribute to the primary goal, who should do it, what tools can be used and how long they have to achieve it. “As a leader, your role is to remove roadblocks and ensure there is space to focus on the most important work,” said Leah Goldman, founder of The Intuition Strategist. “The key is to create a culture of transparency and accountability without micromanaging. When communication is intentional and values-driven, it turns goal-setting from a top-down directive into a shared commitment to success.”
• Leveraging the many online planning, scheduling, project and collaboration tools. They make the process of developing and managing quarterly goals more efficient and help keep everyone in the loop about what progress has been made and what needs to be completed. It’s especially beneficial for remote companies, because it facilitates communication and collaboration. “When choosing tools, prioritize systems that notify managers about approaching deadlines or incomplete tasks,” said Panda Ludwig, founder of Increase Expert. “These reduce the need for frequent meetings while ensuring accountability and progress are maintained.” [Learn more about effective apps for internal communication]
• Accomplishing one to three goals. Focusing on one to three goals and completing them is better than tackling too many goals and failing miserably. “The No. 1 reason leaders fail isn’t due to a lack of goals or even good ideas,” Ludwig said. “It’s a lack of execution. Here is the critical insight: The secret to successful quarterly goal-setting is not creating an exhaustive laundry list of goals. Instead, it’s about deliberate simplicity.”

Once you start with quarterly goal implementation, you’ll never return to an annual overview of what you want to accomplish. Seeing goals being met faster is an excellent motivator for you, as a leader, and for your team.

Shirley Tan contributed to the reporting and writing in this article.