Thursday, September 20, 2007

Imperatives for setting a goal

What are the factors you'd consider before setting a goal for yourself or for the people who work for you? Apparantly, the answers would be purpose, time frame, execution plan. If these are your answers, you are close but not perfect.

An axiom for setting a goal is RUN which stands for Realistic, Understandable, and Necessary. This sounds very simple and is very elusive and we often overlook it. The explanation for RUN starts with the last character..OK..OK alphabet, I'm engrossed in Software, as always :-). A goal is marked as necessary if it has a purpose/value, is time boxed. Next is Understandable, ensure that the purpose is clearly understood and your or your team's role is clear so that the execution plan is drafted accordingly. Finally, the goal would be realistic if it has well drafted execution plan.

RUN concept is not just limited to software projects. Infact, the concept has been borrowed from the manufacturing domain. Managers, if you want your teams to gain velocity and run, do not forget to apply the RUN concept when you do the estimations next time.

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