How to Set Better Strategic Goals, With Examples
By Arlen Taylor-White
Strategic goals serve as guiding beacons for organizations. They show the path to success, provide a sense of purpose and direction, align efforts and resources, and serve as a yardstick for measuring progress.
Clear strategic goals empower teams, inspire innovation, and foster a focused and cohesive organizational culture. Without them, organizations risk drifting aimlessly, squandering precious resources, and missing out on the opportunities that can propel them forward.
Steps to set better strategic goals
1. Start with a clear vision and mission statement
A vision statement defines where the company wants to be in the future, while a mission statement defines the company’s purpose and how it plans to achieve its vision. These two statements form the foundation of any strategic planning process and should inform the company’s strategic goals.
2. Conduct a SWOT analysis
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A thorough SWOT analysis of the company’s internal and external environment can be used to pinpoint problem areas and establish priorities for growth.
3. Set priorities and focus areas
Based on the SWOT analysis, and considering the organization’s resources and competitive landscape, identify priorities and focus areas that align with the vision and mission. These areas should be strategically significant and have the potential to drive long-term success.
4. Engage all stakeholders
Employees, managers and executives should all have input into strategic planning to maximize the likelihood that outcomes will reflect the company’s stated mission and core values. Gaining support and dedication in this way can make it simpler to realize your goals. Strategic goal setting workshops can be an effective method of involving key stakeholders in the process.
5. Communicate and cascade goals
Communicate the strategic goals throughout the organization, ensuring that all employees understand the goals, their importance, and their role in achieving them. All stakeholders must be on the same page if you are to be successful in achieving the organization’s strategic goals, as the next stage will be to cascade the goals down to different levels and departments for ownership and execution. Without understanding and buy-in, your organization’s ability to achieve its strategic goals will fragment.
6. Regularly review and adjust goals
Continually reviewing your goals and tracking progress helps to ensure that your goals remain relevant and are being delivered. Review the goals periodically, assess the effectiveness of strategies and initiatives, and make necessary adjustments based on feedback, market dynamics, or changing circumstances.
8 Examples of Great Strategic Goals
To illustrate how to write your strategic goals, here are 8 examples. These are from a national electricity company, but many are transferable to other industries.
- Sustainable Energy Transition: Lead the transition to a sustainable energy future by increasing the share of renewable energy sources, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting energy efficiency and conservation.
- Reliable and Resilient Power Supply: Ensure a reliable and resilient power supply infrastructure that meets the growing demand, reduces downtime, and minimizes the impact of disruptions or natural disasters.
- Grid Modernization and Smart Technologies: Invest in grid modernization initiatives, including smart grid technologies, advanced metering infrastructure, and digital systems to enhance grid efficiency, optimize energy distribution, and enable effective demand management.
- Customer-Centric Service: Focus on delivering excellent customer service by providing reliable, affordable, and accessible electricity services. Embrace customer-centric practices, such as personalized billing options, efficient complaint resolution, and proactive communication.
- Energy Affordability and Accessibility: Strive to make electricity affordable and accessible to all segments of society, including low-income households and under-served areas, through tariff structures, financial assistance programs, and infrastructure expansion initiatives.
- Environmental Stewardship: Promote environmental stewardship by minimizing environmental impacts associated with electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Implement eco-friendly practices, such as emission controls, responsible waste management, and habitat protection.
- Grid Resilience and Cybersecurity: Enhance the resilience of the power grid against physical and cyber threats by investing in robust cybersecurity measures, conducting regular risk assessments, and implementing backup and recovery systems to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
- Innovation and Research: Foster a culture of innovation and invest in research and development to explore emerging technologies, enhance operational efficiency, and drive advancements in electricity generation, storage, and distribution.
What Comes After Setting Strategic Goals?
Once you have set your strategic goals, you need to gather your leadership team to develop your organization’s strategic roadmap. A strategic roadmap is the bridge between your strategy and its execution, and is therefore the key to ensuring you can achieve your strategic goals.
We developed our tool Jibility specifically for building strategic roadmaps. Jibility guides users through a unique 6-step strategic planning process: Challenges, Objectives, Capabilities, Actions, Initiatives, and Roadmap.