PRDV009: Writing Grant Proposals

"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it."

— William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, Scottish physicist (1824-1907)

Abstract

A manager must set and share adequate individual and team goals to execute their company strategy efficiently and support their staff's personal development. A commonly used management method recommends defining SMARTER criteria for goals: the objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Managers must evaluate them regularly, recognize or reward employees when achieved, and revisit them when they are not.

Concept

Setting team and individual objectives is a key process that allows teams to focus on a long-term unified direction by defining clear targets to reach and measure progress toward those targets. Offering rewarding challenges that support personal development also helps increase staff engagement and job satisfaction. Derive the goals you set from your company strategy, match its values, and take the missions and maturity of each of your team members into account.

The most classical management method for setting objectives follows "SMARTER" criteria.

Objectives must be:

• Specific: The goal must be explicitly defined without any ambiguity. It cannot be subject to individual interpretation but must specifically explain what must be achieved and the expected outcome.
  
  
• Measurable: The completion criteria and related quantitative or qualitative measurement methods must be clearly described. In other words, you must be able to answer the question, "How will I know that the objective is attained and which evidence is required to confirm it?"
  
  
• Attainable: This criterion emphasizes the importance of setting objectives that challenge the team and are reachable despite existing constraints. Assess whether the objective is realistic, considering other objectives you have set for the same employee.
  
  If the target is out of reach, the objective will become meaningless. This criterion questions the resources, authority, and means needed to accomplish the objective. Confirm how to reach the goal (specific skills to be acquired, training available, human or financial resources, level of authority…, etc.). An objective cannot be reached "by all means" but through a method and means aligned with the company's ethics and values.
  
  
• Relevant: the goal must be tied to organizational priorities and the employee's maturity in their role. Goals are relevant if they align with company strategy, the team mission, and employee development and do not conflict with other objectives. Check whether the timing for the objective is appropriate.
  
  
• Time-bound: This criterion stresses the importance of specifying appropriate timeframes for goals. When should it start and end? What steps and critical milestones should it accomplish? What intermediate outcomes are expected, and by when? Answering those questions helps define a sense of priority for your staff and helps them organize their tasks around their various objectives.
  
  
• Evaluated: Managers should set challenging goals for their team, help their staff reach their targets, regularly assess progress, and provide recommendations or coaching sessions to overcome obstacles. Define specific checkpoints (at a predefined frequency or critical milestones) and the expected deliverables. Do not wait for the objective to reach its time limit to deliver your feedback: this is counter-productive because it does not support the development of your collaborator and may create frustration if the target is missed. The final evaluation result of objective completion should not surprise you or your employee but reflect the intermediate reviews and evaluate the last mile and its final output.
  
  
• Recognized/Rewarded or Revisited: Run the final evaluation to assess whether you successfully achieved the objectives when you reach the end of the timeframe for goal execution. Ask your employee for the lessons learned while executing the objective. What would they do differently next time? Why? What could they manage easily? What were the main obstacles? How have they been able to overcome them? What have they learned?
  
  If the objective is reached, explain the type of reward the employee can expect (impact of the evaluation on possible promotion or mobility, extended responsibilities, and autonomy on similar activities at the next opportunity, monetary compensation…). Always recognize the accomplishment. It is important to praise the employee for their performance, especially when it is outstanding.
  
  On the other hand, if the outcomes are below expectations, running a full review with your employees is crucial to understanding what went wrong and why. Ask penetrating questions on the issue's essence and share ideas on what could have been done differently. This discussion allows you to revisit the objective to draw the appropriate conclusions. It should become the basis for defining new goals to help your employees improve their weak areas.

The capacity to own their objectives and focus on their execution will help your team members achieve their goals despite the numerous distractions from their daily activities. To increase this sense of ownership, I recommend engaging your team by:

• Have your team members propose self-defined objectives. Include them if they are compatible with the organization's mission and priorities, and relevant for employee development.
• Review and agree on the SMART criteria for the objectives you assign your staff. Involve them in defining the means, resources, and time frame.
• Explain how those objectives will support their personal development, the team mission, and the overall company strategy.
• Ask your staff to print their objectives once they are set and keep them visible in their work environment.

At the end of this goal-setting exercise, each employee should be able to express clearly: