Team members can't (and shouldn't) set their own Targets! That's because they can't see the "big picture". As a leader, it's both your responsibility - and kind - to set clear Targets so that team members can be successful!
As a leader, do you ask your people to set their own Targets...and/or create their own goals? Then are you then frustrated when they don't hit their Targets, and your organization doesn't hit it's larger, overall Targets for production, customer satisfaction, or for employee engagement?
If you this describes your situation, then please reconsider your Target-setting process. Because Kind Leaders know that it's not the job of team members to set their own Targets, it's the leader's job.
Here are a few reasons why:
Leaders are at the "top of the hill", looking down! They can see the bigger picture, including deeply understanding customer needs. They are the ones that have the most information about how long customers are willing to wait for a product, how quickly service and production needs to take, and what the costs for that service and production need to be.
Team members need to spend their time serving customers! Whether in customer service or manufacturing production, team members need to keep their mind on their job all the time! Trying to guess "how many" and "how long each should take" mentally takes them away from their real, value-added work!
No guesswork = less frustration! Team members want to do their best, be successful themselves and contribute to the organization's success. If (and when) they "set the wrong Target", they can't be successful. Since no team members are mind-readers, there are bound to be times when, if setting their own Targets, they don't set the ones their leaders are expecting. That then leads to frustration and disappointment all around.
Sometimes leaders are reluctant to set Targets for team members because they think that "team members should just know what their Targets are". But again, that isn't possible, because team members aren't mind readers! And we know what happens when people make assumptions!
Sometimes leaders don't want to set Targets for their team members because that would be "micro-managing" them. But its not. It's simply good management to let people clearly know what is expected of them.
Sometimes leaders think that if they set Targets for their team members, they are telling them "what to do". And they don't want to do that.
But Kind Leaders know that telling people clearly what is expected of them, so that people know what "success looks like" is the kindest thing that they can do for the people who work for them.
As a leader, it's both your responsibility and kind to clearly set and communicate Targets for your team members. It's their responsibility to strive towards those Targets.
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