3-2-1: Workshop Weekly #13

This week's newsletter is about goal-setting workshops, writing clear goals, and ambitious 2024 goals.

Let's go!

– Arthur

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Three Workshop Examples

When executed right, goal-setting workshops can align a team and enable them to achieve more, together.

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1: Three problems teams without goals have

• Teams without goals have low alignment and slow decision-making.
• Teams with yearly goals set and forget them, because of changing priorities.
• Teams with too many goals procrastinate because of doubt & conflict of goals.

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2: The benefits of team goals

But... it can be tough to get on the same page and work towards common goals.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a simple yet powerful way to set and track goals.

They start a conversation:

How do we measure success?

💡 A 1000-watt lightbulb will illuminate a room.

🔦 A 1000-watt laser will cut a hole in steel.

Same energy.

Different results.

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3: How to brainstorm goals together

1. Prepare a document or Miro board where every team member can brainstorm ideas.
2. Write as many goals (aka objectives) as possible.
3. Group together similar goals.
4. Give every team member two votes.
5. Focus on the goal with the most votes.

(Continue reading this week's Two Async Tips to see how you can make your goals more inspirational and specific.)

​ Want to learn how to prepare and run goal-setting workshops? Sign up before 18 Nov

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Two Async Tips

Having inspirational and forward-moving goals improves every aspect of async commununication.

❌ Keep Workshop Wednesday alive

✅ Grow the Workshop Wednesday community

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See the difference? The first example is vague and defensive ("keep alive"), while the second motivates and guides the team.

A common goal-setting structure is called Objectives & Key Results (OKRs):

Here are two tips for writing OKRs.

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1: Use numbers in your goals

The problem with many goals is that it's unclear when you achieved them.

Adding numbers helps you:

• Have better discussions about what success looks like.
• Track and measure progress while working on them.
• Reflect on why (or why not) you achieved goals.

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2: Make goals outcome-focused (not a task list)

OKRs are a way to talk about what success will look like three months from now. They are not your team's task list.

That's because, when working on your goals, you might learn new and better ways to achieve them.

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One Question For Your Team

That's all for this week. If you enjoyed today's issue, please reply (it helps with deliverability). If you didn't, you can unsubscribe via the link👇.

See you next Wednesday — Arthur​

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Ps. Adding the course link here for easy access:
​https://maven.com/workshop-wednesday/retrospectives-course.

Enrollment closes on Saturday, and your company can most probably reimburse you.

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