Ah, January. The holidays are over, the gym is packed, everyone is ready for a new start and your inbox is already filling up with emails about this year’s meeting plans. It’s also the time to sit down with a coffee (or something stronger) and figure out what you, your team, and the whole company are actually going to achieve this year. Setting objectives isn’t just a box to tick—it’s your chance to aim for something meaningful. But let’s face it: we’ve all seen objectives that sounded great in January but fizzled out by March because they didn’t connect to anything real. So, how do we avoid that? Let’s break it down.
Picture this: your company’s strategy is a map, and your objectives are the little red dots marking the destinations. If your objectives are floating in the margins like a rogue doodle, you’re not getting anywhere. They need to connect directly to the map—or strategy—so everyone knows why their work matters.
When objectives link to strategy:
- Everyone’s on the same page (and fewer people ask, “Why are we doing this again?”)
- You don’t waste time chasing projects that sounded cool but have zero impact
- People feel their work actually counts, which is kind of the point of having a job, isn’t it?
Individual Objectives: Where the Magic (and Missteps) Happen
Let’s talk about the ART of setting individual objectives, also known as “how to avoid giving someone a goal that makes them roll their eyes.” When done right, individual goals give people a sense of ownership. They know what they’re responsible for and—bonus—they’ll be less likely to dump their work on someone else. Here’s a classic mistake: setting objectives that are so vague they could mean anything. (“Increase synergy” doesn’t mean much to anyone except the person who wrote it.) Instead, make goals specific, realistic, and—this is important—tied to something the person actually cares about.
For example:
- Don’t say: Improve team output.
Try: Complete three projects ahead of schedule by optimizing the feedback loop and reducing approval times by 20%.
- Don’t say: Enhance customer experience.
Try: Increase customer satisfaction scores from 85% to 90% by implementing two new self-service tools and reducing response time by 15%.
- Don’t say: Increase sales.
Try: Achieve a 15% growth in quarterly sales by launching a targeted campaign in three new markets and training the sales team on consultative selling techniques.
- Don’t say: Boost team collaboration.
Try: Host biweekly cross-departmental brainstorming sessions to generate five actionable ideas per quarter and improve inter-team project completion rates by 25%.
- Don’t say: Make meetings more effective.
Try: Reduce average meeting times by 30% while maintaining actionable outcomes, measured by a 90% attendee satisfaction rate in post-meeting surveys.
Cross-Functional Objectives: The Next-Level Move
If you’re feeling fancy, 2025 could be the year to tackle cross-functional objectives. Translation: goals that involve people from different teams working together. Why? Because no one department can do everything alone (and if they think they can, that’s a separate conversation). Here’s where the magic happens: cross-functional goals force teams to talk to each other. Marketing and sales might actually sit down and agree on what a “qualified lead” is. OPS and product could sync up on timelines instead of pointing fingers. It’s like relationship therapy, but with spreadsheets.
2 tips for making cross-functional goals work:
- Be crystal clear about who’s responsible for what, so nobody spends the whole year saying, “I thought you were doing that.”
- Celebrate the wins—because when multiple teams pull something off together, it’s worth a round of applause (and maybe a team lunch).
The OKR Method: Objectives with a Side of Results
If you haven’t tried OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), 2025 might be the time to give it a shot. The idea is simple: each objective comes with a few measurable results that show whether you’re on track. It’s like setting a New Year’s resolution and tracking it, but without the guilt when you skip the gym.
Example OKR:
Objective: Create a killer customer experience.
Key Results:
- Increase customer satisfaction scores from 85% to 90%.
- Reduce support response time by 20%.
- Launch two new self-service tools by Q3.
The beauty of OKRs is they keep you honest. No more vague “do better” goals—it’s all about results you can see.
