The Objective of Objectives

How to get them right, and why this is so important.

What are we trying to do here?  Why are we investing in this campaign?  What’s this business in business for? What’s the point of this project?  What change do we hope to make? Where are we going?

These are all variations of the same simple big-picture question that should be asked at the very beginning of any significant endeavour.  Before you get started, you have to know what you are trying to achieve.  I know, there’s Captain Obvious again…but this is important.  The question may have multiple answers - and that’s OK – but the answers must be clear before you start or even brief the work.

More and more these days, people and organisations are coming around to the idea of a ‘scorecard’ or a ‘performance framework’ to help guide them through the strategic process.  This type of framework is absolutely critical for sponsorship, but it’s equally valuable to a PR or advertising campaign, a small business strategy, a sales team, a personal growth plan or any meaningful project. 

Success ultimately requires focus, discipline, collaboration and clarity of purpose.  All of these are helped by using a performance framework, and project success relies heavily on getting your objectives right from the outset. 

The objectives set the direction and tone of the plan.  They get the crowd of random stakeholders at all levels to turn in unison toward something they can see.  If we’re going to all move meaningfully toward the desired destination, we have to start by facing the same direction.

Objectives create clarity of purpose (Image: Open AI/Chat GPT)

Knowing this, I was recently reviewing a client’s objectives and the first one was ‘Marketing’.  Another said ‘Facility Plan’.  So, if I’m an investor or member of staff, what do these objectives tell me about where we’re going?  Not much.

I saw another strategic framework for a sponsorship that listed the first two objectives as ‘Awareness Metrics’ and ‘Hospitality’.  I’ve seen another that started with objectives of ‘Brand Measures’ and ‘Community’.  Again, these leave the crowd randomly gazing every which way.  Focusless.

So how does this happen, and how do we fix it?

Making the Mess

One way this happens is when those managing the plan or the strategy start with a collection of data points or other metrics that they have been using previously, and then they sort them into categories.  These ‘categories’ are then called ‘objectives’ because that’s what the framework calls for.  Handy, but not very effective.  Metric categories don’t tell you where you want to go.

The more comprehensive explanation for these insufficient (not good enough) objectives is that the strategic process is approached out of order.  Objectives must come first.  If you jump ahead to metrics or KPIs before setting clear objectives, you end up with a directionless set of signposts.

Tidying Up

To avoid the confusing mess described above, there are a few critical points in the strategic process to keep in mind:

1. Objectives First - Setting clear objectives must be the first step in implementing your strategic framework.  You must set aside all of your past facts and figures and ask yourself ‘What are we trying to do?’  ‘Why are we undertaking this initiative?’  What do we hope to achieve? Your answers will form the basis of your objectives.  When we say ‘first’ we also mean that your objectives must be set before you begin the project work and even before you set your strategy.  This is not an ‘after action’ report or analysis.  This is where you begin.

2. Direction of Travel – Your objectives should state the direction you want to move in.  A ‘direction of travel’ objective is more principle-based.  It clarifies your ambition in relation to where you are currently.  Examples might be: ‘Move further South’ or ‘Improve brand perception’ or ‘Reduce absenteeism’ or ‘Increase profit margin’.  These all give a clear indication of the improvement you aim to make compared to where you are now. “We want to get better in this particular way.”

3. No Numbers - As much as we hear about SMART objectives, a good strategic framework doesn’t require objectives to be numeric or even measurable… as long as they are backed-up by measurable KPIs which define ‘what success looks like.’  If the numbers are left to the KPIs, the Objectives can then serve a better purpose by first clarifying direction so that we can get everyone on the same page – pulling in the same direction.  If we get caught up in the numbers too early, often the strategic intent gets lost.

4. Not a Task/Tactic List – An objective is very different from a task or tactic.  A task is something you want to do, while an objective is something you want to achieve. ‘Hire new Marketing Manager’ is not an objective, it’s a task or a tactic within your strategy.  The new hiring may be a tactic which facilitates the objective of ‘Deliver more impactful marketing,’ but your objective set should never look like a ‘to do’ list.

5. Mutually Exclusive – Ideally, for your objective set to be most effective, you want a relatively short list.  3-5 works really well, but there are no hard rules.  More importantly, you want to avoid any overlap.  If two objectives start to get into a similar space (i.e., ‘Increase revenue’ and ‘Improve profitability’) then the application of KPIs can get messy.  Often you may find with overlapping objectives that one is actually a KPI for the other.  Sorting out nuances like this can be hard work, but it’s important to get it right.

6. Clear and Simple – It’s important how you word your objectives.  They have to make sense not only to you, but to all of the stakeholders you might show them to or discuss them with.  Whether it’s the board, the staff, a potential investor, or your customers, anyone should know from the list and words precisely what you are aiming to do. There should be no uncertainty or ambiguity, and you should be as concise as possible.  Once complete, you should be able to reel off your objectives to anyone who asks as you walk down the hall or ride the elevator. It will take time and input from others to get it just right, but this is all part of the process… and a big part of why the process is so valuable.  Clarity and simplicity is not easy; it is the reward for the effort and collaboration that went into getting it right.

7. Do the Work – I’ve mentioned a couple times that getting your objectives right is not easy, and that’s a good thing. The more time and effort you put in, the more engaged you and your team become in the true purpose of your strategy. It’s unavoidable that you thereby become more engaged and committed to your purpose.  The destination becomes even clearer and the collective will becomes stronger.  The vision becomes more achievable.

So why does it all matter?  Why have I droned on about getting the little details of this initial list just right?

It matters because the objectives of any project provide the foundation for its success.  If you put in the necessary time and effort into getting your objectives right, your probability of success rises significantly.

Once the objectives are crystal clear and agreed, it then becomes much easier to have a conversation about KPI’s and ‘what success looks like.’  I’ll save detail on that for another time, but just consider how much easier it is to define success for an objective like ‘Improve Brand Positivity’ than it is for ‘Marketing.’

Your KPIs will be important too, but they are often only looked at by wonks and analysts (I’m one of those).  Your objectives are what everyone sees.  They’re on the wall. They’re recited by leaders.  They’re brought up in strategy meetings. They’re what everyone looks to for direction and inspiration.  They tell everyone with a hand on the rope which way to pull. “OK let’s go.  On the count of three…”

Your objectives are your signposts toward success. If you want to get there, make sure you position them accurately.

Happy trails…

~END~