Why Setting Goals Makes You A Better Eventprof

Organization is key in the fast-paced event industry and goals are an excellent tool to get what you want. Many people set goals or aims subconsciously when they want something, when you write a to-do list or during event planning, you know you want it to be a success. This counts as a goal, but the main mistake that most eventprofs make is not honing the skill or deliberately holding themselves accountable to it. Setting goals can be incredibly rewarding if done properly, and here’s why.

What is a Good Goal?

A good goal is something that you are more likely to achieve, otherwise it is a dream or wish, and the difference can be categorized using the SMART method which stands for:

Specific – Include details, and as much information as possible. It is not enough to write “guest list” or “decorations” include specific information such as; organize the guest list, choose the invitations, send them out and set up an RSVP spreadsheet. Whatever your process is to achieving what you want, include all of it, because it makes it realistic in both workload and time commitment when you look at it.

Measurable – How do you know when you have done it, or how can you track your progress? Making your goals measurable allows you to interpret whether they are doable or not. For example, tracking attendance could be a factor in determining if an event was a success if that is your goal, so it is important to define the terms to accurately measure progress.

Attainable – How realistic is the goal you’re setting? Are there any constraints that are standing in your way? Do you have the authority or budget to achieve what you are trying to? It is important to be realistic and understand that it is possible because there is no point in aiming for something that simply cannot be done. There’s a fine line between a dream and a goal, so make sure you are on the right side of the line.

Relevant – It should be fairly simple to identify goal relevance but, if not, here’s some questions to ask: Should you even be trying to achieve this goal? Is it worthwhile and applicable to your career, event or personal progression? If you have answered no to any of these questions then your goal is not relevant.

Time-Bound – Set yourself a time limit, it’s that simple. Open ended goals have a tendency to be ignored as there is no sense of urgency and are less critical than other aspects of your life. Your goals should have an expiration date so that you are working towards something and you should aim for the deadline to be challenging, yet realistic.

A goal that uses these as a guideline will be insightful, useful and in depth to help keep you on track and remind you what you are working towards. But how does setting goals make you a better eventprof in the first place?

Improves Focus

Knowing exactly where you’re going helps to give you a roadmap of how to get there and this is the perfect analogy for goals. By setting a goal you are showing yourself the tasks and routes you need to undertake to get to where you want efficiently and this gives you drive and focus, after all it is the quickest way to getting what you want.

Boosts Motivation

Knowing that what you want is attainable is enough to get anyone out of bed in the morning, and goals have the added bonus of making you feel like you have achieved something, even when your workload is piling on top of you.

Reduces Miscommunication in Teams

Working in larger groups can often be confusing when dealing with opinions and relativities. Setting standardized goals helps everyone to work towards a common focus and avoids any miscommunication and team members acting against this.

Event managers should be aware that team goals also tend to be achieved faster because there are more minds working to achieve a common target which can also motivate them and encourage team-building  or even competition as they are all working together.

Provides Milestones for Large Projects

Larger projects can seem daunting, especially if you are working alone so setting goals in shorter increments to achieve a larger purpose can provide milestones and break down larger tasks. This can make them more manageable and can in fact, make you more productive because you don’t get “frozen” by the magnitude of what you are trying to achieve.

Holds You Accountable

Committing to a goal and telling others about it makes you more likely to stick to it and hold yourself accountable. Aside from others who can give more accountability, you have made a public choice to aim for one thing over another and goals can allow you to make that commitment to achieve what you want.

Avoids Distractions

Determining your goals helps to prioritize tasks, not only to your colleagues but to yourself. Setting a goal defines what you actually want and can stop you from getting side tracked or going off on a tangent trying to do multiple things at once that won’t help you to achieve your goals.

Tracks Progress

Short-term goal setting can act as a measurable way to track progress by determining what has been achieved and what hasn’t. By setting new, clear goals with specific deadlines, you can tell whether you or your colleagues are going to meet them or not and how this will affect the long-term targets, in the same way you set smaller fundraising targets and larger ones.

Promotes Innovation

Providing a clear path and time restrictions can be the perfect atmosphere for promoting innovation and creativity, particularly in groups. This is because the end result is clear but in some cases the path that is needed may be hindered and it is easier to come up with innovative solutions when the outcome is known.

Promotes Healthy Habits

Those who set goals know what they want and roughly how to get it which means they tend to work harder and feel better about themselves. Getting up with a purpose in one aspect of your life can often filter into other areas, for example, meeting an event goal or deadline might inspire you to make a health related goal in your personal life or encourage you to achieve more elsewhere. Being focused and motivated also make you more likely to fix bad habits and create a more positive lifestyle.

Keeps You Organized

Goals are an essential part of organisation, they can clear and organize your thoughts so that you can focus on the task at hand, as well as allowing you to streamline your processes to make them more efficient in line with what you are trying to achieve.

Tips for Goal Setting

Write them down – Quite simply, a properly constructed goal will have a lot of information and details and won’t be able to be written down on a post-it note. Writing them down properly and saving them will help to commit it to memory, as well as being able to refer to it as a later date if the path to your goals becomes unclear.

Consider long and short-term – While thinking long-term can provide clarity and focus and keep you driven, it can also demotivate you if you aren’t achieving anything. An event 12 months away is an excellent goal but 12 months of long grueling hard work to achieve it is going to lead to demotivation, especially in teams, therefore you should create long and short-term goals. They don’t have to be related, but for larger goals, breaking them into short-term chunks is more likely to keep you on track.

Clarity – Understand what you want. You can’t determine or achieve a goal if you aren’t clear on exactly what you want and what it takes to get there. Before you start writing your goals, be crystal clear about your desired outcome and how you plan to achieve this and then setting your goals is easy.

Be flexible – Goals can always change, just because you wanted to achieve something at some point, doesn’t mean you want it now. Don’t restrict yourself to only one route because you created it into a goal as this is counterintuitive and defeats the purpose. Only ever work towards what you want to achieve, if this changes, so do your goals.

Print goals out – Whether it’s printing, drawing or doodling, create a visual reminder of what you want to achieve and keep it in a clear location, whether it’s your desk or your fridge, somewhere you will see it often. This helps to remind you in quiet moments what you are trying to achieve and why.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there is no doubt that setting goals makes you a better eventprof and this is because ultimately they not only motivate and organize you, they inspire and focus you to achieve everything you want and need. Knowing how to create a good goal limits the chances of you failing to meet them in the future and combining this with our expert tips is a recipe for goal setting success.