The most effective way to achieve organizational results is by securing an engaged team, ready to respond to the company's challenges with proactivity and innovation.

Investments in internal communication, workforce appreciation programs, and shared goal management can significantly help achieve this level of engagement.

Today, we're going to talk about shared goal management, which has been increasingly applied in companies with quite surprising results. Stay tuned and happy reading!

What is shared management?

There's a lot of talk about having a team that “wears the company's jersey,” but what most organizations forget is that to wear the jersey, you need to feel like part of the team. And only those who are involved in decisions, are well-informed, and valued for what they do feel like part of the team.

In light of this, before delving into the specifics of the goals, we can say that shared management, in general terms, consists of a management model where all employees know exactly what their tasks and responsibilities are and how they contribute to the company achieving its strategic objectives.

This signifies a profound change in posture on the part of the organization's leaders, as it implies promoting transparent communication, especially with regard to finances, to strategic planning and future plans.

Once the strategic plan is mapped out, the tactical and operational plans are created so that all hierarchical levels participate in achieving the results. Tied to these plans are the goals, which can be individual or collective.

How to share goals

Shared goal management assumes that all individuals, regardless of their positions or roles, contribute to the company's results. The gardener keeps the company's facade beautiful and attractive, which catches the eye of passersby and visitors. This projects a positive image to the general public, which is reflected in the brand's reputation.

The sales manager, in turn, is responsible for leading the sales team, motivating the salespeople, and guiding their work. Without this work, each person would act in the way they consider most correct, and efforts would be diluted, affecting the company's results. As you can see, everyone plays a part in organizational success.

Goal sharing occurs when the same goal is shared with more than one person or area. Usually, each person agrees on their goals with their manager, which must be achieved within a certain timeframe. In the case of sharing, more than one person is responsible for achieving that expected result. This creates a feeling of unity, of teamwork.

See also: How to do goal cascading?

Collective goals are usually tied to tactical-level results. The sales department should generate X new clients; marketing should attract Y new leads; logistics should speed up the delivery process by N%, and so on.

A very interesting example occurs at Localiza. “Recently, we changed management, divided ourselves into 4 companies, and managed to make the businesses very synergistic. But we have many cross-functional goals. And it's a pain, because it wasn't like this before, shared, and now it's a pain because it's shared. The learning we have is that, with shared goals, we always have someone responsible for it and those involved who integrate into the project,” states Príscilla Duarte, Corporate Communications Manager. “Some goals are broken down in the ‘management contract.’ For example, I take on a shared goal as an individual goal because it has significant weight in my management contract. So, I go after the project leader and ask them to start the activity because it affects my goal. In turn, regarding the collective aspect, we set ROIC (return on invested capital) as the indicator for everyone, as a corporate goal,” she concludes.

And why share goals?

As we said at the beginning, only those who feel part of the company will wear its shirt. More than an obligation, a goal is a challenge to be overcome so that the company can grow and the worker can evolve with it.

The fact is so fundamental that many companies invest in it in order to make it pay off. “The involvement of the executive board in disseminating and publicizing the company's management processes is very important. At Líder, we hold the ‘Conexão Líder’ program, an annual meeting which takes place in Belo Horizonte and is broadcast simultaneously by videoconference to all the company's bases throughout Brazil. At this meeting, the CEO presents and discusses with the employees the goals previously set with the managers. He also discusses the political and economic scenario in which we find ourselves and the main challenges to be overcome,” says Kelly Aguiar, Planning and Management Coordinator at Líder Aviação. According to her, it's important to share goals, because it's a job that impacts the whole company. “At Líder, we work with multidisciplinary groups, in which one helps the other. We also have project goals, which bring together people from different areas,” she says. Kelly also stresses that the global goals have to be shared and known. “We say that the commercial area can't only be concerned with sales, but also with the total cost of the company,” she says.

Juliana Oliveira, Human Resources and Management Manager at Forno de Minas, explains that at the company, in addition to end goals, they encourage the establishment of intermediate goals. “Specifically, at Forno de Minas, when creating goals, we open a meeting where people can suggest goals not only for themselves but for others as well,” she details.

Read more: Why do companies fail at strategy execution?

At Drogaria Araujo, for her part, Ana Vieira, Controllership Coordinator, says that it is the company's practice to work on sharing goals in small groups, taking into account the cross-functional relationship and results of each area. “We hold smaller, more focused forums, where the discussion is directed and more productive, as it takes place between areas that are interconnected in the delivery of that expected result. In addition, we have to be careful that the meeting doesn't become unproductive, as people tend to think that ‘the other person's grass is always greener’,“ she comments. For her, it is very important for the delivery of the company's results that the goals are well broken down to the operational level, so that each employee understands their contribution to the whole: ”this stimulates a sense of belonging“. Another practice that the company has adopted is to reinforce the commitment to targets in a formal moment: ”it was a practice that surprised us positively, in which those responsible get together and sign a document that formalizes the targets, projects and objectives for that year," he says.

According to Jeane Teixeira, Manager in Management for Results and Quality at Cimento Tupi, the secret to success is strategy deployment along with the leadership's actions. “When it is done well and monitored well, the response is automatic. The goals need to be challenging, yet achievable. People need to understand the goal they receive, as well as accept it as important and attainable. Another extremely relevant point is that, in addition to the initial planning, there must be periodic monitoring. The team must analyze and define actions on unsatisfactory results routinely. The leader's performance is paramount in making this happen, whether in results meetings or in day-to-day routines.”.

This is why it's also important for companies that adopt goal management to link rewards to them, aiming to motivate people. Otherwise, it's just another obligation to be fulfilled. In this sense, it's possible to create reward programs, Bonus and bonuses, among other advantages for those who fulfill the proposed terms.

It's worth remembering that goals should be specific, measurable, relevant, and time-bound. In other words, acquire 10 new clients per month or reduce logistics costs by 5% next quarter (some examples).

This type of stance by the company promotes greater alignment across all levels of activity – strategic, tactical, and operational. Each person understands their role within the whole, how their actions impact the activities of others, and what kind of attitude they should adopt so that the company can grow and prosper.

And only a thriving, sustainable company is in a position to offer professional growth to its team.

Have you considered implementing shared goal management? Did you know that technology Can I help you track your team's performance?