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com

Changing Your Organization for the Better

Stephen J. Thomas – Author of
“Successfully Managing Change in Organizations: A Users Guide”
(Industrial Press Inc., ISBN 0-8311-3149-7, 256 pages, illus., $39.95)

Part 3: The Goal Achievement Model

In Part 1 we discussed the concept of organizational change, the three linked elements
necessary for success and details about dissatisfaction. In Part 2 we addressed ourselves
to organizational vision. Part 3 addressed the third element – next steps. The process of
identifying and accomplishing the next steps uses the Goal Achievement Model.

The Goal Achievement Model is a method to take the vision (a rather abstract concept)
and convert it into goals, initiatives, and activities that people can do. Further, by
developing it, the organization can establish a clear line between what people in the
organization are actually doing and the vision that they are striving to accomplish.

Goal achievement is a method that links organization, department, team, and individual
goals, initiatives and activities to the overall vision in a way that all can easily see how
their efforts contribute to the end result. The model also provides a global view – a way
to see how efforts by one group can affect, or be affected by efforts of others.

Goal achievement provides a clear understanding of the vision; for without the vision,
goals cannot be properly set. Goal achievement requires focus as well as coordination
among departments and groups. By the very nature of this coordination, goal
achievement provides feedback to the participants.

The Goal Achievement Model (Figure 1 at the end of this article) illustrates the method.
Before looking specifically at how the model works, let’s first clearly define its key
components: the mission, goals, initiatives, activities, and measures.

Mission
The mission is a single broad statement that describes the overall vision for the
company, plant, or department. The mission states the vision in a way that
employees can readily understand and is relevant to them. It is aimed at a high-
level purpose. For example, the mission might be “to operate the facility in a
reliable manner so that the requirements of the customers are always satisfied.”

Goals
Goals are broad-based statements that support the mission in long-term, but
specific ways. Typically, there will be several goals in support of the mission.
Each one addresses a different aspect of the mission. Continuing with the mission
described above, the goals could include:

1. Develop a comprehensive reliability program.

2. Improve the level of workforce skills.

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3. Train the workforce to make decisions focused on reliability of the

equipment and the processes.

These goals actually help to sharpen the mission, focusing on the word reliable.

Initiatives
Initiatives are statements describing long-term efforts that will be made to
accomplish a specific goal. Typically each goal will have several initiatives
associated. Many different efforts are usually needed to accomplish a stated goal.
Initiatives are generated by the groups who do the actual work. Including them in
a visual model allows the various groups to see what others are doing. The model
also provides a mechanism to avoid duplicated work or efforts that are counter-
productive. For the goal of developing a comprehensive reliability program,
specific initiatives could include:

1. Establishing a program for predictive maintenance.

2. Establishing a program for preventive maintenance.
3. Developing a tracking tool so that work can be scheduled.

Notice the increasingly specific nature of these statements as we go from mission

to goals to initiatives.

Activities
Activities are the short-term, specific tactics that explain exactly and in detail
what the group or individuals will do to accomplish each initiative. At this level,
specific work steps and tasks are described. The activities are usually developed
by the group responsible for carrying them out. Looking at the initiative of
establishing a program for preventive maintenance, activities could include:

1. Determining which types of equipment should receive preventive

maintenance.
2. Identifying the equipment and gathering data to load into the database.
3. Determining how to staff this activity.
4. Establishing how often each piece of equipment should receive
preventive maintenance.
5. Developing a schedule for the work.
6. Developing a plan to monitor the completion of all of the tasks and to
enforce the maintenance schedule.

As you can see, activities are short-term specific steps that you take to complete
the initiative. Responsibility must be assigned to an individual or group for
completion of the task. Without assigned responsibility, the effort gets lost in the
everyday work effort.

Measures

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Measurement is the last, but perhaps the most vital component of the process. It
tracks progress each initiative and activity. Measures show if the work is on
track. They hold everyone accountable. We will address measurement further in
Part 5.

The Goal Achievement Model allows for a mission and high level goals to be clearly
stated and then converted from an abstract concept into something that can be clearly
understood. This conversion is achieved through the continual development of the
mission (or vision) into successive levels of detail through the model. The mission of
“operating the facility in a reliable manner” is abstract; it has various meanings for
different groups and people within the company. If we did not proceed further into the
model, leaving people to create goals on this statement alone, the result would probably
not be what was wanted. However, as you look at the subsequent levels and examples,
you can see that the approach becomes very specific. The abstract nature disappears.

At each successive level, the detail becomes more and more specific. By the time you
reach the Activity level, the work to be done is easily translated into actual work tasks.
The model enables you to identify specific tasks that, when completed, support the
mission. At the lower levels of the model this is clearly achieved

Because the work done at the Activity level is recognizable in its contribution to the
overall mission, workers can see the value of their efforts. For example, the activity of
gathering the data supports the initiative of developing the preventive maintenance
program. In turn, this initiative supports the goal of creating the comprehensive
reliability program that ultimately supports the overall mission. This connection is clear
not only to the executive level but also to all those who are involved on the front line.
Thus, the model can help drive the success of the process.
.
Because groups within the facility can see what others are doing, they can eliminate
conflicting activities or even those activities that negatively impact each other. The
majority of companies today do not have an overabundance of resources. Therefore, you
want to be sure that you and your group are working on the right things. When
everyone’s efforts are shown, the model allows each group to focus on the work that adds
value for the company.

The measures established to track the activities provide evidence that progress is actually
being made. How many times have you prepared goals, only to have them wind up in a
desk drawer for future retrieval when you are asked, “How are you doing with your
goals?” You find yourself scrambling to see what you have done, trying to make your
accomplishments fit what you said you were going to do. Proper measures avoid this
problem. If you report your measures on a regular basis, the chances that you will be
scrambling at the end of the year are minimal.

Figure 1 – The Goal Achievement Model follows

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 Reprinted from Reliabilityweb.com at http://www.reliabilityweb.com

This concludes part 3 of 5 of “Changing Your Organization for the Better”. Part 4 will
address concept of what I refer to as the Roadmap of Change.

Portions of this article were extracted from “Successfully Managing Change in

Organizations: A Users Guide” by Stephen J. Thomas with permission from the
publisher, Industrial Press, Inc.

For more information about the book use the hyperlink provided to go to the Industrial
Press web site – http://www.industrialpress.com or visit the author’s web site –
http://www.changemgt.bigstep.com

For more information about consulting and training related to this material contact MRG
Inc. Use the hyperlink provided to go to their web site. http://www.mrginc.net

Disclaimer (to make the lawyers happy): This information is supplied by third parties and is not warranted for any
purpose. The reader is responsible for ensuring accuracy and compliance with all policies, regulations and laws.
 Reprinted from Reliabilityweb.com at http://www.reliabilityweb.com

Mission Goals Initiatives Activities Measures

Mission: Goal: (site specific)

A s ingle state m e nt
de s cribing the ove rall vis ion
for the w ork s ite
A broad-bas e d s tate m ent
that s upports the m is sion.
The re are m ultiple goals and
each is long - te rm .
A group of statem e nts
s um m arizing the long-
te rm e fforts ne e de d to
accom plis h a spe cific
goal. Each goal can have
m ore than one initiative
Goal:
A des criptive lis t of
s pe cific short - te rm
tactics that w ill be done to
accom plis h the initiative .
Each initiative can have
m ore than one activity
s upporting it.
A m e as ure m e nt w hich
m onitors the s ucce ss in
accom plis hing the
activity. Us ually the
re lations hip to the activity
is one to one .

Goal

Goal

From “Successfully Managing Change in Organizations: A Users Guide” by Stephen J. Thomas (page 52)
Reprinted with permission from Industrial Press, Inc.

Disclaimer (to make the lawyers happy): This information is supplied by third parties and is not warranted for any purpose. The reader is responsible for ensuring accuracy and
compliance with all policies, regulations and laws.