Most times the terms Business Goals and Business Objectives are used loosely to mean the same thing. But in fact they are very distinct because goal is a much broader term than objective. You have a nebulous dream for your business’ future. This is a goal. An objective on the other hand is immediate and more specific in its concept. An objective has a time frame within which it has to be achieved. Hence, goals and objectives constitute different parts of the success story of a company. To understand the difference you can ask yourself a few questions:
What are business goals and why are they important?
A vague statement like, “Our Company is going to be the largest soft drinks company in the world” is a goal. It does not have any parameters or time restrictions. Yet, it is something you company intends on achieving. How you are going to meet the goals is not clear but you know that is where your company will be heading.
Unless you set goals your employees have no motivation to strive better. In this highly competitive world just jogging along a set path is not sufficient. To get an edge over your rivals you have to plan on being better than them. Here setting goals for your organization will inspire your team to get more involved in the company’s success. Goals are a subset of your company’s vision. They are creative thoughts and dreams, that when turned into objectives become a reality.
What is the significance of business objectives?
Business objectives differ from business goals in the sense that they are measurable and specific. The statement, “Our Company must reach global markets” is a goal that is just a concept with no tangible parameters. But the sentence, “We have to increase our exports by 20% in the next quarter” is an objective. It quantifies the thoughts and sets a target so that the marketing strategies can be planned around it.
At this stage, active participation of the employees will motivate them to striver harder and create harmony within the organization. This will have a very positive psychological effect on the workforce. They will be more receptive to changes and improvements. Also, the employees get a feeling of achievement when the targets are met.
Are strategies for goals and objectives different?
The strategies for goals and objectives too are different in any business organization. To put it in a nutshell, the main strategy of a goal is the set various objectives to attain the goal. And a strategy of objectives implies the marketing and advertising campaigns that are planned to attain the different objectives. Although goals and objectives are loosely interchangeable terms, objectives become the subsets of a business organizations main goal. So the strategies also differ accordingly.
This post first appeared on http://objectiveli.com/blog/business-goals-vs-business-objectives/
