Setting and Managing Goals in Leantime
Goals are at the heart of successful project execution. In Leantime, we believe that well-defined, measurable goals combined with clear execution milestones are key to achieving your project's objectives. Let's explore how you can effectively use Leantime's goal management features to track and accomplish your project's aims.
When you create a goal in Leantime, you're establishing a measurable target that represents a meaningful improvement or achievement for your project. Your goal should be specific enough to track progress, yet broad enough to encompass the various activities and milestones needed to achieve it.
For example, instead of setting a vague goal like "Improve customer satisfaction," you might set a specific goal like "Increase customer satisfaction score from 75 to 90 within 6 months." This specificity allows you to track progress meaningfully and know exactly when you've achieved your target.
To create a new goal in Leantime, you'll use the goal creation form (as shown in Image 1). Here's how to make the most of each component:
Goal Title: Make your goal clear and action-oriented. Start with verbs like "Increase," "Reduce," "Implement," or "Achieve" to indicate the direction of change you're seeking.
Metrics: This is where you define how you'll measure success. Choose a metric that directly reflects your goal's achievement. For instance, if your goal is to improve customer satisfaction, you might use your CSAT score as the metric. You'll need to specify:
- Starting Value: Where you are now
- Current Value: Updated as you progress
- Goal Value: Your target
- Type: The kind of measurement (number, percentage, currency, etc.)
Status Tracking: Leantime provides "On Track," "At Risk," and "Miss" status indicators to help you monitor your goal's health. Use these thoughtfully to signal when intervention might be needed.
This is where Leantime's approach becomes particularly powerful. You can link specific milestones to your goals (as demonstrated in Image 2), creating a clear connection between your execution activities and your desired outcomes. We recommend linking 2-4 milestones to each goal, with each milestone representing a significant phase or component of work that will contribute to achieving the goal.
For example, if your goal is to improve CSAT scores, you might link milestones such as:
- Customer Discovery Phase
- Implementation of Key Feature Improvements
- Staff Training Program Completion
- Post-Implementation Customer Feedback Analysis
As your linked milestones progress, you'll start to see early indicators of your goal's health. The milestone progress bars provide visual cues about the execution progress, while the goal's current value shows the actual impact of your work. This dual tracking system helps you:
Identify Early Warning Signs: If milestone progress is on track but your metric isn't improving, you might need to adjust your approach.
Validate Your Strategy: When milestone progress correlates with metric improvements, you know your chosen activities are effective.
Make Data-Driven Decisions: The combination of execution progress and metric tracking helps you make informed decisions about resource allocation and priority adjustment.
For most projects, we recommend:
- Setting 3-5 primary goals that align directly with your project's core objectives
- Ensuring each goal has a clear, measurable metric
- Linking 2-4 milestones to each goal
- Updating your current values at least monthly
- Regularly reviewing the relationship between milestone progress and goal metrics
- Using the discussion feature to document important context or decisions about your goals
Remember, your goals should challenge your team while remaining achievable. By breaking down these goals into linked milestones, you create a clear path to success while maintaining the ability to track both execution and impact.
The Goal Dashboard (Image 2) provides a high-level view of all your goals and their current status. Use this view regularly to:
- Monitor overall project health
- Identify goals that need attention
- Track the completion percentage of linked milestones
- Spot trends in goal achievement across your project
By thoughtfully setting up and monitoring your goals in Leantime, you create a powerful framework for project success. The combination of clear metrics and linked milestones ensures you're not just tracking numbers, but actively managing the work that drives those numbers in the right direction.
Understanding Goals in Leantime
When you create a goal in Leantime, you're establishing a measurable target that represents a meaningful improvement or achievement for your project. Your goal should be specific enough to track progress, yet broad enough to encompass the various activities and milestones needed to achieve it.
For example, instead of setting a vague goal like "Improve customer satisfaction," you might set a specific goal like "Increase customer satisfaction score from 75 to 90 within 6 months." This specificity allows you to track progress meaningfully and know exactly when you've achieved your target.
Creating Effective Goals
To create a new goal in Leantime, you'll use the goal creation form (as shown in Image 1). Here's how to make the most of each component:
Goal Title: Make your goal clear and action-oriented. Start with verbs like "Increase," "Reduce," "Implement," or "Achieve" to indicate the direction of change you're seeking.
Metrics: This is where you define how you'll measure success. Choose a metric that directly reflects your goal's achievement. For instance, if your goal is to improve customer satisfaction, you might use your CSAT score as the metric. You'll need to specify:
- Starting Value: Where you are now
- Current Value: Updated as you progress
- Goal Value: Your target
- Type: The kind of measurement (number, percentage, currency, etc.)
Status Tracking: Leantime provides "On Track," "At Risk," and "Miss" status indicators to help you monitor your goal's health. Use these thoughtfully to signal when intervention might be needed.
Linking Milestones to Goals
This is where Leantime's approach becomes particularly powerful. You can link specific milestones to your goals (as demonstrated in Image 2), creating a clear connection between your execution activities and your desired outcomes. We recommend linking 2-4 milestones to each goal, with each milestone representing a significant phase or component of work that will contribute to achieving the goal.
For example, if your goal is to improve CSAT scores, you might link milestones such as:
- Customer Discovery Phase
- Implementation of Key Feature Improvements
- Staff Training Program Completion
- Post-Implementation Customer Feedback Analysis
Monitoring Progress Through Milestones
As your linked milestones progress, you'll start to see early indicators of your goal's health. The milestone progress bars provide visual cues about the execution progress, while the goal's current value shows the actual impact of your work. This dual tracking system helps you:
Identify Early Warning Signs: If milestone progress is on track but your metric isn't improving, you might need to adjust your approach.
Validate Your Strategy: When milestone progress correlates with metric improvements, you know your chosen activities are effective.
Make Data-Driven Decisions: The combination of execution progress and metric tracking helps you make informed decisions about resource allocation and priority adjustment.
Best Practices for Goal Management
For most projects, we recommend:
- Setting 3-5 primary goals that align directly with your project's core objectives
- Ensuring each goal has a clear, measurable metric
- Linking 2-4 milestones to each goal
- Updating your current values at least monthly
- Regularly reviewing the relationship between milestone progress and goal metrics
- Using the discussion feature to document important context or decisions about your goals
Remember, your goals should challenge your team while remaining achievable. By breaking down these goals into linked milestones, you create a clear path to success while maintaining the ability to track both execution and impact.
The Power of Goal Visualization
The Goal Dashboard (Image 2) provides a high-level view of all your goals and their current status. Use this view regularly to:
- Monitor overall project health
- Identify goals that need attention
- Track the completion percentage of linked milestones
- Spot trends in goal achievement across your project
By thoughtfully setting up and monitoring your goals in Leantime, you create a powerful framework for project success. The combination of clear metrics and linked milestones ensures you're not just tracking numbers, but actively managing the work that drives those numbers in the right direction.
Updated on: 16/12/2024
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