Goals Objectives Goals An ambition to achieve Goal

Goals & Objectives

Goals An ambition to achieve Goal – statement rooted in the organization’s mission and vision Three varieties Reputation management – identity & perception Relationship management – how you connect w/audiences Task management – getting things done It is unnecessary to have all three

Examples Reputation management goals Improve the company’s reputation within the industry Enhance the hospital’s prestige as a leading center for sports medicine Relationship management goals Promote better appreciation of the firm among potential clients Enhance the relationship between the company and its customers Task management goals Increase public support for organizational goals Attract a sell-out crowd to a fund-raising concert

Objectives Statement emerging from goals Clear and measurable Deal with intended outcomes rather than procedures A single goal may be the basis for several objectives Levels of objectives Awareness – attention, comprehension, retention (cognitive or thinking) Acceptance – interest, attitude (affective or feeling) Action – opinion, behavior (conative or doing) Must have all three as audiences must go through sequentially

Awareness Focus on information, providing the cognitive or thinking, component of the message Specify what information you want your audiences first to be exposed to and then to know, understand remember Deal with dissemination and message exposure, comprehension and retention

Acceptance Deal with affective, or feeling, part of the message How people respond emotionally to information Indicate the level of interest or kind of attitude an organization hopes to generate among its audiences Useful in forming interests & attitudes where none existed before, reinforcing existing interests & attitudes and changing existing positive or negative attitudes

Action Take aim at expression and conduct, providing the conative, or behavioral, element of the message Offer two types of action: opinion (verbal action) and behavior (physical action) Focus on creating new behaviors or changing existing ones, positively or negatively. Persuasive, encouraging audiences to act according to organization’s wishes Also building consensus and enhancing relationship

Writing objectives Every objective begins with the words “To have an effect on” Then category – awareness, acceptance, action Audience Direction – “specifically to” create, generate, increase, maximize, maintain, reinforce, decrease, minimize Specific affect w/awareness – attention or comprehension w/acceptance – interest or attitude w/action – opinion or behavior

Writing objectives (cont. ) Focus – indicate the focus of the specific effect; don’t provide strategy or tactics Performance measure – desired level of achievement – raw numbers or percentages Time period – specific (i. e. , by May 15) or relative (within 6 weeks). Performance measure and time period go in parentheses at the end of the objectives

Examples of well-written awareness objectives To have an effect on the awareness of senior citizens in Lake County, specifically to increase their understanding of the advantages Upstate Health Program offers senior patients (60 percent of senior citizens within six months) To have an effect on the awareness of legislators from the Southern Tier, specifically to increase their understanding of the environmental impact that House Bill 311 will have on their constituents (all 15 Republican and 7 Democratic members of the House Committee on Environmental Affairs within two months)

Examples of well-written acceptance objectives To have an effect on the acceptance of senior citizens of Lake County, specifically to increase their positive attitudes toward membership in Upstate Health Program (30 percent within six months) To have an effect on the acceptance of legislators of the Southern Tier, specifically to gain their interest in the environmental issues addressed in House Bill 311 (10 of the 15 Republican members and 6 of the 7 Democratic members of the House committee within two months)

Examples of well-written action objectives To have an effect on the action of senior citizens of Lake County, specifically to obtain an increase in their membership in Upstate Health Programs (10 percent within six months, and an additional 10 percent within a year) To have an effect on the action of legislators from the Southern Tier, specifically for them to vote in favor of House Bill 311 (6 of the 15 Republican members mand 6 of the 7 Democratic members of the House committee when the bill comes to a vote next spring)