Organizations should have three categories of goals, strategic, tactical, and operational. There should be a clear connection to how each goal impacts other goals in the form of a strategy map.
Strategic goals encompass the entire organization and create a path for what the future of the organization should be. In my current organization our executive leadership team announces our company’s strategic goals at the beginning of every year and we check in on the status of these goals every quarter during a town hall. Department leaders are then responsible for developing tactical goals. These goals are applicable specifically to our department but are aligned via the strategy map to accomplishing the strategic goals. The department leader speaks to these goals on a near monthly basis during our team meetings, helping to guide our team’s priorities and decision making throughout the month.
After tactical goals have been developed, front line managers work with individual contributors to create operational goals. These goals are very specific and measurable. My organization utilizes a tool called Lattice to create these goals so that my entire team can easily see all of our individual goals and understand how these operational goals align with the tactical and strategic goals of the department and organization.
Strategy maps outline the dependence of each goal category. As an individual contributor, I recognize how important a strategy map is in empowering me to fully understand how my operational goals directly relate to the strategic goals of the organization.
Erik Angus 