{"id":48,"date":"2013-11-04T20:50:36","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T20:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smartbuilder.com\/blog\/?p=48"},"modified":"2018-07-06T19:06:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T19:06:11","slug":"design-challenge-1-define-a-business-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartbuilder.com\/blog\/design-challenge-1-define-a-business-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Crafting a Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this part of our design challenge, we are going to look at performance goals for the ChAMPIONs project. If you need a refresher on our challenger or the project we are discussing, look at Design Challenge #1 \u2013 Part 1 of 4: Meet Our First Challenger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Value of a Performance Goal<\/h3>\n

There are a lot of good reasons for creating a performance goal; here are three:<\/p>\n

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  1. They help justify your project<\/strong>.\u00a0Then, when you\u2019re having trouble obtaining the resources you need, like time with a busy subject matter expert, you can point to your goal and say \u201cI know you\u2019re busy, but here\u2019s why we\u2019re doing this [pointing to your goal] and I need your help to get it done.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. A performance goal keeps the project on track<\/strong>. It seems like every project has a moment (or twenty) where a manager or a subject matter expert says, \u201cHey, wouldn’t it be awesome if\u2026\u201d Sometimes that awesome idea really is awesome and fits nicely into the project. Other times, that awesome idea is out in left field. The performance goal is the measuring stick that determines what should be included in the course, and what should not.<\/li>\n
  3. A performance goal can earn you some well deserved kudos<\/strong>. Admittedly, it can be hard to gather performance data, but if you can do it, you can reap some real rewards.\u00a0For example, you roll out your course about the company’s software system and then obtain some data from IT on the number of support calls they’ve received about the system, and, hallelujah, they’ve dropped by 18%. You do some quick math on the back of an envelope and calculate that the ROI for your course is 160%. I\u2019ll leave it to your imagination what good things you could do with this kind of hard data.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    \"GoalCartoon\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

    How to Create a Performance Goal<\/span><\/h3>\n

    So, how do we create a good performance goal for our challenger? There\u2019s no need to reinvent the wheel, if we want to make sure we have a good goal, we need to check off as many of the SMART criteria as possible.<\/p>\n