“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” -Larry Elder
Behavioral change efforts are often not linear but tend to be progressive, regressive, or even static. It seems intuitive that focus on a single behavioral change goal is easier to initiate and sustain, but, surprisingly, multiple simultaneous efforts (e.g., behaviors planned to improve multiple competencies at the same time) tend to be equal or even more effective, because they reinforce quick benefits (Hyman, Pavlik, Taylor, Goodrick, & Moye, 2007).
Of course, it is important for clients to be successful, so making sure that not too many challenging or unrealistic goals are set is something a coach can discuss with their client.
Coach’s Critique:Â
When participants uncover useful and various recommendations from their 360 reports, they often feel motivated and “hyped” to work on a number of goals for their development plan. While it’s great that participants feel inspired to develop, working too many goals that often don’t result in a quick pay-off can often result in goals not being achieved at all. On the other hand, to set a single goal might place people at risk of getting tired to work on other goals, especially if the goal has not be completely and successfully achieved. So what is the optimal number of goals that maximize results?
In my coaching experience I have found that it is best to have a balance with the number of goals to work on. If my client is tremendously busy, I generally don’t encourage him or her to work on multiple goals with rather 1 or 2 at a time. Within those couple of goals, I would recommend they can track some kind of short term “win”, so that completing goals is reinforced. If I believe my client can handle a few at once as far as schedule and commitment level, I would recommend it. However, once again I would ensure they are working on short term gains or “wins”, and that they are not working on more than 4 or 5 at once. So, a strategy could be to have one or two ultimate long-term development areas, and to work on a number of short term goals to help achieve the long range goal.
It is also important to point out the difference between goal intentions versus implementation intentions. Having intentions to take actions is not the same as actually mapping out the specifics of how one will start a new habit, sustain an older one or modify and existing behavior. It is equally important to discuss not just the number of goals but how they will be implemented to ensure successful long-term behavior change as we discuss in our book, Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It.
What has been your experience with the optimal number of goals to include in a development plan to increase successful achievement of them?
Sandra Mashihi
Dr. Sandra Mashihi is a senior consultant with Envisia Learning, Inc. She has extensive experience in sales training, behavioral assessments and executive coaching. Prior to working at Envisia Learning, Inc., She was an internal Organizational Development Consultant at Marcus & Millichap where she was responsible for initiatives within training & development and recruiting.. Sandra received her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles and received her Master of Science and Doctorate in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.
For development plans, I encourage people to have at least 1 goal focused on leveraging their strengths and no more than 2 on opportunities. Beyond that, it starts to become too much. You can however kill 2 birds or more with 1 stone in development. Take a person’s 360 results. If you look at competencies that might be related or somehow influence one another (i.e. developing your direct reports can lead to building a more effective team), one could create a robust objective that will build on those (and more) competencies at the same time. You get a bigger developmental bang for your buck when you can combine competencies. Another good “bang” is when you can leverage a strength in a way that decreases the noise level around an opportunity.