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Goal Setting Skills Blog

Chris Farmer's Leadership and Management Training Blog

Chris Farmer

Welcome - the purpose of the blog page is to provide you with a never ending source of valuable, practical and entertaining information designed to help you get the best performance from yourself and others.

In these blogs you will find all the information you need to make faster progress in less time and effort. Here you will find all the information you need to achieve your goals. In addition to helping yourself to achieve your goals, you can use the same information to help others to achieve their goals.

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Goal Setting Skills Blogs

Goal setting has ten steps:

  1. Write out the goal in the form of a broad statement of positive intent.
  2. Name the deadline by which time the goal needs to be achieved.
  3. Specify the goal using words to define any vague terms.
  4. Specify the goal using a visual image.
  5. Specify the goal using numbers and objective measures.
  6. Name the key point indicators that will be used to track progress.
  7. Name the skills knowledge and information necessary to achieve the goal.
  8. Name the material resources necessary to achieve the goal.
  9. Gain confirmation from the team, that the original deadline estimate is reasonable.
  10. Taking all the information so far gathered, write a full, detailed plan of action and immediately go to work.

Your organisation and everyone in it, should be focused upon achieving goals. Goal achievement is the reason for a team’s existence. A team is a group of people who work together to achieve a shared goal. Therefore, goal setting is one of the most important things you can do, because, the first step to achieving a goal is to set it.

Goal Setting Skills Blogs

Get There Faster: Our Guide to Achieving Goals by Slowing Down

6 August 2024 Get There Faster: Our Guide to Achieving Goals by Slowing Down Thumbnail

"Rushing often leads to mistakes. Learn how slowing down can help you reach your goals faster by reducing errors and increasing efficiency. Discover the benefits of a mindful approach in our latest blog.

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How to Create Smart Goals

18 October 2022 How to Create Smart Goals Thumbnail

Use our free tool to create SMART goals. By expanding the SMART goal model to become eight SMART questions/answers, you will have the necessary information to write detailed practical plans and turn your goals into reality.

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When to Use the P.D.C.A. Model

9 August 2022 When to Use the P.D.C.A. Model Thumbnail

Do you use the PDCA continuous improvement model? PDCA helps you achieve your goals in a logical, systematic way. This blog explains when and how to use the PDCA model to its best advantage.

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Where are the UK's Most Ambitious People In 2021?

12 January 2021 Where Are The UK's Most Ambitious People In 2021? Thumbnail

It’s no secret that 2020 was a challenge to say the least. We wanted to find out where the UK’s most ambitious people were located across the country. Does your city feature on the list? Have a read below...

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Six Ways to Make 2021 your Best Year Ever

5 January 2021 Six Ways to Make 2021 Your Best Year Ever Thumbnail

Don't wait for 2021 to get better, be the contributory factor and improve your chances of happiness and success. Here are six ways to make 2021 your best year ever.

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Eight Part Smart Targets

21 April 2020 Eight Part SMART Targets Thumbnail

You are probably aware of the 5-part SMART module, but we believe that to make it practical, it needs to be an 8-part SMART Model. Use it to set your own goals for a better future, as well as setting, communicating and planning team goals.

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How to Make Progress In your Life

3 January 2020 How to Make Progress in Your Life Thumbnail

We all want to get on in life. But how do you go about achieving that success? In order for success to happen, you'll have to make the effort. We take a look at the best ways to make progress in your life.

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12 Steps to Make 2020 your Best Year Ever

31 December 2019 12 Steps to Make 2020 Your Best Year Ever Thumbnail

Do you want to make 2020 your best year ever? Many people make New Year's resolutions that they don't have any hope in achieving. If you are thinking of making some goals for next year, take a look at these 12 steps which will help you to succeed.

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Blog Categories

Accelerated Learning (6)

Accelerated learning techniques are special methods of organising information, so that you can more rapidly memorise and more accurately recall it on demand. Accelerated learning also includes mind mapping and creative thinking techniques.

Assertiveness (4)

Assertiveness is a both a communication style and a mind-set which, when combined, allows a people to express their meaning using just the amount of forcefulness, in relation to their body language, voice tone and spoken language.

Change Management (15)

Change management training is how to use the fact of continuous change, to work FOR you, rather than against you. It is a fact that all improvement implies change, but many people hate change. Change management is about training people to love change as a means of making the future better.

Coaching, Mentoring and Developing Staff (8)

There is a pressing need to develop the next generation of leaders, managers and technical experts. One way to develop staff is through coaching and mentoring. To be an effective coach and mentor is not an easy skill to master. These blogs discuss the skills of coaching, mentoring and staff development.

Communication - Clear Communication (79)

One to the most important facets of communication is clarity. Whenever you write or speak, your words should denote only one possible meaning. If your words can be properly interpreted in multiple ways, then you are creating the conditions for confusion, error and misunderstanding. These blogs discuss the nature of clear communication.

Communication - Listening Skills (5)

Communication includes the ability to attend to, understand and memorise what people say to you. Effective Listening is an active, not a passive process. These bloggs discuss what it takes to be a good listener.

Communication - Nonverbal Communication (8)

Communication includes a large visual component. How you appear, as you speak, makes a big difference to how your message is received. These blogs are about how to best use your body language. (Eye contact, posture, dress, hand and arm gestures, etc.)

Communication - Persuasive Communication (40)

Persuasion is the art of convincing others that your ideas are good, right, fair and practical, and in addition, persuasion includes motivating people to put your ideas into action. Persuasion is a key communication skill that everyone should study. These blogs discuss how to be more persuasive.

Communication - Written Communication (5)

A part of your communication is in the written form. Writing well is a skill that most people do not study, though it is of immense importance. These blogs discuss how you might improve your written communication.

Conflict Management and Handling Difficult People (28)

Conflict is inevitable, and when it occurs, you need to resolve it quickly and efficiently. Conflict management (and handling difficult people) is about managing your communication and your emotions, so that you arrive at a negotiated solution as quickly as possible. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can best manage conflict.

Decision Making and Problem Solving (22)

Decision making is the skill of selecting the best option from many options. And problem solving is the skill at determining the causes and implications of a problem and finding efficient remedies. This series of blogs discusses the elements of effective decision making and problem solving.

Goal Setting (8)

Success is the achievement of a worthwhile goal. And therefore, the first step to achieving a goal is to set it. Goal setting is the starting point of all achievement and is one of the most important topics you could study. This series of blogs discuss the elements of goal setting.

Leadership and Management (151)

Leadership is the art of setting a clear goal and inspiring others to achieve it. Management is the art of organising resources so as to most efficiently achieve that goal. This series of blogs discuss the details of leadership and management.

Mental Health (12)

Mental health is the skill of managing your own mind so as to achieve mental stability and a high degree of rationality. Mental ill health is the opposite, mental instability and irrational actions. This series of blogs, discusses how you might manage your mind.

Motivation (34)

Motivation is an emotion that induces action. Without motivation, nobody would achieve anything of value. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can motivate yourself and others.

Other (36)

Whilst interesting and informative in their own right, these blogs don't fit into a category.

People Management (12)

People management is a combination of skills including goal setting, communication, planning, handling conflict and motivation skills. This series of blogs discusses people management skills.

Personal Development (73)

The best investment you can make is in your own personal development. If you develop your skills, knowledge and experience, then you will maximise your potential to produce excellent results. This series of blogs looks at the details of personal development.

Personal Effectiveness (86)

You are not paid for how hard you work; you are paid for your effectiveness. It is possible to improve your effectiveness and get more valuable work done in less time and effort. This series of blogs discusses how you might improve your personal effectiveness and therefore speed up your rate of progress.

Positive Thinking (9)

The quality of your results is based upon the quality of your actions. And your actions are controlled by your thoughts. To simultaneously improve both your material results and your mental health, it is vital to develop the skills of positive thinking.

Stress Management (4)

Stress can be both good for you and bad for you. Good Stress triggers improvement. Bad stress grinds you down. Stress management is about using stress to help you to improve, and to avoid the negative effects of too much stress. These blogs discuss the various aspects of stress management.

Supervisory Management Skills (4)

Supervisory management skills are a combination of five major skill sets, setting goals, communication skills, planning, performance management and motivation. These blogs discuss the details of supervisory management skills.

Team Leadership (6)

For the most part, we all work in teams. Leading the team effectively can make all the difference to the performance of the team, as a whole. This series of blogs discuss the details of team leadership.

Teamwork (19)

Teams are often composed of people who have very different personalities and skills. In order to perform well, the members of the team must work well together and play to each other’s strengths. This series of blogs covers the importance of team work skills.

Time Management (16)

Time management is about prioritising, planning, organising and delegating, so that, at any moment, you are always adding the most value, and setting the conditions for your future success. This series of blogs investigates how you might better manage your time.