Goal setting

Goal setting and analysis, coupled with personal discipline and strict follow up play a huge role in academic growth, career and work performance, or life in general. In an industry that is facing continuous upward shifts in technology and changes in information models, my goal is to become a subject matter expert (SME) in managerial projects, providing knowledge to young upcoming professionals. My scheduled period of 5 years to attain this goal, is set to create a balance between goal difficulty, and self-motivation, helping me enhance my performance (Mikami, 2017, p. 44). By coupling analyzed requirements and plans with a series of sub-goals achieved over short periods, my long term goal will come into life.

To become a skilled and proficient SME, obtaining educational certifications in project management, is my first key sub-goal. This is to be achieved over a scheduled timeframe of 3 years. While working on my credentials, I will also invest this time to network with the market professionals both physically and through social platforms such as LinkedIn, to help create a network base necessary to an SME professional. Achieving and maintaining networks will require patience, and confidence to undertake these tasks and invest time in possible future clients, without sidelining other sub-goals in the process (Luthans & Youssef-Morgan, 2017, p. 4).  The final subgoal is building a dynamic and solid knowledge foundation in project management within the 5 years while undertaking interning positions in industrial firms for hands-on experience.

Possible pathways of goal achievement

Obtaining mentors in the industry will go a long way toward successfully achieving this goal. A mentor will help develop a greater understanding of the industry guidelines. Creating this interlink between a learning goal, and a performance goal results in a higher positive goal performance (Latham, Seijts, & Slocum, 2016, p. 273). Continuous self-education in a broad range of projects, while practicing self-efficacy in presenting unique ideas, will create a platform for me to become an influencer in the industry. This will increase my chances of obtaining an accolade, recognizing me as an expert in the industry.  A final pathway is following the goal plan, strategy, and scheduled timeframe with full commitment to goal performance. This will help relate the goal process and goal performance, without focusing on one and ignoring the other.

Assessment ways of goal achievement

For progress assessment, setting up milestone schedules and analysis will help evaluate progress and ensure set timeframes and objectives are met. Also consulting a professional mentor with a work plan for review based on agreed timeframes and to assess and give constructive feedback will both improve the goal performance while continually reviewing its progress. The third assessment method is using task management software to continually manage scheduled tasks, through their life cycles. With these assessment methods, the relationship between personal outcome expectancies, goal performance, is easy to analyze and compare the optimism in goal setting, with the performance in goal achievement (Chehade & El Hajjar, 2016, p. 168).

Possible challenges and solutions

SMEs have busy work schedules creating a challenge balancing between their professional and personal lives. While working through my goal process to achieve this goal, timekeeping will be an adhered to aspect, to train on scheduling. Also, making realistic plans and reasonable time frames will help me negate through this challenge. Obtaining accolades while working and training to achieve my goal will pose a key challenge. Optimism, self-acceptance, commitment, and putting in the extra effort will help increase my chances of obtaining or getting nominated for an accolade. Lastly, audience targeting in goal achievement might pose a challenge as different audience requires a different approach. By enhancing my networking skills, and widening my approach, I will be able to approach and address various audiences. Continuous challenge analysis and mitigation will help achieve reliable and most favorable goal satisfaction (Cailliau & Lamsweerde, 2019, p. 3).

References

Cailliau, A., & Lamsweerde, A. V. (2019). Runtime monitoring and resolution of probabilistic obstacles to system goals. ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems (TAAS), 14(1), 1-40. Retrieved from https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal%3A187334/datastream/PDF_01/view.

Chehade, H. M., & El Hajjar, S. T. (2016). An empirical study to examine the effect of realistic job preview on expectancies, personal goals and performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 11(2), 164-183. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Said_El_Hajjar/publication/291956053_.

Latham, G., Seijts, G., & Slocum, J. (2016). The goal setting and goal orientation labyrinth. Organizational Dynamics, 4(45), 271-277. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Slocum/publication/309449395.

Luthans, F., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2017). Psychological capital: An evidence-based positive approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 1-20. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1174&context=managementfacpub.

Mikami, Y. (2017). Relationships between goal setting, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy in extensive reading. Jacet journal, 61, 41-56. Retrieved from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jacetjournal/61/0/61_41/_pdf.