As the leader of a startup company, you may be inclined to establish ambitious targets and hold your staff accountable to them. You and your team probably have a lot of brilliant ideas and are ready to explore each of them, but aiming too high can sometimes be harmful to the development and overall success of the business.
Realism involves understanding what your team is capable of and what your boss expects. To satisfy both, you'll have to balance them both.
It is essential to acknowledge team members who meet or exceed their targets.
Attainment is a critical component of the SMART goal paradigm. Goal-setting can backfire when the target is highly ambitious or unreasonable about the team's skill set and available resources.
Stretching goals are good, but an out-of-reach target will lead to frustration with the system and a complete unwillingness to progress further. Setting quantifiable and clear targets leads to individual performance development and proactively creates a stronger business by increasing its employer brand reputation.
TAKEAWAY: Instead of establishing unreasonable goals for yourself and your team, take your time creating your company goals so they are stretching but realistic and align to each team member's skills.