Goals on the other hand are is used in broader way. Goals define the general intentions and ambitions of the business or any individual but can be difficult to measure. Goal setting helps individuals and organizations motivate themselves towards a destination or achievement. For example, a person could have a goal to become a successful published author. While this is a good goal, there are no specific actions or time frames associated with general goals like this. What defines a ‘successful author’? How would they know when they have reached their goal? A generic action or project goal is motivating, but adding in precise targets or objectives will help the would-be author to reach their goal effectively.
Objective may be defined as what you need to achieve. The main difference between objectives and goals is that objectives are precise actions or measurable steps individuals and groups take to move closer to the goal. For example, a company may have a goal of becoming the most profitable advertising agency in the country. Objectives related to this goal might include increasing their new business sales by five percent each quarter, growing their market share by a set time frame, improving client retention rates by 10 percent each month or adding two new products to their product line by the end of the fiscal year.
Examples of Business Goals vs. Objectives
Goals are:
- Broad in nature
- Valuable for setting a general direction or vision
- Difficult to measure
- Abstract ideas
- Longer term
- The end result
Examples of goals include:
- I want to become known as an expert in business strategy
- I will commit to my career development and learn how to increase sales
- I want to be more confident
Objectives are:
- Narrow in scope
- Specific steps
- Associated with a schedule and time frame
- The means to the end result
- Easy to measure
- Short term or medium term
Examples of objectives include:
- I will speak at five conferences in the next year
- I will read one book about sales strategy every month
- I will work with a coach to practice my networking skills by the end of this month
People are often mixing the term goal, objective planning, strategy etc. when I ask my sale person that what is you todays objective he normally shows me his plan rather objective so lets see what is a plan, strategy and tactic.
A strategy identifies what you need to do to meet one or more business objectives while plan explains in detail how the strategy will be executed. strategy is nothing but “a comprehensive plan.” The strategy is all about using tactics to gain success in a particular purpose. So what is a tactic? Lets see strategy tactic and objective with an example to understand
| Concept | Illustration | contents |
| Objective | Destination | What you need to achieve. E.g. where you want to go? |
| Strategy | Road | A description of how you intend to achieve your objective: |
| Tactics | Vehicle | A description of the actions you will take or the methods you will use to achieve the strategy. |
