I am a tech manager - lets say that the corporate goals are to a) increase sales by 20% b) decrease defects by 20% c) etc.

As a tech manager - my goals can then be aligned - is what I am doing assisting sales meet that target? or reducing that defect rate?

Strategically we can look at the project ‘wish list’ and point to the one or two that affect those goals.

And operationally I could say that ensuring sales has 24/7 support any where in the world if they have a problem, to enable them to reach that goal, or provide whatever necessary support to reduce defects.

So it can go right down the line

However, virtually every job can be and should be rewarded by MBOs. It’s the “art” of tying a reward to a specific outcome.

Kerek Taylor

Kerek, spreadsheets are databases are not always a bad option for very small organizations, where it is practical to e-mail things back and forth. However, it doesn’t take very long for an organization to outgrow such a system. That’s a case where more often than not, a client probably has some process in place, but the process can be made much more efficient through technology. Even if the current process does work, the next question is, does it deliver the proper business intelligence. I’ll talk a bit more about the general process in my next post.

My read on this post was the application of MBO to operational non selling roles. I could be wrong, but otherwise aren’t we just talking about glorified quota alignment?

JLD -

We had a couple sections on MBO in b-school. I always thought about it from a practical standpoint as glorified goal setting, but this article definitely sheds some new light, great job!

However, as a process and P&L guy I would definitely want to work to understand the clients process around MBO (if one even exist) prior to simply recommending a solution. Spreadsheets and dBs aren’t always the worst options, especially when you examine the costs side of things.

Kerek Taylor
cariboucrossing.blogspot.com

Those cannot be goals like ‘be the best we can be…’

They must be “increase sales by 20% across all regions”

Then the managerial goals must be for their region - & what it will take to meet those goals.

Ditto for the rep athe end!

Great post & thanks….