The technology planning process is by no means easy. One of the most complicated parts is writing objectives and goals. Both of these are very important for expanding and improving services. Always make sure that you gather as many details as possible about current library resource usage, staffing levels, future needs and all that is needed before you even start writing goals and objectives. Everything starts with defining objectives and goals.
According to the business expert of MJ Freeway’s cannabis company, goals follow these characteristics:
- Are more specific than vision statements.
- They appear due to what is known about the community.
- Are not connected to timelines.
On the other hand, objectives follow these characteristics:
- They are always measurable.
- They can be crossed off as they are finished.
- They can be assigned to some specific departments or members.
- They state who is going to take actions and when actions will be taken.
Also, remember that when you write goals, this is intention, a thing that you want to work towards. Written goals are not descriptions of what is done. Goal content can relate to staffing, services, fundraising, technology or space, among others.
Objectives And Goals Have To Be SMART
The SMART acronym has to be remembered whenever writing goals and objectives. When doing this you manage to write plans that are very easy to understand by whoever will come into contact with them. Analyze the acronym and take it into account when writing:
- Specific – You have to be clear about what is to be done. People besides those that wrote plans have to easily see intended technology paths and what will have to be done in order for success to be achieved.
- Measurable – You have to refer to measurements that are specific in order to gauge proper success. Using details like expected percentage increase can help measure success rates.
- Attainable – Do you have enough resources, staff and budget to achieve the objective or the goal? As referencing staff resources, it is important to state library position that is to be responsible for task completion in order for clear pictures to develop about work amount delegated in the future.
- Relevant – Will the objective properly support the goal and will the goal actually support the mission of the library? Activities and projects undertaken by libraries have to directly support missions.
- Time Bound – Think about when objective needs to be measured and completed.
Never underestimate how difficult it is to write proper goals and objectives and how important this is for any technology plan. Unfortunately, in many cases we see that both objectives and goals are not properly set or described for those that need to know everything about them. A failure to properly write will lead to projects not being properly finished or even started.
Always dedicate the necessary time for writing objectives and goals. You want to follow absolutely all SMART guidelines as this is going to lead to something that is very good for the technology plan. Just be sure that you never hurry or you will be faced with problems.
