The end of the year is the perfect time to reevaluate and resolve to make improvements, and your agency should take advantage of this opportunity. In order to make real change and stay motivated throughout the year, it’s important to set goals. To get you started, here are some goal setting tips you and your agency can use to pursue improvement:
1. Get the Goal, Together: Ask for input when creating your goals. As the saying goes, two heads are better than one! Spitball ideas with others by creating lists, mind maps, or even a “brain dump” by writing down any small ideas that come to mind.
- For You: Consult a group of friends, your spouse, or family members
- For Your Agency: Ask employees for individual input and host department or whole agency workshops
2. Start Big, and Break it Down: Where do you see yourself/your agency in 10 years? After you have that vision, think about what you need to do in 5 years to get there. From there, go year-by-year, and eventually week-by-week and day-by-day. When you introduce a daily goal as part of a big picture, you set a good pace for success.
- For You: Think of professional, personal, financial, and health goals
- For Your Agency: Focus on customer service, commercial lines, personal lines, individual agents
3. Make Goals Specific, Measurable, and Attainable: Be reasonable in your goals – don’t set them too high that you are sure to fail. Also, be clear in what you want to achieve, and think about a way to gauge whether or not you have met success.
- For You: Recognize your constraints – be reasonable about your finances and acknowledge commitments to work and family
- For You Agency: Know market changes and other unpredictable elements can affect your goals
4. Remind Yourself: When you keep your goals at the top of your mind, you are more likely to stay motivated to achieve them. Also, showing progress through checkpoints will build momentum.
- For You: Pin goals to your mirror, and add check points to your planner
- For Your Agency: Hang your goals where all staff can see them, andupdate goals as progress is made
5. Celebrate Success: When you celebrate, you build motivation to continue on to other goals. It’s important to acknowledge your improvements to build morale, which leads to a happier, more successful you!
- For You: Take yourself out, go on a trip, grab an extra special latte – anything to reward yourself for your hard work
- For You Agency: Plan an all office outing, or order in a special lunch- anything to make a big deal about success!
As you work to set goals for yourself and your agency, you may find it difficult for yourself or others to accept change. We at SIS know change is hard, and are here to support you in improving your agency as we strive to provide you with the best agency management system experience. To find out more about how SIS can help your agency work towards your goals, contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!
