The Little Book of Big Management Theories, 2nd Edition

THEORY 46

LOCKE’S GOAL SETTING THEORY

Use when you want to motivate, monitor and control staff by using targets.

Edwin Locke claimed that there was a relationship between how difficult and specific a goal was and how well a team performed.

The five principles that underpin successful goal setting:

• Clarity: When a goal is clear and specific, there is less misunderstanding within the team about who is expected to do what, to what standard and within what timeframe.
• Challenge: Teams are motivated by challenge and achievement. A ‘good’ goal is one which is difficult but doable and which team members believe will give them great satisfaction ...