Before You Begin
Start by clarifying scope. Is this a personal skill goal, or a shared team effort to shift culture? That answer decides who needs to be in the room while you draft it. If the goal touches workplace culture, revisit your latest Culture and Engagement Survey results first, and bring whatever notes, observations, or feedback you already have. The clearer your starting point, the easier the goal becomes to define.
If your organization already has an online system for setting and tracking goals, this worksheet isn't meant to replace it. It's meant to come before it. Sitting down and actually thinking through a goal on paper, rather than typing straight into a mandatory field on a screen, gives you a much stronger sense of ownership over what you write. By the time you open that online form, you'll already know exactly what you're entering and why.
What's in the Worksheet
- What Is the Goal? Defined using positive framing, describing what success looks like in clear, observable terms rather than what you're trying to avoid.
- Goal Start and End Dates. Set realistic guardrails, treating the end date as a semi-flexible marker rather than a rigid contract.
- Why Is the Goal Important? The emotional engine behind the goal. If you can't find a genuine "so that," reconsider the goal itself.
- Action Items (Who and When). Break the goal into specific steps, each with an owner and a target date.
- Potential Impediments. The roadblocks you can already see coming, named in advance so you can plan around them rather than react to them.
- Things That Will Help. The tools, people, and mentors who can support your progress.
After You've Filled It In
Review the worksheet with a critical but encouraging eye: is it clear, motivating, and actually actionable? If it's a shared team goal, use this moment to align on who owns what. Then transfer it into your organization's online goal-setting tool if you use one; you've already done the hard thinking, so this step should feel quick. From there, schedule your first check-in immediately, treat the goal as a living agreement that evolves through iteration, not something you set once and forget, and celebrate the milestones along the way, not just the finish line.
Download The Worksheet (PDF)
