The goal tree is a well-known term in management. It is a set of goals of an economic system, program or plan. This technique has existed for more than 50 years, and at the moment it is widely used during task planning.
This is a visual representation of achieving the set results. The main and secondary goal is visible on the chart. At the same time, tasks with a lower priority can be an integral part of achieving the main mission, as well as an additional one - one that can be done without, but better done.
Structure
The tree of goals and objectives is all the goals of the company, which are built on a hierarchical principle. There are high and low levels in this structure, each order has its own order. Such schemes are created to better understand the amount of work and visually present the final result. The graphic image is an integral part of this method. It helps to achieve what you have planned, analyze possible problems and come up with a solution.
What is a goal tree is easy to understand with a concrete example.
At the top is the general goal. This is what the company strives for. Followed by subordinate goals, the achievement of which contributes to the achievement of the main result. The lower the tasks, the less important they are, but required to complete, because if they are not fulfilled, the likelihood that this scheme will not work increases. This is a rough description, because in practice the company is faced with situations where it is necessary to abandon some tasks or come up with new ways to solve issues.
To correctly create such a structure, intentions are precisely formulated, priority is correctly assessed, time frames are specified.
Principle
Consider the six principles of building a tree of enterprise goals:
- Accounting for resources and needs. The more complex the task, the more carefully it is planned.
- The distribution of expenses is a very important point, because lack of money is a common reason why a company stops developing.
- Specification of instructions. Goals need to be clearly formulated, they must have an end result. Parameters are described that help determine if the task has reached its final state. This item also includes the allocation of time for the implementation of one or another item.
- The step-by-step and consistent implementation of the items is a mandatory requirement in order to achieve the ultimate goal. Tasks are rationally divided into stages, a general and secondary goal is established. The resources that are needed to complete the task are analyzed.
- A properly constructed structure is determined by the compatibility of subgoals and the main intention. This means that the resources necessary for the implementation of the tasks are correctly distributed, they should be enough for each stage.
- Each department of the enterprise fulfills only its purpose, relying on the tree of intentions.
- Stages are divided into small tasks. This is called the decomposition method.
Benefit
Building a goal tree is an important part of completing assignments. To display the plan, a schedule is created, and management determines what resources will be required to achieve what was planned.
The benefits of visualizing goals:
- coordination of the activities of structural units of the company;
- distribution of duties to officials;
- increase of mutual responsibility of performers;
- monitoring the implementation of goals;
- statement of specific tasks, implementation deadlines;
- preparation for a change of direction if sudden changes in the company’s activity occur;
- increasing the efficiency of the development of management processes;
- managerial decision making.
How to build a goal tree
Building a tree is easy enough. This stage needs to be given a sufficient amount of time, and all subsequent actions should be carried out according to the plan.
Management determines the mission of the company. It is called general and is a trunk, located on top of a tree. This is the main task that cannot be completed instantly. To reach the end point, you will need to perform smaller errands. Therefore, subgoals are defined - they are represented by tree branches. If necessary, the goals are divided into smaller subtasks. The larger the scale of the company, the more levels there may be in the structure.
Each view is described as clearly and in detail as possible, all the nuances are sorted out. It analyzes the number of goals needed to complete a higher mission. A properly created structure contains the necessary steps to address them, the necessary resources are provided.
After determining all the points, responsibilities are distributed between departments of the enterprise. Each unit must clearly fulfill its mission.
Example: University entrance
It is necessary to analyze a simple example from life in order to better understand the goal tree. How to build and use a university entrance plan?
When parsing, it is necessary to take into account all the resources, allocate subgoals. Resources:
- school education;
- financial opportunities;
- help friends and acquaintances for admission and during training.
To become a university student, you need to bring the level of resources to the maximum as much as possible. For example, enroll in preparatory courses, engage with a tutor if there are gaps in knowledge of the school curriculum. Find a solution to the issue of receiving money in order to secure further education for yourself: take a loan, borrow, find a source of additional income.
Each goal can be broken down into smaller tasks. For example, the search for a tutor can be divided into the following stages:
- Organization of income to pay for tutoring.
- Search for a tutor in a selected direction.
- Finding free time for classes.
In this case, the second paragraph can be divided into parts. The applicant needs to decide what signs he knows the worst, which he can pull himself up and cannot cope with on his own.
An example of building financial well-being
The tree of goals of financial well-being may look as follows. First, the mission is determined - this is a constant income, sufficient to not limit yourself to anything. Implementation is divided into three sub-goals:
- passive income;
- active income;
- third-party earnings.
This structure has three points of the second level. Now you need to create a third level. The item on the search for active income contains the following tasks:
- search for a better job;
- receiving additional education;
- change of place of residence;
- allocation of time for independent development of the selected area;
- gaining experience.
The schedule is built further if additional requirements are found for the implementation of each item. As a result, the tree can grow to very large sizes.
Programs for building a goal tree
Tree management can be carried out using additional programs. These include both desktop options and online versions. They can be used during a presentation on a large screen or for collaboration with a small team.
Today, a huge number of tools for setting goals, organizing the process of achieving them are offered. In such applications, the user enters the name of the goals, defines their importance category and gets a structured model.
Conclusion
Planning activities using a schedule is not only very convenient, but also effective. This is a tool that allows you to visually see how tasks will interact, what resources will be needed to solve them. Sometimes missing resources are discovered, new tasks appear. You can see the principle of interaction between intentions and how they depend on each other.
In general, creating a schedule can be used not only in business or in planning issues related to work. This is a useful way to find the right answers to personal questions, an excellent adviser on choosing a direction, if some important task is not transparent enough.