How to apply objectivity in the workplace
By Chris Sangster (October 2004 Issue)
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Objectives give us a precise reference point, be they for business, learning, application, personal or a host of other purposes. Evidently, when it comes to cross-referencing and amalgamating these different aspects, the effectiveness of the overall outcome will be improved if each component objective is as precise as possible.
This precision, as David Cotton explains in Part 4 of ‘Essentials of training design’,1 will come where Action, Standards and Conditions measures are applied, rather than the more generalised SMART reference points. Of these three former measures, the most important are the specified end action (or outcome) and the standards that can be used to monitor acceptable achievement. The conditions can be thought of as an additional shopping list of the equipment, facilities, working environment, and so on – all of which are necessary for the standard to be achieved.
Where you have been set a standard to produce a certain number of completed articles, for example, it is necessary to have at least this number of listed components readily available for the learning objective to be achievable. You can’t produce a pie in the allotted time if you’re searching around for the specified six eggs!
So, if we can accept the principle that precise objectives composition is a valuable exercise and that it is worth labouring at the structure to make this precision as tight as possible, let’s move straight on to reviewing their applications in as ‘big picture’ a way as possible. Let’s start by thinking of a simple linear relationship – that between organisational, departmental, team and personal objectives.
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