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  3. Goals

Creating & Managing Goals & Milestones

Contents

Create/edit a Goal

Create a Goal

To create a goal, go to the Goals module and click Create Goal. This will take you to the goal creation page where you'll need to enter (at minimum):

  • The goal name
  • Start and due dates

You can select a preset based on your organization's business calendar, or select a start and due date that are outside of the presets.

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By default, you will be assigned as the goal owner, but can change this by selecting another user from the drop-down menu. Also, some organizations also require that users select a category for their goals.  

Note: If you choose to add a description to your goal, the limit is 2048 characters, including spaces. 

Edit a Goal

To edit a goal, go to the Goals module and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Quick Edit or Bulk Edit from the drop-down menu 
    • Quick Edit will open a panel
    • Bulk Edit will take you to the goal creation page
    • Make changes
    • Click Save

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Create/edit a Milestone

Create a Milestone

To create a milestone, you can enter one on the goal creation page.

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Or, add one on the goals list page.

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Some organizations also require that users select a category for their milestones.

By default, you will be assigned as the milestone owner, but can change this by selecting another user from the drop-down menu. A milestone can have a different owner than the associated goal.

Edit a Milestone

To edit a milestone, navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Quick Edit from the drop-down menu
  • Make changes
  • Click Save

edit_milestone.png

Goal Permissions & Privacy

Note: Super Admins can always view private goals while HR Admins can only view private goals if this option has been configured for your organization. Admins cannot view private goals at all. If you're a Super Admin who would like HR Admins to view private goals, please contact your Program Architect, Customer Success Manager, or the Support Team (support@betterworks.com).

By default, the goal owner's manager (if applicable) will be listed as an Editor. If a manager change occurs, the previous manager will be replaced in the Editor role by the new manager.

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Permissions follow the waterfall design which means that any permissions coming from upstream will be inherited downstream. If a user is an Editor of a Top Company Goal, they will also be an Editor to any goals that are aligned to it. 

  • Owner — This role is in charge of the goal. Goal completion is tracked in their Betterworks account and counts towards their overall progress.
  • Editor — This role can make any changes to a goal that the owner can make, but goal completion is not tracked in their Betterworks account.
  • Participant (private goals only) — This role can contribute milestones to a private goal as well as view some information for downstream goals. However, they cannot edit or delete the goal.

You can make a goal private by updating the permission settings.

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Note: Goals can only be aligned with other objectives that have the same visibility type; public goals aligned to public goals and private goals aligned to private goals. If a goal is already aligned to another public goal you cannot change the visibility to private therefore both goal permissions would need to be changed to private.

Update Goal Progress

You can update goal progress by clicking on the progress bar of a goal or the associated milestone.

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Alternatively, you can click the "Update Progress" button at the top-right of the Goals module.

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Goal progress is color-coded and based on how much of the work has been done compared to how close the due date is. The defaults are:

  • Green — On track >= 75%
  • Yellow — At risk >= 50%
  • Red — Needs attention = 50%

Note: For more information about measuring progress and additional progress settings, see this article. 

Convert a Milestone Into a Goal

Do you have a milestone that feels like it needs to be a goal (i.e. it should be a milestone to a goal, but also have its own milestones)? If so, you can convert your milestone into a goal by navigating to it and:

  • Clicking ... (Additional Actions)
  • Selecting Convert to Goal from the drop-down menu

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Alternatively, you can go to the associated goal and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Bulk Edit from the drop-down menu
  • Click the split icon
  • Enter a new milestone
  • Click Save

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Align & Clear Goal Alignment

Align a Goal

Do you have a goal that feels like it needs to be a milestone (i.e. it should have its own milestone while also being the milestone of another goal)? If so, you can align your goal to another one by navigating to your goal and:

  • Clicking ... (Additional Actions)
  • Selecting Quick Edit or Bulk Edit from the drop-down menu
    • Quick Edit will open a panel
    • Bulk Edit will take you to the goal creation page
  • Clicking Align Up
  • Searching for another goal
    • You can search by user name or goal name
  • Clicking Save 
  • Clicking Save again (for the goal itself)

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Note: When you click Align Up, the resulting search modal will not include goals with a due date in the past even if the goal that you're attempting to align is also in the past.

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Clear Alignment to a Goal

To clear the alignment, navigate to the goal and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Quick Edit or Bulk Edit from the drop-down menu
    • Quick Edit will open a panel
    • Bulk Edit will take you to the goal creation page
  • Click Clear Alignment
  • Click Save

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Related Goals

Would you like to indicate that goals are related, but don't think aligning them or using categories is the right move? You can mark your goal as related to another by navigating to your goal and:

  • Selecting the Details tab in the pop-up panel
  • Scrolling down to Related Goals
  • Clicking Edit Related Goals
  • Searching for a goal
    • You can search by user name or goal name
  • Clicking Save
  • Clicking Save again (for the goal itself)

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To remove the related goal, simply follow the same process, then:

  • Click the x next to the goal
  • Click Save
  • Click Save again (for the goal itself)

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Note: There is no way to display a list or pull a report of all related goals.

Clone a Goal or Milestone

To clone a goal or milestone, navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Clone from the drop-down menu 

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Note: Goals with more than 80 milestones and/or aligned goals cannot be cloned due to their size. 

Add Followers Or Become a Follower

You can add followers to your goal right after you've created it.

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You can also follow another user's goal by clicking it to open a panel and:

  • Selecting the Details tab
  • Clicking Follow

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To unfollow the goal, simply follow the same steps, but click Unfollow instead. 

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Share a Goal

To share a goal (i.e. copy the URL), navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Share this Goal from the drop-down menu 

Cheer/nudge a Goal

  • Cheer ≈ Keep it up! 
  • Nudge ≈ Update? 

To cheer a goal navigate to it and click the balloon icon.

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To nudge a goal, navigate to it and click the pointing hand icon.

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If the owner of the goal has the applicable notifications enabled, they'll receive an email. They may also receive the notification via Slack or Microsoft Teams if they've opted-in to receiving notifications from Betterworks via those applications. 

Comment On a Goal or Milestone

To comment on a goal or milestone, navigate to it and click the speech bubble.

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Note: The limit for comments is 2,048 characters. Also, comments can only be edited or deleted within 24 hours of submission.  

Delete a Goal or End a Goal Early

To delete a goal or milestone, navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Delete from the drop-down menu 
  • Click Delete again to confirm the decision

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To end a goal or milestone early, navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select End early from the drop-down menu 
  • Click End early again to confirm the decision

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Note: Goals that end early are no longer tied to a specific business period and will only display under No Dates. However, these goals can also be found using filters.

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Note: When a user deletes a goal or milestone, the deleted item will show to the owner, HR Admin, and Super Admin under the history section, It will not show for the manager.   

Assess Your Goal

To assess a goal, navigate to it and:

  • Click ... (Additional Actions)
  • Select Assess from the drop-down menu

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If scoring is enabled, you'll have an additional option.

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You can assess your goal as many times as you'd like. To show past assessments, simply click the down triangle.

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You can also assess your goal from the Update Progress page.

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Create Categories

Note: You must be a Super Admin to create categories, or to make use of scope & type.

Categories are a quick, simple way to get extra specificity when you’re sorting goals or milestones. Administrators can set categories that apply to every goal or milestone in their organization and even require users to apply them. Use categories to separate goals or milestones, group them by company values, or highlight themes.

To create a category, go to Admin → Program Management → Goals → Settings → Attributes

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Categories default to alphabetical order, but if you'd like them arranged differently, you can add a number to the beginning of the category name (i.e. "1. Category Name"). 

Note: If categories are deleted, the goal will remain but will no longer be associated with the deleted category. Deleted categories are also removed from reporting.

Set Up Goal Scoring

To set up goal scoring, go to Admin → Goals → Settings → Assessments

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Update Progress Color Thresholds

To change progress color thresholds, go to Admin → Goals → Settings → Progress

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Progress vs. Updates

By default, only a change in a milestone's progress (i.e. the progress is increased from 0% to 10%) is counted as an update to the associated goal.

Note: If you're a Super Admin who would like other actions (i.e. comments or assessments) counted as updates, please contact your Program Architect, Customer Success Manager, or the Support Team (support@betterworks.com).

Top Company Goals

To set top company goals, go to Admin → Program management → Goals → Management.

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The active goals identified will be shown in the Top Company Goals each quarter. 

Note: There is no need to remove goals from past quarters.