Giving Compass' Take:

• The author discusses how to set meaningful organizational goals with participants from the B Corp Inclusive Economy Challenge. 

• One of the participants advises that diversity and inclusion should always be a part of the goal-setting process.  Why is it essential to incorporate these concepts into future strategic planning? 

• Read about how companies build mission and values into everyday practices. 

When setting goals to achieve change on any level for any project, we can easily set our sights too high—ignoring the foundational work we need to accomplish first—or set our bar too low, ensuring quick success but limiting any meaningful progress. Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot — we must start where we are, but not be afraid to stretch ourselves.

For the annual B Corp Inclusive Economy Challenge, participants are asked at the outset to set at least three goals for their companies to work on achieving over the course of the year. Participants are provided with a metric set to help them reach their goals.  Some of their key takeaways? The metric set should be used as guidance, not as set-in-stone doctrine; useful tools to set clear goals that drive meaningful action and make the biggest impact; and that the ways you source and communicate about the goals is just as important as the goals themselves.

What are best practices for setting clear goals, strong goals?
Liz Fernandes: A framework I recently learned from the Management Center at the Facing Race Conference is setting SMARTIE goals. It takes a tried-and-true method of SMART (Strategic, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic and Timebound) goals, and adds an inclusion and equity lens (that’s the I and E).

With equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work, there are some pitfalls around goal setting that can actually reward negative action. What should folks avoid when setting goals related to EDI?
Jessica Friesen: Tokenism! You want to lead an inclusive process, but make sure that people are opting into contributing their perspective.Not every person who is queer or a person of color or a woman or a person who is differently abled on your team will want to provide their lived experience as expertise — and no one person can speak for an entire group.

Read the full article about organizational goal setting by B the Change