Starting with input from your key stakeholders

Identify goals and objectives based on the needs of your key stakeholders. Have conversations with stakeholders to clearly understand their needs and wants when it comes to the digital workplace. You can choose to conduct one-on-one conversations, interviews, or surveys to gather the input you need. 

Some important considerations for stakeholder input include:

• What is the stakeholder's impact level/influence level/interest level?
• What level of support does, or will, the stakeholder provide to the digital workplace transformation project? 
• What level of involvement does, or will, the stakeholder have in the project (passive, active, etc.)?
• What are the reasons for stakeholder resistance or support?
• What action(s) are required to address this stakeholder group to get useful and valuable input? 
• Who will be your main point of contact for this stakeholder group?
• How will your outreach to stakeholders align with your communication strategy?

Once you have gathered input for key stakeholders, compare their feedback and find common goals and objectives that will provide the greatest value and impact. 

What is the difference between goals, objectives and KPIs?

• Goals: Where you want to be. Tend to be broad statements describing your future state.
• Objectives:  The steps you need to reach the goal. Tend to be narrow and descriptive.
• KPIs: How you're going to measure success. Tend to be quantifiable. 

Prioritizing your goals and objectives

Remember, your goals and objectives should ultimately link back to your mission and vision. Sorting through your list of needs and wants can be a large task. It's best to start by finding commonalities, sorting your information into more cohesive high-level themes that will provide you with a strong foundation to start defining your goals and objectives. 

One option is to concentrate on the four key business challenges as your high-level themes to relate your goals and objectives to: 

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Knowledge management
• Culture
  
  

Playbook Tip: Build themes to create your goals and objectives Start a card sorting activity to discover the high-level themes that apply to multiple stakeholder groups. Follow the steps below and give it a try yourself:  Write key insights, needs, and wants from stakeholders on sticky notes (one insight/need/want per sticky note).  Place all your sticky notes on a wall. Start grouping similar insights, needs, and wants together on the wall, forming groups of sticky notes.  After grouping together your sticky notes, take a step back and look at the groups you've created.  Consider the theme of each group and put a name to that theme. These groups will be the high-level themes you should keep top-of-mind when defining your goals and objectives.