Work Goals Examples: 40 Goals for Your Next Review
Once or twice a year most people at work are asked to write their goals. The form is open, the box is empty, and "keep doing a good job" is not an answer.
Below are 40 work goals examples in five areas: results, skills, communication and teamwork, leadership, and career growth. Each has a measure you could put in a review form. After the list, three of them are written out with steps for each month of a quarter.
Use them as starting points. Change the numbers to the ones your job runs on.
What makes a good work goal
- It matters to the team, not only to you. Start from what your team or manager is trying to get done this year, and ask which part of it is yours.
- It has a measure and a date. "Improve response times" becomes "answer every customer email within one working day by the end of March".
- It is in your control. You can't promise that sales will rise. You can promise 20 calls a week.
- It stretches you a little. A goal you would reach anyway teaches nothing and impresses no one.
The SMART goals guide goes through this shape in detail, and the SMART goal generator rewrites a vague goal with a measure and a date.
Results and productivity
| # | Work goal | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deliver every project by its agreed date | Projects on time this half-year, target all |
| 2 | Cut the time one regular task takes | Hours for the monthly report, from 6 to 3 |
| 3 | Reduce mistakes in your work | Items sent back for correction, target under 2 a month |
| 4 | Answer customers faster | Every email answered within one working day |
| 5 | Clear the backlog | Open items older than 30 days, target zero |
| 6 | Finish the most important task first each day | Days with it done before noon, target 4 of 5 |
| 7 | Automate one task you do by hand | One task automated and documented by a date |
| 8 | Spend more time on planned work | Two-hour focus sessions each week, target 4 |
Skills and knowledge
| # | Work goal | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Learn a tool your team relies on | One real piece of work done with it by a date |
| 10 | Earn a certificate that your role values | Exam passed by a date |
| 11 | Get better at spreadsheets or data | One report rebuilt so that it updates itself |
| 12 | Improve your writing | Every document over one page reviewed by a colleague before it goes out |
| 13 | Learn how another team works | Two days spent with them, and a one-page summary shared |
| 14 | Read in your field | One book or long report a month, with notes |
| 15 | Learn to present well | Three presentations given, with feedback asked for each time |
| 16 | Understand the money side of your work | Able to explain your team's budget and main costs |
Communication and teamwork
| # | Work goal | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Keep your manager informed without being asked | A short update sent every Friday |
| 18 | Run shorter meetings | Every meeting you run has an agenda and ends on time |
| 19 | Speak up more | One question or point in every team meeting |
| 20 | Give useful feedback | Feedback given to one colleague a month, with an example |
| 21 | Ask for feedback | Three people asked each quarter, and one change made from it |
| 22 | Write things down | Every decision from your meetings sent out the same day |
| 23 | Build one working relationship outside your team | One conversation a month with a person in another department |
| 24 | Handle disagreement calmly | Raise each problem with the person directly within a week |
Leadership and management
| # | Work goal | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Hold regular one-to-ones | One with each team member every two weeks, none skipped |
| 26 | Hand over work you should no longer do | Three tasks passed on, with written instructions |
| 27 | Help one person get ready for a bigger role | A written plan agreed with them and checked each quarter |
| 28 | Lead one project from start to finish | Project delivered, with a short review written after it |
| 29 | Train a new colleague | New starter working alone on the main tasks within 8 weeks |
| 30 | Make your team's goals visible | Goals written in one shared place and looked at monthly |
| 31 | Mentor someone outside your team | Six meetings in the half-year |
| 32 | Improve how the team works | One process changed, and the time or errors measured before and after |
Career growth
| # | Work goal | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Be ready for the next level | The role's requirements listed, and evidence written against each |
| 34 | Take on one piece of work above your level | One such piece finished and reviewed with your manager |
| 35 | Become known for one subject | Three talks, guides or training sessions given on it |
| 36 | Grow your network in your field | Two events attended and five new contacts followed up |
| 37 | Find a mentor | One person asked, and four meetings held |
| 38 | Keep a record of what you achieved | A dated list updated on the last Friday of each month |
| 39 | Update your CV and profile | Both current, checked every six months |
| 40 | Decide where you want to be in three years | One page written and talked through with your manager |
For goals on that scale, see long-term goals examples.
Three work goals written out with steps
A review form wants the goal and the measure. You need the steps as well, or the goal sits in the form until the next review. Here are three goals from the list, each planned for one quarter.
Cut the monthly report from 6 hours to 3 (goal 2)
- Month 1: Time each part of the report once. Write down which parts are copying and which are thinking
- Month 2: Build a template for the parts that are copied, and ask the readers which sections they use
- Month 3: Produce the report with the template, drop the sections nobody reads, and time it again
- Measure: Hours for the third report, target 3
Learn to present well (goal 15)
- Month 1: Give a 5-minute update at a team meeting. Ask two colleagues for one thing to keep and one to change
- Month 2: Give a 15-minute presentation to a wider group. Practise it out loud twice before
- Month 3: Present to people outside your team, and record it if you can
- Measure: Three presentations given and feedback written down after each
Be ready for the next level (goal 33)
- Month 1: Get the written requirements for the role. Mark each one as shown, partly shown or not shown, and check the marks with your manager
- Month 2: Choose the two biggest gaps and agree one piece of work for each
- Month 3: Finish the first piece of work and add it to your record of achievements
- Measure: Every requirement has dated evidence or a plan beside it
If your company uses objectives and key results in place of plain goals, the same examples fit that format: the goal is the objective, and the measures are the key results. See personal OKR examples and the OKR template.
How many work goals to set
Three to five for a year is the usual range, and it is a sensible one. Fewer than three and one bad quarter sinks your whole review. More than five and none of them gets real attention.
A mix that works well: two goals about results, one about a skill and one about how you work with others. Add a career goal if a move is likely in the next two years.
Keep them alive between reviews
Most work goals are written in January and read again in December. Two small routines prevent that:
- Once a week, 5 minutes. Look at the goals and write the one step for each this week. The weekly review page asks the questions.
- Once a month, 15 minutes. Write down what you finished, with numbers. By review time you have the evidence and don't have to remember it.
A goal tracker for work shows how to keep goals, steps and evidence in one place through the year. For goals shorter than a quarter, see short-term goals examples.
Track work goals in your browser
GoalTracker fits a set of work goals. Add each goal, add the monthly steps as subgoals with due dates, and write the evidence in the notes of each subgoal as you finish it. It is free and needs no account. Your goals are kept in your own browser and are not sent anywhere, and you can export them as a file when review time comes.
Related reading
Ready to crush your goals?
Track your goals, subgoals and streaks for free, right in your browser.
Start Tracking NowPrefer a worksheet first? Browse all free goal planning tools and templates.