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Why Setting the Right Kind of Business Goals Matters by Rob Trahan
Rob Trahan
Partner, Mass Productive
A new product concept can infuse a team with excitement and energy, but without clear goals, it’s easy to get lost or off track. In this post, we’ll explore how setting the right goals keeps your team aligned, focused, and on course toward product success.
Imagine setting off on that road trip with a full tank of gas but no clear destination. You’re driving aimlessly, not sure if you’re making progress or going in circles. Building a product without well-defined goals is much the same—it’s easy to lose track of what matters and miss crucial milestones.
The right goals act as your route map, guiding every decision, aligning stakeholders, and helping your team prioritize what truly matters. They provide a shared vision of what success looks like and ensure that every effort moves the project forward.
Vague goals like “We want more customers” or “Make the product better” are hard to act on and even harder to measure. Instead, focus on SMART goals that are:
Specific – Clearly defined so everyone understands the aim.
Measurable – Include metrics to track progress and success.
Achievable – Realistic and doable with the resources you have.
Relevant – Aligned with the broader business objectives.
Time-bound – Tied to a specific deadline or timeframe.
For example, a SMART goal might be: “Increase app users by 10,000 in 12 months through targeted social media campaigns.” SMART goals clarify where you’re going and give your team the motivation and metrics to track progress and adjust as needed.
Even well-defined goals can feel overwhelming if they’re ambitious. Breaking larger goals down into smaller, actionable steps helps the team understand how their daily work connects to the bigger picture.
For example, if your goal is to improve user retention by 10% this quarter, break it down into objectives and product initiatives:
Objective: Improve the user onboarding experience.
Product Initiatives:
Streamline the onboarding process to reduce drop-off.
Enhance in-app messaging to guide users through initial steps.
Gather feedback from new users to pinpoint improvements.
This step-by-step approach makes the goal achievable, keeping the team focused and building momentum as each milestone is reached.
Product development can be a long journey, and it’s easy to lose steam. To keep the team energized and focused, try breaking the work into sprint goals—short-term objectives that allow for measurable progress in manageable timeframes.
For example, let’s say your goal is to improve customer retention. A series of sprint goals might look like this:
Collect and analyze user feedback to identify common issues.
Develop and test solutions to improve user experience.
Measure and review results at the end of the quarter.
Adjust strategies based on insights.
Each sprint goal is like a rung on a ladder, bringing you closer to your main goal while keeping the work achievable and focused.
The product vision is your long-term “why”—the reason your product exists and the value it brings to users. When your team understands how each goal aligns with this bigger vision, staying motivated and working together becomes easier.
For instance:
Product Vision: Create a project management tool that simplifies collaboration for teams of all sizes.
SMART Product Goal: Increase cross-departmental communication metrics by 15% in one year through improved collaborative tools and features.
When goals are clearly tied to the product vision, every action feels purposeful, and it’s easier to keep the whole team focused on delivering that vision to users.
A product roadmap is a high-level view that bridges your goals with the actionable steps needed to achieve them. It helps align your team while keeping stakeholders in the loop on progress and priorities.
An effective roadmap includes:
Milestones: Clear markers like “Launch user feedback feature by Q3” to track major achievements.
Themes: Group related initiatives under themes like “User Engagement” or “Onboarding Experience.”
Timelines: Set estimated dates to keep everyone moving toward each milestone.
A roadmap shouldn’t be overly rigid; it needs to adapt to market changes and feedback. But having this high-level guide helps ensure everyone understands what’s coming up and how it ties into broader goals.
Some common traps can hinder goal-setting and progress. Here are a few things to avoid:
Being too vague: Without clear metrics, it’s hard to know if you’re making progress.
Overcomplicating the roadmap: Keep it straightforward so it’s easy to follow.
Ignoring feedback: Goals should evolve with customer insights and market changes.
Working in silos: Involve all stakeholders early to ensure everyone is aligned.
Confusing goals with tasks: Avoid overwhelming domain owners with overly prescriptive tasks like “password field, username field.” Instead, advocate for broader, outcome-oriented objectives like “User can log in smoothly.”
By avoiding these pitfalls, you help your team stay clear, aligned, and flexible, even when challenges arise.
As any product team knows, there are always detours on the road to success. Regularly reviewing and adjusting goals ensures they stay relevant and achievable as new challenges and opportunities arise. Set up feedback loops to assess progress and refine your roadmap to stay aligned with your top priorities.
Setting the right goals is at the heart of successful product development. At Mass Productive, we work with teams to define practical, achievable goals that drive projects forward. In our Review process, we focus on identifying the core goals that are both impactful and realistic, ensuring progress without overwhelming the team.
If these ideas resonate with you and you’d like some support in aligning your product goals, we’re here to help. With our experience in structured goal-setting and roadmap development, we’d love to discuss how we can guide your project toward success. Feel free to get in touch!