Writing Goals and Objectives for your Job
Using the Career Balance Wheel

Having a vision is as important to writing goals and objectives for your career as it is to writing them for any other part of life.

The Career Balance Wheel is a tool for taking a close look at your job or career from a variety of different perspectives. It asks what you would observe about your work life if you took a 360 degree view – as if you were slowly turning around in the middle of a circle.

The information you gain from this perspective leaves you knowing what you want – ie with a vision for the future – ready for writing goals and objectives pertaining to your career.

Here’s how.

Complete a Career Balance Wheel

Start with the career wheel form itself – a circle divided into sections which correspond to different aspects of our professional experience. A typical career wheel contains these categories: values, purpose, talents, control, belonging, recognition, growth, finance.

Look at the list of questions that go with each section on the career wheel form. If you answer the question with a strong yes then rank the category with a high number in the range of 8-10. If that area is more problematic, give it a lower ranking.

When you come up with a number, place a dot on the wheel itself that corresponds to the rating you gave in each category. (The center of the wheel is zero, the outside of the circle is 10.) Continue to go around each section of the wheel, rating how things are going in that section and entering your rating on the wheel.

When you are done, connect the dots around the wheel. You wind up with a result that looks something like this:

The areas where your circle is very small are ones that are most in need of attention. The task of writing goals and objectives for your job involves translating this picture of areas that are ripe for improvement into actual goals.

Identify appropriate, achievable changes

To turn your career wheel from a picture of areas ripe for change to goal statements go back to the picture and look at one of the categories ranked on the low side.

Imagine what it would look like to advance your ranking in that segment by a lot. What would have to be happening for you to rate it a 9? What would you describe as really perfect in that area?

Now jot down one or two things you could do to advance the ranking up the scale. Not necessarily all the way to a high rating but to move your rating by one or two points.

Here is an example:

The final step in the process of writing goals and objectives with reference to a career wheel is to actually write goal statements based on the steps you identify as possible changes.

Convert the items you listed as potential changes into full sentences. Make them proper goal statements by being sure they call for a measurable change and have a time limit.

The goals shown in the illustration, above, become the following finalized goal statements:

Goals:

• By the end of the year, I will increase my salary by at least 5% by seeking a raise, a promotion or both.
• e next 60 days I will investigate what other job functions I could perform at this company that would be more appropriate for my talents and education.
• Within 90 days I will ask for and obtain either an assignment to a more appropriate position or at least some assignments that correspond better to my background and talents.

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