Every continuing education and lifelong learning program should set Annual Goals - 3 to 7 of the most important accomplishments that need to be completed during the year.

Then, each Department/Team in the Program should set 3-7 Department/Team Goals - what the Department/Team must accomplish to support the Program’s Annual Goals. Each Quarter, each staff person should set 3-7 Individual Quarterly Goals that support the Department/Team Goals. As it is hard to remain focused for more than 90 days due to change, new requests, and so on, Individual Quarterly Goals ensure Department/Team Goals, thus Annual Goals remain visible and a priority.

Winning continuing education and lifelong learning programs have a way of operating like a business (call it operating system) and goal setting is one component of an operating system.