# Performance Goals for Plain Job **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762 "2024-08-16T01:28:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/1 "2024-08-16T01:28:12Z")
I need ideas for performance goals for a job where I am simply one in a train processing paperwork. I get fed what I need from someone upstream, I process paperwork, and pass it on. Eventually, the paperwork comes back to me. I check it for accuracy, approve it, and submit it for final approval. Not very glamorous, but I do what I do. I’m not looking for glory. Just let me do what I do, and things will run smoothly. How do you derive goals from this? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/2 "2024-08-16T01:36:46Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I check it for accuracy, approve it, and submit it for final approval. I think you could fit one more accuracy check in there after approve but before submit. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/3 "2024-08-16T02:09:45Z")
Performance goal: speed, of course. Time yourself for a bit, bump up the time you actually take by a small amount and call that your baseline, assuming that’s satisfactory already. Then set a goal to perform at your REAL baseline. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/4 "2024-08-16T04:30:12Z")
Not sure how serious your organization is, but many times these goal don’t mean anything and will never be measured in any meaningful way. Think of the most corporate corporatey goal for your role and use that. If you know your thru-put metrics, just use that. In all likelihood the only thing that will be checked is that you have the goal documented at all. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/5 "2024-08-16T04:36:08Z")
Oh, gosh, after sincerely striving to come up with meaningful goals for my clerical job for years, I just gave up and put something like “provide timely and efficient support for team members” as my goal on every review for the next ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/6 "2024-08-16T05:40:43Z")
“I have successfully resisted the urge to go crazy and attack the stacks of paper in my cubicle with a weed whacker.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/7 "2024-08-16T11:10:33Z")
Looking forward to retirement, my goals are mostly centered around showing up and not telling anyone to fuck off. Any Karens should steer clear. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/8 "2024-08-16T19:07:42Z")
“Not killing any of the myriad morons who need killing.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/9 "2024-08-16T20:44:26Z")
I hear some people use ChatGPT to build their performance goals 😇 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/10 "2024-08-18T01:12:10Z")
If it were me in that job, I would set a goal to finish my workday without blowing my brains out. And I suspect I wouldn’t be trying very hard to achieve that goal after a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/11 "2024-08-18T01:33:24Z")
Dude you’re a cog in a wheel. Just keep pace. It’ll be ok. (And, yeah try not to go postal. Don’t wanna see you on the news) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/12 "2024-08-18T02:40:33Z")
I had to write up goals, so I asked my immediate boss for advice, and he tossed a sheet of paper at me, with his goals on it. He’d mined every little thing he does for “goals”, like: • Skim and read selectively from leading trade journals like Collective Quarterly and Creative Review. • Keep abreast of industry trends by visiting [thisiscollosal.com](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/category/design/) at least once a week. • Have a one-on-one lunch with another director in the company once a month. And he did the “set a quantitative goal that you can easily surpass” trick. I also tried to think of what some of the company’s goals were, and see how one of mine could contribute to that (yeah, I had no shame). Oh, and I did discover, by just changing the date and a few numbers and resubmitting virtually the same goals every year, that no one really checked on them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/13 "2024-08-18T12:57:42Z")
I question how much companies check on “goals” that aren’t directly related to sales. I asked my manager once if I could put “do the least amount of work without getting fired” as a goal and he said “no, they would probably fire you for that”. I said “then I’ll do just a bit more”, to which he had no reply. . ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performance-goals-for-plain-job/1005762/14 "2024-08-26T14:19:57Z")
Thanks, all. Good to know others are in the same boat as myself. I appreciate all the food for thought! Good ideas here!