Subgoal

A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envisions, plans and commits to achieve. People endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.

A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides reaction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract object, that has intrinsic value.

Goal-setting theory was formulated based on empirical research and has been called one of the most important theories in organizational psychology.Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, the fathers of goal-setting theory, provided a comprehensive review of the core findings of the theory in 2002. In summary, Locke and Latham found that specific, difficult goals lead to higher performance than either easy goals or instructions to "do your best", as long as feedback about progress is provided, the person is committed to the goal, and the person has the ability and knowledge to perform the task.

According to Locke and Latham, goals affect performance in the following ways:

A positive relationship between goals and performance depends on several factors. First, the goal must be considered important and the individual must be committed. Participative goal setting can help increase performance, but participation itself does not directly improve performance.Self-efficacy also enhances goal commitment. For goals to be effective, people need feedback that details their progress in relation to their goal.

Some coaches recommend establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bounded (SMART) objectives, but not all researchers agree that these SMART criteria are necessary. In part, this is because the SMART goal framework does not include difficulty, but instead uses achievable. In goal-setting theory of Locke and Latham (1990, 2002), to set a difficult goal, it is recommended to use the 90th percentile, based on the average prior performance of those that have performed the task.

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