Stretch goal definition

A stretch goal is an objective that’s intentionally difficult to achieve. It’s designed to push your employees to exceed their typical performance targets.

Here’s the thing about stretch goals—you probably don’t expect your team to meet them. In the process of trying, however, employees are likely to bond, find new motivation and come up with creative solutions. Even if they don’t achieve the original objective, they’re likely to surpass their usual targets.

Pros and cons of stretch goals

Before you present a stretch goal to your team, it’s critical to consider the pros and cons. These big, bold targets can have exciting results, but they can also create problems.

Business benefits of stretch goals

With the right timing, goal selection and execution, stretch goals can benefit your employees and your business.

• Inspire and motivate employees. Stretch goals light a fire under your workers, inspiring them to work harder and smarter. If your team is feeling complacent or set in its ways, an audacious challenge can shake things up.
• Encourage innovation. Since stretch goals are so aggressive and difficult, employees can’t rely on their usual strategies. Instead, they must think outside the box to find new solutions and creative workarounds. This is a great way for them to break out of their comfort zone and undo a “that’s the way it’s always been done” mindset.
• Create stronger team bonds. Individual employees can’t meet big goals on their own; they must work together. This type of high-stakes teamwork can build trust, strengthen relationships and create a sense of togetherness.
• Help employees meet their potential. If you suspect that team members have more to give, stretch goals can help. As workers try new things, they may discover talents and skills.
• Boost productivity and performance. Stretch goals motivate your team to improve their output, both in terms of quality and quantity—even if they don’t meet the goal itself. This leads to increased revenue and faster business growth.

Potential drawbacks of stretch goals

Stretch goals require you to walk a fine line. A goal should be challenging enough to motivate your team but not so much that it demoralizes them. As you figure out how far to push your employees, keep a few potential pitfalls in mind.

• Demotivation. If your stretch goals seem too large or impossible, they can cause your team to lose motivation. The struggle may have the biggest impact on your top-performing employees; after all, they’re not accustomed to falling short.
• Drop in productivity. When employees don’t have the knowledge or resources to meet a stretch goal, they may achieve less than usual.
• Increased stress. Employees may not realize that you don’t expect them to reach a stretch goal. Over time, the pressure they feel can lead to intense stress, increased call-out rates and higher turnover.

If these factors aren’t addressed immediately—preferably before you set a stretch goal—they can affect employee morale and company culture.

Best practices for stretch goals at work

As with any ambitious endeavor, stretch goals aren’t without risk. Fortunately, you can avoid common pitfalls and maximize success by following best practices.

Make stretch goals intimidating but not impossible

A stretch goal should feel scary but not completely out of reach. Think of it like rock climbing—your employees don’t need to see the entire route at first, but they should be able to find the first toehold.

As you can imagine, that’s a tricky line to walk. It’s important to choose a target that’s attainable under ideal conditions.

Provide adequate resources for employees

A great stretch goal pushes your team beyond their current capabilities and competencies. To prevent frustration, make sure they have plenty of resources. This might include:

• Training programs
• Informational and educational sources
• Access to more experienced employees
• Funding for supplies or equipment

When employees can get what they need to figure out the next step, they’re less likely to hit a wall or lose steam.

Give your team permission to try new things

For your employees to be successful as they work toward stretch goals, they must have the autonomy to break free of the usual routine. Before you start, make sure to grant permission to test out new strategies and solutions (within reason).

Keep in mind that this process can be challenging for managers. Oversight is fine, but take care to avoid micromanaging; it can stop innovation in its tracks.

Establish clear metrics

Before you start working on a stretch goal, establish a set of metrics to help your employees measure progress and adjust their strategies. There’s no need to set a specific number; instead, use a target range to allow flexibility.

For teams that thrive on competition, you might consider gamifying the process with a leaderboard or other graphic representations. If your goal is to increase collaboration, focus on team progress rather than individual accomplishments.

As you choose metrics, make sure they’re directly related to the goal. If you’re trying to grow your web presence, you might set targets for website traffic, social media follower counts and new backlinks. When you want to boost sales, you could track marketing campaigns, new customer acquisitions and revenue growth.

Embrace open communication

As a manager, you’re not always going to get it right. If your team feels comfortable coming to you with problems, however, it’s easier to adjust the goal on the fly. Open communication also helps you monitor morale and shift your management techniques accordingly.

Throughout the stretch goal process, consider implementing an open-door policy. It’s also helpful to hold weekly meetings to touch base, discuss concerns and brainstorm possible solutions.

Set reasonable timelines

The timeline of a stretch goal is another factor that requires careful balance. The allotted time should create some pressure, but not so much that it paralyzes your team. It’s also important to allow ample time for the team to complete their normal workload. If other departments are affected by the stretch goal, you can build a cushion into the timeline to account for potential delays without creating a ripple effect.

In most cases, teams won’t achieve all the objectives on time. As a manager, you’re already aware of that possibility—make sure your team is, too. That way, they can stretch themselves without worrying about the negative consequences of missing the mark.

Learn from your failures

A missed stretch goal can be a valuable learning opportunity. After the deadline passes, get together for a group debriefing session. Discuss what went right and celebrate the accomplishment.

Then, tackle the things that went wrong. Without assigning blame, dig into the reasons. Did you encounter unexpected bottlenecks or technology failures? Is the company lacking a specific resource? This conversation can unearth valuable insights that inform future improvements.

Examples of stretch goals

When you’re setting stretch goals, there’s one big question: how much of a stretch is too much? For most businesses, this process takes trial and error. It also depends heavily on current performance and the team in question; stretch management goals will be different from stretch sales goals.

Marketing

Your digital marketing team has built a presence that includes 20,000 website visitors per month and 5,000 Instagram followers. Over the past year, your traffic has increased by 10%, and follower counts have risen by just 3%.

• Standard goal: Increase website traffic by 15% and follower count by 6%.
• Stretch goal: Double your website traffic and increase follower counts by 25% in 6 months. Based on past performance, this would be an ambitious—but not impossible—goal.

Sales

In the last quarter, your sales team had solid revenue numbers, but the flow of qualified leads dropped from 1,000 to 500. You’re concerned that the drop in leads will lead to lower revenue in future quarters.

• Standard goal: Recover half of the lost leads, and bring in at least 750 during the next quarter.
• Stretch goal: Focus on lead generation and bring in 1,500 leads during the next quarter.

Engineering

Your engineering team is in the process of updating the production line. In the past year, they’ve streamlined the factory floor and increased productivity by 15%.

• Standard goal: Replace and repair equipment to create a further 10% increase in throughput in the next year.
• Stretch goal: Determine which parts of production would benefit most from full automation; complete the conversion to achieve a 50% productivity increase and a 25% reduction in downtime within 2 years.

Management

Due to labor shortages and miscommunications between teams, your company has a missed-deadline rate of 25%. Clients have been understanding due to the challenges of the market, but you’re concerned about future sales.

• Standard goal: Hire and train new employees, and increase communication with team leaders.
• Stretch goal: Bring the team to full strength; then, choose and implement a new collaboration and communication platform that reduces bottlenecks and ensures that the company is meeting 100% of its deadlines within 6 months.

Programmers

Your company has been meeting all its sales and marketing targets. The company is stable, and the programming team is able to put out fires and respond to support tickets quickly.

• Standard goal: Address small issues in the system and reduce the number of support tickets by 25%.
• Stretch goal: Redesign and speed up the ordering system, so customers can complete the checkout process 50% faster, and add a secure payment-information storage option that boosts repeat business by 30%.

When should you use stretch goals?

Stretch goals aren’t suitable for every situation. By launching the initiative when conditions are right, you can increase the team’s chances of success.

• Your team consistently meets its current goals. If your workers always meet their targets, it could be a sign that they’re not set high enough. Regular achievements can be motivating in the short term, but over time, they can lead to boredom and complacency. Stretch goals reignite the drive to succeed, especially for high-performing or competitive teams. Plus, when your team is feeling great about recent successes, they’re more likely to have the energy and confidence to tackle a challenging project.
• The company has a stable outlook. Stretch goals often require time and resources, so they’re usually most useful in a stable business. Employees who feel secure in their jobs also have more mental clarity and freedom to think creatively.

The reverse is also true—if your team or company is struggling, it’s probably best to stick with smaller goals. When the situation and morale improve, you can revisit the idea.

Setting stretch goals for your team

Once you’re confident that your team and business are ready for stretch goals, the real work begins—how do you choose the right stretch goals?

1. Give yourself permission to dream. If time, resources and money weren’t an issue, what would you want the team to achieve?
2. Do a competitive analysis. Compare your performance to competitors and industry standards. Where are you falling short? How can you boost strong areas to outperform other companies?
3. Evaluate current goals. Check out your existing goals, and see how you can take them a few steps further. This strategy helps keep stretch goals in line with the direction of the company.
4. Look at analytics and financial reports. Data doesn’t lie—it’s packed with clues that can help you identify high-demand areas or untapped growth opportunities.

What’s the difference between SMART goals and stretch goals?

Stretch goals and specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) goals have many things in common. However, stretch goals tend to be less realistic, and they may not be achievable.

The two types of goals also involve different practical approaches. SMART goals are achievable using your team’s current practices and workflow. Stretch goals require employees to break the mold and revamp existing systems, strategies or equipment.

For many teams, it’s worthwhile to have both SMART goals and stretch goals. That way, your team can still celebrate small accomplishments while they work toward a larger pie-in-the-sky objective.

If you’re planning an extreme stretch goal, you might break it down into smaller SMART goals. This process provides continuous motivation and makes the ambitious goal seem more attainable. Along the way, incremental shifts can lead to big, paradigm-shifting changes.