Goal Dynamics: Advantages: People dont realize their potential till the time they are given a virtual

target. This target unleashes the potential within a person. The reason I see behind this is that humans relate better to numbers or in other words they are able to better quantify. Also, targets foster team work and harmony within inter and intra teams. I personally saw one of the best employees in my team go that extra mile to help the underachievers so that the cumulative target can be met. It also leads to better co-ordination between teams. Goal setting would be effective only if people are able to relate to it or understand what the goal is. So, a leaders role is to make his team understand what achievement of goal could mean to them. It is futile to link goals to only monetary benefits at the top management level. While if the team has only undergraduates and grade 10 pass outs only money would matter to them in most cases. It is thus immensely essential to know the team dynamics. I, for instance, made my team relate to the goal on basis of their aspirations and dreams and then linked the organizations goal with their goals. This helped me motivate them emotionally. Goal model: It was a mixture of two models. Multiple goal levels with multiple bonus levels were linked to motivate by goals but pay for performance method. We however had no clue of what the bonus percentage will be. This was known after the amount was credited. This element of surprise did work and motivate too most of the times. Quantitative goals were broken down into weekly/monthly/quarterly targets so that the end goal/target did not look gigantic at the first sight. Pitfalls of Goals: 1.) People in my team started putting their own money to achieve targets if they were missing by a small margin. On drilling down into the issue, I realized the flaw was in target setting. I immediately sought approvals and from a percentage model linked performance changed to an absolute model. 2.) Also, prioritizing goals in case of a multiple goal scenario setting is a trap which many teams and individuals can fall into. It is better to sub link goals to give priority to each one of them. FEEDBACK: 3600 feedback a myth: The example is solely based on my experience. First, the details of this process werent clear to the employees asked to fill the feedback. Second, the sub-ordinates used to provide fake feedback fearing adverse consequences on their own appraisal later on. Flawed feedback: Is one of the biggest reasons why organizations let go of their best employees. Feedback based on perception is flawed. And perception can be based on behaviour, looks, regional bias. I have experienced such a feedback and its impact on my performance and growth in the company. Critical vs constructive feedback: There is a very thin line but a good leader would easily differentiate between the two. My supervisor used the carrot & stick method. Though it was critical but at the end of the day proved constructive.