What is management by objectives? How does it work? Why is it important?

Management means that managers and employees agree on specific goals and then evaluate their performance based on those goals. It works by setting clear expectations, measuring results, and giving feedback. It is important because it helps to align individual efforts with organizational objectives, motivate people to achieve their potential, and improve productivity and quality.

Let’s say you are a manager of a team of programmers who are developing a new software product. You can use management by objectives by doing the following steps:

First, you have to define the overall goal of the project, such as creating a user-friendly, reliable, and secure software product that meets the needs of the customers.

Second, you have to break down the goal into smaller and more specific objectives, such as designing the user interface, coding the features, testing the functionality, fixing the bugs, etc.

Third, you have to assign each objective to a person or a group of people who are responsible for completing it within a given time frame and budget.

Fourth, you have to monitor the progress of each objective by checking the status reports, reviewing the deliverables, conducting meetings, etc.

Fifth, you have to evaluate the performance of each person or group by comparing their actual results with their expected results and giving them feedback on what they did well and what they need to improve.

Sixth, you have to reward or correct each person or group based on their performance and feedback.