Rocco has been asked to set some effective goals for the workers in his sales department. Rocco wants to get the best performance out of his team that he can, because he is being evaluated on how well they do. How should Rocco go about determining the goals for his team?
A) allow the team to have autonomy and ownership by letting them set their own goals
B) set the goals beyond what people can actually do, so they go above and beyond in trying
C) keep the goals very broad and general, allowing them to evolve as market conditions fluctuate
D) make the goals very specific, stating exactly how many sales he wants and when he wants them
E) show his faith in the team by asking them to do their very best, because that's all he can ask of them

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

More specifically, the theory argues that assigning employees specific and difficult goals will result in higher levels of performance than assigning no goals, easy goals, or "do-your-best" goals. Why are specific and difficult goals more effective than do-your-best ones? After all, doesn't "your best" imply the highest possible levels of effort? The reason is that few people know what their "best" is (and even fewer managers can tell whether employees are truly doing their "best"). Assigning specific and difficult goals gives people a number to shoot for-a "measuring stick" that can be used to tell them how hard they need to work and for how long.

Rocco Has Been Asked to Set Some Effective Goals for the Workers