What Is a Strategic Goal?

What Is a Strategic Goal?

A strategic goal describes what the organization intends to have achieved at a future point in time. It is written as if the result has already happened, which makes the future outcome more concrete and easier to visualise. The goal must be clear enough for everyone to understand the expected result and important enough to guide the development of the organization. It becomes a compass for decisions, priorities, and long term direction.

Why Strategic Goals Matter

Without clear strategic goals, an organization can easily fall into a pattern of constant firefighting and ad hoc decisions. Strategic goals answer the question: What should we have achieved a few years from now?

They help the organization:

• focus on what truly matters

• avoid work that does not support long term development

• make decisions that point in the same direction

• evaluate whether the chosen strategy is working

With strategic goals in place, discussions shift from opinions to a shared understanding of what is important.

How Strategic Goals Fit Into the Bigger Picture

A strategic goal is part of a larger structure that explains how the organization moves toward its desired future.

The vision expresses the long term aspiration.

Growth targets define the ambition level for the coming years.

Strategic goals specify what must have been achieved to reach that ambition.

Conditions describe the structures, skills, and energy required to make the goals achievable.

Together, they form a clear chain:
Vision → Growth targets → Strategic goals → Conditions

When these parts connect, the strategy becomes practical and actionable.

How to Formulate Strategic Goals

A strategic goal should describe a concrete result that the organization intends to have achieved. These principles make goals sharp and useful.

1. Write as if the result has already happened

Use the perfect tense (“has” + past participle).
This makes the future outcome easier to imagine.
Example: We have secured our business in our prioritised segments.

2. Describe a result, not the work behind it

A strategic goal states what should be true in the end.
Activities and projects belong elsewhere.

3. Make it clear whether the goal is achieved

Avoid broad terms that invite interpretation.
Words like stronger, better or more innovative mean different things to different people.

4. The metric shows the level, the goal shows the result

The strategic goal states what should be true.
The metric shows how the level is measured.
Example:
Goal: We deliver on time with the quality we have promised.
Metric: frequency, accuracy or availability.

5. Place each goal in a clear area

Most strategic goals fall into areas such as market, sales, operations, people or finance.
This makes the goals easier to compare and follow up.

6. Keep to one result per goal

If the sentence reads like a list, you are looking at several goals, not one.

Examples of Good Strategic Goals

Market

• We are the first choice for our prioritised target group.

• Our customers recommend us to others.

Sales

• We secure our business in our prioritised segments.

• We run a stable and predictable sales process.

Operations

• We deliver on time with the quality we have promised.

• Our digital services operate without critical interruptions.

People

• Our employees stay and choose to contribute to our development.

• New employees become productive quickly.

Finance

• We reach a sustainable level of profitability.

• Our processes work so well that quality issues are rare.
  
  

How Many Strategic Goals Do You Need

Most organizations function best with three to seven strategic goals.
Fewer than that gives too narrow a direction. More than that makes it hard to keep focus and follow up effectively.

The exact number matters less than this:
Each goal must be clear, observable, measurable through a metric, and important enough to guide the organization’s development.

How to Follow Up Strategic Goals

A strategic goal needs a clear structure around it in order to work in practice. Every strategic goal requires three elements.

A responsible person

Someone must own the goal. This person ensures progress, gathers information and drives the dialogue when something needs to change. Ownership does not mean doing everything alone, but keeping the whole picture together.

A metric that shows progress

Every strategic goal has a related metric. The metric shows the level.
Someone must also be appointed to report the metric each month so that changes are visible early.

Conditions that make the goal achievable

Conditions describe what must be in place: structure, skills, processes, resources or energy.
They form the practical foundation that makes the goal possible to reach.

When these three parts work together, the goal becomes easy to follow up and discuss based on facts rather than opinions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a strategic goal and an operational goal
A strategic goal focuses on long term results. An operational goal focuses on short term steps. The strategic goal sets direction. The operational goal sets tempo.

How long is the time horizon for a strategic goal
Usually one to three years. Long enough to matter, close enough to stay relevant.

Does a strategic goal need to be measurable
Yes, through its metric. The goal states what should be true. The metric shows the level.

What happens if progress slows down
The monthly reporting reveals it early. The next step is to examine the conditions. Something is missing or needs to be strengthened.

What makes a strategic goal good
It is clear, observable, linked to a metric, owned by a responsible person and supported by the right conditions.