FIND A CONTRACTOR BUYER'S GUIDE
BECOME AN INDUSTRY PARTNER
MCAA Logo
MEMBER LOGIN JOIN
NEWS
The 2026 MCAA Annual Online Auction ↗

Identify your targets

Words: George Hedley/Public/News/20111118060000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="The first step to success is simple — just write your targets down." />
The first step to success is simple — just write your targets down.
Most companies, managers, project teams and field crews don’t have a clue when they hit a homerun or do a good job. Employees are told to do their best or work as hard as they can, but not given specific milestones for which to shoot.

Most companies and managers never sit down and write out their company or project goals before they start a new job. And then, feedback and review of success or failure rarely is discussed with those who actually do the work. These facts were discovered, based on a recent survey I conducted with more than 2,000 construction industry companies.

Do you aim at anything?

You may know exactly what your profit and sales goals are. But, only 46 percent of companies surveyed set and track progress toward their annual profit and sales targets. The rest seemingly just try to do as much as they can, and remain satisfied with whatever they get.

Do you have specific, written targets for every area of your business? You are in the majority if you don’t. The survey shows only 30 percent have clear targets for their overhead budgets, 24 percent for safety, 17 percent for customer service, 12 percent for employee development, 8 percent for repeat customers, and 6 percent for bid-success ratio. This lack of targets affects everyone from the top, down: Less than 29 percent say their field employees have specific, written goals for any area of their work.

Baseball without batting averages?

Can you imagine a baseball team for which the coach didn’t have a team goal for winning games, and players didn’t have individual goals for hitting, fielding or pitching? Sadly, most companies send their teams onto the field without targets. At the project level, only 40 percent set clear goals for job profit, 30 percent for schedule, and 29 percent for productivity. Even in companies that do set goals, only 38 percent ever tell their employees what they are.

The result: Most management, field and administrative players don’t know when they get a hit or make an error, what a good batting average is, or if they win the game.

Aim at something

The truth is that people who have written goals are twice as successful as those who don’t. The first step to success is simple: just write your targets down. To set your goals use my swat.com method:

S = Specific
W = Written
A = Attainable
T = Time-Deadline
.
C = Challenging & Clear
O = On-Purpose, On-Target
M = Measurable

Start with your overall company goals, and then write project and individual goals. If a company goal is to finish every project on time, each project must have written goals with specific action steps. Use this goal worksheet example to set your goals:

Project Goal: Finish project on-time
Deadline: Complete project by July 31
Action step 1 — Get project team together
Action step 2 — Identify resources and responsibilities
Action step 3 — Set project team meeting schedule
Action step 4 — Implement weekly field review
Action step 5 — Track progress weekly and adjust resources

Remember to:
  • Set Weekly Targets
  • Set Monthly Goals
  • Set Pre-Project Milestones
Incorporate goals into your company mindset. If your priority is to stick to a schedule, assure your team knows it’s a priority, and what the milestones and deadlines are. Otherwise, it is too easy to get sidetracked by “urgent” job problems and miss your targets.
 0
Helical Beaming: Strengthening Masonry from the Inside Out
February 2026

In the world of masonry restoration and retrofit, the goal is always the same: preserve the character and craftsmanship of historic structures while ensuring their long-term stability. But anyone who has worked on century-old brick or stone buildings know

Tiffany Tillema
Technical Talks
Read More
A Practical Guide to Modern Masonry Restoration
February 2026

THE MYTH: Masonry Lasts Forever It’s strong, yes, but movement, moisture, and time still take their toll. Common Causes Why Masonry Fails: - Differential movement - Thermal expansion & contraction - Moisture intrusion & freeze–thaw - Corrosion of steel

MAP Partner
Read More
The 2026 MCAA Annual Online Auction
February 2026

The Mason Contractors Association of America is thrilled to announce the 2026 Annual Online Auction, the masonry industry’s premier event for scoring the best equipment at a fraction of costs. Whether you are looking to expand your equipment stockpile or

Justin Stengel
Industry News
Read More
CMU Partitions: How Much Reinforcement Is Actually Required?
February 2026

Walk onto almost any job site and you’ll find masons laying out interior partitions much the same way they did decades ago. The work looks straightforward: stack the units, strike clean joints, and keep the wall plumb. And the function of these partitions

Technical Talks
Read More