This article talks about the various approaches for deploying targets to teams and discusses the best approach.

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Targets Series#1: How to deploy targets to
teams?
In a series of 4 articles, I would cover about the traditional ways that most of us adapt to
deploy targets to our teams, pros & cons, live cases and introduce ‘Catch-ball’ method
of deploying targets which is several notches about traditional methods.
First in this series, I m talking about traditional ways of deploying metrics. Here are two
scenarios that I commonly come across where people are really puzzled about
deploying goals to teams.

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 Scenario 1 – Head of a business unit has received an annual target which is
atleast 3 fold more than last year. While he doesn’t have a say in deciding his
targets, he has to manage to convey this target to his team managers. He knows
there is going to be resistance, but he wouldn’t care much about it as he doesn’t
have a choice.
 Scenario 2 – Staff attrition is on a rise this year. Operation attributes this to low
non-competitive staff compensation & lack of flexible work policies. However, HR
head associates this to poor staff supervision, low/no motivation, poor daily
management and lack of clarity on growth. So essentially, there is lack of
ownership for staff attrition.
Scenario 1 is an example of Vertical deployment of targets to one’s direct reports and
scenario 2 is Horizontal deployment, where there is shared ownership of targets, inter-
dependencies, etc. between different departments.
Traditionally, vertical deployment of targets has not been a problem due to
concentration of power and controllership with the functional head. Mostly Top-down
approach is used, but rarely Bottom-up approach is also used.
Read my articles ‘Matsushita example of Top-down approach to deploy targets’ &
‘Bando example of Bottom-up approach to deploy targets’ where they are interesting
live cases to read.
Both these approaches have their own pros & cons. Lets review the most important
ones.
Top-down approach
 Pros
o – Quick & fast in deploying
o – Goes well with directive leadership or when the message comes from
‘trusted’ & ‘respected’ Leader
o – Also works well for regulatory targets

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o – Most of times, teams achieve such targets
o – Incentives are carrot & stick
o – Works where there are dominant reporting relationships
 Cons
o – Demoralizes teams
o – Not a long term & sustainable approach
o – Discourages openness & transparency
o – Can’t be used to share cross-functional ownership
We all know that top-down is the single most commonly used method to deploy targets
today.
Bottom-up approach
 Pros
o – Team participation is high & so builds morale
o – Encourages empowerment & fosters openness
o – Benefits on long run
o – For cross-functional goals, it’s not as bad as Top-down
 Cons
o – Targets may not be met all times
o – Leader should be ready to compromise if team can’t deliver
o – Time consuming process
Bottom-up most of the time, sounds impractical and an ideal-case.
In my experience, ‘Catch-ball’ technique which is used in Hoshin-Kanri is much more
effective method to deploy goals. It takes a mid-way approach between top-down and
bottom-up, but at the same time it doesn’t compromise on the ownership, timeliness and
success rate.

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www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
More importantly, in an increasingly matrix-driven culture, deploying goals to peers
(cross-functional) for shared accountability can only be addressed by Catch-ball
technique. Traditional methods of Top-down and Bottom-up down have least impacts.
About the Author:
Neil started Canopus Business Management Group in 2009.
He helps a range of large enterprises in services and manufacturing, with particular emphasis on
execution of business & functional strategies, customer experience & process transformation. He
has worked with banking, outsourcing, IT, discrete manufacturing & telecom business processes.
He draws on extensive experience (15 years) in Hoshin Kanri, Blue Ocean Strategy, Lean, Six
Sigma, Outsourcing, Change Management and Touch point Management to deliver composite solutions that put
client’s business in an Advantageous & Profitable position.
Client engagements aim at eliminating the barriers for seamless execution of strategies, carpet bombing customer
touch points, diagnostic interventions on customer churn & retention and implementation of transformational
projects.
He can be reached at neil@collaborat.com or +91 9176616766.