Yesterday I had my task setting session for 2010 as a part of my annual appraisal and for the first time in my career (all 16 years of it) my manager shared with me his tasks/targets.
This was quite a watershed because for the first time in my career I could see how my actions would impact on his targets and the aims and objectives of the business. It really was very refreshing.
And by seeing what he had to achieve we were able to have a good discussion about how my tasks would impact on his.
The result was a very useful discussion and a set of very interesting and engaging tasks. I also left the meeting feeling very motivated.
We also have also scheduled monthly meetings to look at my progress. This will be particularly useful for me as some of my tasks could change as a result of the shifting nature of our business - ie development requirements and priorities.
If, as a business, we could all see how our tasks relate to one another's then surely we would become more focused on outputs against business objectives?