• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Engineering Management Institute

  • About
    • Meet Anthony Fasano, P.E.
    • EMI’s Mission, Vision & Values
    • Meet Team EMI
  • Content
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
      • The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
      • The Civil Engineering Podcast
        • Women in Civil Engineering
        • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
        • The Civil Engineering CEO Podcast
      • The Structural Engineering Channel
      • The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
      • The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
      • The Engineering Project Management Podcast
      • AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
      • This Week in Civil Engineering
    • TV
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Recommended Reading
    • Sponsors
  • Services
    • Training
    • Hiring Solutions
    • Webinars
  • FE-PE Exams
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Training

  • About
    • Meet Anthony Fasano, P.E.
    • EMI’s Mission, Vision & Values
    • Meet Team EMI
  • Content
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
      • The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
      • The Civil Engineering Podcast
        • Women in Civil Engineering
        • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
        • The Civil Engineering CEO Podcast
      • The Structural Engineering Channel
      • The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
      • The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
      • The Engineering Project Management Podcast
      • AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
      • This Week in Civil Engineering
    • TV
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Recommended Reading
    • Sponsors
  • Services
    • Training
    • Hiring Solutions
    • Webinars
  • FE-PE Exams
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Training

Why 90-Day Goals Are More Practical Than Annual Goals

January 10, 2022 By EMI

It’s that time of year. In January, you’ll typically find a lot of content being published about goal setting. Blog posts and podcasts urging you to set goals for the new year. Believe me, there is no bigger proponent of goal setting than myself. In fact, at EMI, we work with engineering companies to help them ensure their leaders are focused on the right goals. That being said, I have found that most professionals who set goals will spend less than one hour in late December or early January creating a list of goals for the year, only to file their list of goals away and rarely look at it again for the remainder of that calendar year.

Try Setting 90-Day Goals Too

If you are one of those professionals who set lofty goals on or about January 1st, but then get buried in your projects and neglect them, try setting shorter-term goals in addition to your larger goals. I recommend 90-day goals, also known as quarterly goals. At EMI, we have strategic initiatives from our strategic plan from which we reduce strategic actions, which get further reduced down to quarterly goals for each team member.

Let’s be honest: one year is a very long time, especially when you get dealt curveballs like a global pandemic. To think that your goal at the end of the year will still be the same as it was 365 days ago isn’t very realistic and doesn’t allow for flexibility.

90-Day Goals

Instead, by creating shorter-term goals that can act as stepping stones to your larger goals, you can monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. For example, if you have a goal of passing the PE Exam in 2022, maybe one of your quarterly goals for Q1 is to submit your exam application. (By the way, check out the Pass the PE Exam YouTube channel if this really is one of your goals.) If you have a goal of becoming fluent in a language in 2022, maybe your Q1 goal is to find the right books and courses you will need to succeed.

Conduct Quarterly Check-Ins

At EMI, we utilize the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to run our business, which is built around 90-day goals. As part of the process, EOS recommends doing quarterly check-ins where you review your goals for the past quarter and then set goals for the next quarter accordingly.

What I really like about this process is that it is a way to ensure that you are constantly assessing your progress toward your longer-term goals, and making adjustments should you be behind schedule. When you allow for a lot of time between these types of check-ins (e.g., six or 12 months), you don’t have the flexibility that is often needed when chasing a larger goal.

Yes, It’s a Marathon, but Break It Down

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” is a saying we hear often, and while I agree that while pursuing meaningful goals is a marathon, it doesn’t have to be run all at once.

So please, when you set your goals for 2022, don’t just set annual goals. Set quarterly goals, and take the time every 90 days to assess your progress. Lastly, in conducting these reviews, you might also find that your annual goals are no longer relevant, and therefore you change them. We’ve all learned that change is necessary in today’s world. That’s a much better approach than continuing to work on a goal that is no longer meaningful simply because it was on your list.

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” ~ Bill Copeland

About the Author, Anthony Fasano

90-Day GoalsMost engineering professionals want to become leaders in their organizations, but the people leadership and project management skills they need are hard to obtain. Anthony Fasano, licensed professional engineer, realized this and left his engineering career in 2009, founding the Engineering Management Institute to help solve this problem. EMI has four active podcasts, three YouTube channels, and three blogs dedicated to helping engineering professionals become better managers and leaders.

You can access all of these free resources, along with EMI’s coaching and training programs, at www.EngineeringManagementInstitute.org.

We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share about setting 90-days goals. 

Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.

  • If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free list of 33 Productivity Routines of Top Engineering Executives. Click the button below to download.

    Download the Productivity Routines

To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success

Related Posts

  • Can You Explain Your Engineering Career Goals While Standing On One Leg?
  • Career Goals: How Important Are They?
  • How To Write SMART Goals, Courtesy of a Moose
  • If You Set Lofty Goals, You Will Engineer Their Reality
  • Let's Rewrite Your 2019 Career Goals

Filed Under: Blog, Career Goals and Challenges Tagged With: 90-Day Goals, annual goals, Anthony Fasano, assessing your progress, January 1st, larger goals, monitor progress, Quarterly Check-Ins, quarterly goals, shorter-term goals

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

And Get Custom Content Delivered To You Weekly

PM Training

engineering management lessons

career readiness

Categories

  • AECT – AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
  • Blog
    • Business Development
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Communication/Public Speaking
    • COVID19
    • Credentials
    • Enlightenment
    • Ethics & Integrity
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Networking/Client Relations
    • News and Events
    • Organization/Productivity/Time Management
    • Personal Development and Professionalism
    • Program Management
    • Project Management
    • Travel
    • Work Life Balance
  • Civil Engineering
  • Engineering Career TV
  • Engineering Technology
  • TCEP-The Civil Engineering Podcast
    • Business Development
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
    • Communication & Public Speaking
    • Credentials
    • Ethics/Integrity
    • Infrastructure
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Project Management
    • Women in Engineering
  • TECC Podcast-The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Game Changers
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Communication/Public Speaking
    • Credentials
    • Enlightenment
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Networking/Client Relations
    • News and Events
    • Organization/Productivity/Time Management
    • Personal Development and Professionalism
    • Project Management
    • Work Life Balance
  • TEPM – The Engineering Project Management Podcast
  • TEQC – The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
  • TGEP – The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
    • Tunneling Series
  • TSEC-The Structural Engineering Channel
  • TWiCE
  • Uncategorized
  • Women in Engineering

TECC Sidebar Featured Final

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

We Can Help You:

  • Build solutions to attract talented professionals.
  • Develop your staff’s people skills.
  • Create career roadmaps for your staff.
  • Provide PM training for your professionals.
  • Build custom development programs.
  • Scale sustainably.

Location:

50 E. Ridgewood Avenue #129

Ridgewood NJ, 07450

800-920-4007

Copyright © 2023 • All Rights Reserved • Property of Engineering Management Institute • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy

SPECIAL DOWNLOAD

33 Productivity Routines of
Top Engineering Executives

x