Why Traditional Goal-Setting Falls Short

Too often, I've watched talented teams struggle with vague directives like "improve code quality" or "speed up releases". These aren't goals — they're wishes without a roadmap. With these types of goals we are just promoting what is needed from the product point of view, but missing personal and tailored goals for advancing careers or making current skillsets more robust.

Tailoring Goals by Seniority Level: A Practical Framework

The most effective development teams have clearly defined progression paths with seniority-appropriate goals and goals that are going hand in hand with the company goals. I’m always trying to set generic goals first. From there, I proceed to break them down for different roles and seniority levels. This breakdown of goals is helping me to be aligned with the team and also with the organisation. Also, using cascading goals (more experienced team members also have to have the same goals their less experienced colleagues) and setting the expectations at the beginning of the evaluation process is really helpful. Here’s a very simple example:

Generic goal: FinOps understanding

Breakdown:

👨💻 Juniors:

• basic understanding of FinOps
• Azure costs per microservice

👩💻 Mid-Levels:

• Same as Juniors
• Get high-level understanding of cost models in Azure
• All microservices have the right tagging for proper visualization of costs

👨🔧 Seniors / Team Leads:

• Same as Mid-Level
• Cloudability tool exploring and familiarisation
• Prepare cloudability reports
• Continuous deep diving and understanding of the costs
• Possible cost saving reports

The SMART+ Framework for Tech Teams

Beyond the classic SMART approach (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), exceptional tech teams need goals that are:

➡️ Aligned with technical debt reduction - Goals that only chase new features while ignoring mounting technical debt ultimately slow teams down. And it’s not necessarily only about code, missing knowledge can also slow down the delivery time and affect the usability of the product.

➡️ Balanced between individual and team metrics - At the end of the day, we are all individuals with different needs and learning curves, aspirations and everything else. Do not push where you do not see the possibility of advancement but rather focus on the current skills and how to make them more robust.

➡️ Learning-oriented, not just output-focused - One of our most successful goals wasn't about shipping features faster — it was ensuring every team member could start onboarding a new hire within 30 minutes. The second one is to be more and more familiar with AI - from simple github co-pilot to agents and trying them on your own.

Practical Implementation Tips

For managers and team leads:

1. Co-create goals with your team based on their seniority level
2. Connect individual goals to organizational objectives (e.g., How does improved Azure knowledge support broader cloud initiatives?)
3. Create skill development paths that align with future project needs
4. Identify which seniority-level goals match your current capabilities
5. Request specific tools/resources needed to achieve technical goals (e.g., certification funding)
6. Document your progress against these benchmarks for performance reviews

The Psychological Power of Proper Goals

The right goals don't just direct work — they transform team psychology. Setting goals that are challenging and also deepen knowledge is the key to setting up the best performing team. And yes, not everyday is a sunny day, so learning how to set goals correctly takes time and it is a continuous process.

Your Next Steps

Map out seniority-appropriate goals for each team member. Ensure they understand not just what they need to achieve, but why these skills matter for their growth and the team's success.

Remember, exceptional development teams aren't born — they're built, one well-crafted goal at a time.

What seniority-based goals have you implemented that transformed your development team? Which skills have you found most critical at each level? Share your experiences in the comments!