Have questions about how objectives work in Small Improvements? Here are answers to the most common ones, from editing and statuses to team goals and company alignment.
What’s the difference between editing and updating objectives?
What’s the difference between editing and updating objectives?
Learn more about the distinction and when to use each option in our full guide here.
Can I customize the objective statuses?
Can I customize the objective statuses?
Yes, you can! Our support team can set up custom labels and colors for your objective statuses.
To request changes:
Email [email protected]
Include your preferred labels
Optionally, provide hex color codes for precision
Note: These changes will apply only to newly created cycles. Existing cycles and objectives will retain their current status options.
How can I set company goals?
How can I set company goals?
You can use cascading objectives to link company goals to individual objectives. This helps clarify how personal objectives contribute to broader business priorities.
To set this up:
An HR Admin will need to create a cycle and turn on the cascade feature, then a senior leader can create top-level objectives that represent your company's goals
Employees can then create individual objectives and link them to the relevant company and department-level goals
This setup encourages alignment and gives visibility into how goals are connected across levels and teams.
Learn more under the Cascading Objectives section below.
Can managers create the same objective for multiple employees?
Can managers create the same objective for multiple employees?
Yes! If employees are working toward the same goal, a manager can:
Create the objective once for one team member
Then clone it for the rest of the team
This keeps everyone aligned while saving time.
Alternatively, if you’re using Cascading Objectives, managers can create a team or department-level objective that individual contributors can align their personal objectives to.
How do I score employees on their goals?
How do I score employees on their goals?
If you're on the Elevate plan, you can:
Enable objective ratings to score each goal at the end of a cycle
Turn on weightings to reflect the importance of each goal
Both ratings and weightings are included in your cycle CSV export for easier final calculations. Learn more here.
What are Cascading Objectives?
What are Cascading Objectives?
Cascading objectives create a clear line of sight between individual, team, and company goals. This structure helps everyone understand how their daily work contributes to the company's big-picture success. By aligning goals in a top-down and bottom-up approach, you ensure that every objective, from the individual to the company level, is connected and purposeful.
Is Cascading Objectives included in my subscription?
Is Cascading Objectives included in my subscription?
Cascading Objectives are available to all customers on Grow and Elevate plans.
If you are on a legacy plan, please reach out to your HR Admin or our Support team to see if this feature is included.
Who should own company-level objectives?
Who should own company-level objectives?
Company-level objectives are typically owned by a member of the C-suite or a senior leader. The owner should be the person most responsible for creating and completing the objective.
Who should own group-level objectives?
Who should own group-level objectives?
Group-level objectives are best owned by team leaders, project managers, or whoever is most responsible for completing them. Even if the objective is shared among a group, there's usually a point person who ensures everyone stays on track. That person is the ideal owner.
Who should own individual-level objectives?
Who should own individual-level objectives?
Individual objectives should be owned by the person completing the work. These objectives should be focused and specific, representing concrete actions an individual takes to support a group or company objective.
Who can create company and group objectives?
Who can create company and group objectives?
To give your organization the most flexibility, anyone can create company and group objectives. Whether it's an HR Admin or a strategy manager, anyone can own this process.
How does visibility affect cascading objectives?
How does visibility affect cascading objectives?
For Cascading Objectives to work effectively, it's crucial that parent objectives are visible to anyone who needs to align their goals to them.
Company-level objectives should always be Public so everyone can see what they should be aligning their work to.
Group-level objectives can also benefit from being Public. While we understand that some teams may prefer to keep individual objectives private, we recommend keeping group objectives visible so everyone can understand how various teams are contributing to the company's success.
Note: If an objective is going to have other objectives aligned to it, its visibility must allow those users to see it. If you restrict a parent objective's visibility, it may break the line of sight for others trying to align their goals.
What if I need more complex visibility?
What if I need more complex visibility?
For more complex visibility needs, you can use the Also Visible To box on individual objectives to grant access to a select group of users.
How do I find Cascade view?
How do I find Cascade view?
You can access the Cascade view from the main navigation menu.
Click Objectives in the left-side menu.
Select the Company tab.
Choose Cascade.
Why can't I see my objective in the Cascade view?
Why can't I see my objective in the Cascade view?
If your objective isn't showing up in the Cascade view, here are a few things to check:
1. Check the Objective Cycle:
Use the dropdown menu on the right side of the page to confirm you are on the correct Objective Cycle. If you are part of more than one cycle, your objective may be in a different one.
2. Check for a Parent Objective:
For your objective to appear in the Cascade view, it must be aligned to a parent objective.
To check this, open your objective and see if it has a parent objective listed in the top-left corner. Continue checking the parent objectives until you reach a company-level objective. If your objective isn't connected to a company objective, it will not be visible in the Cascade view.
The parent objective must also be visible to you for your objective to appear.
Tip: If you've confirmed the above steps and still can't see your objective, please contact your HR Admin. They can reach out to our Support team for further assistance.
What happens when I clone or move an aligned objective?
What happens when I clone or move an aligned objective?
Cloning an objective within the same cycle will maintain its alignment. The new, cloned objective will be aligned to the same parent objective as the original.
Moving or copying an objective to a new cycle will break the alignment. You will need to realign the objective to a parent in the new cycle.
How do categories work with cascading objectives?
How do categories work with cascading objectives?
Categories can be helpful for advanced filtering, but they are not required to get the most out of Cascading Objectives. For example, you might use categories to represent different divisions of the business, such as a "Go-To-Market" category and a "Development Progress" category to help distinguish between different types of company objectives.