Because your team is composed of individuals, your group goal-setting exercise will have to identify commonly held beliefs.

At your first meeting, have everyone share why it is they are in the group.

Ask, what motivated them to join and to remain. You'll get many different answers.

Exercise:

Try polling all members of your team and writing down all responses (with no names attached) on a large sheet of paper or whiteboard, then ask everyone to vote on which one or two goals best matches with the group's vision.

Setting Targets

Once you all know why you're together, you are more prepared to set out what you'd like to do together.

Exercise:

You should aim to set two types of goals.

1. Discuss an overall improvement goal, which with enough hard work and dedication is within reach.

An example of this kind of goal could be a performing arts company achieving 70% audience attendance during a season, or an arts organisation’s goal of recruiting two new sponsors in the next twelve months.

2. Discuss a benchmarked goal, where you state what position you'd like to hold against your field of competitors.

For this goal you might choose you'd like your design agency to win a Best Design award for a particular category.

Having goals that you can control as well as goals that compare you to your competition will capitalise on your individual commitment as well as your team’s drive to be the best.