How can you improve goal-setting in R&D?

Following are the few important points that need to be considered to improve goal-setting in R&D: ? Know the complexity of individual products ? Realistic timeline ? Resource management ? Open discussion with doer to know their challenges ? Involvement of cross functions/supporting departments to draft dependent goals

To be successful in setting ambitious but achievable goals in R&D, you need to deeply understand the vision and goals of the company, and align with the company’s business and technology strategy. From this point, vision and high level strategy shall be communicated across teams including R&D. Keep an open mind, a common goal and vision where everyone is heading at and design the strategy involving your team’s perspectives, needs, and objectives. Focus on R&D teams’ technical competences, ask them for their vision, and incorporate and align with overall company strategy. The rest is execution, breaking it down to objectives and action plan. Use a management system to track goals, OKRs are great to align team’s goals.

Argenin hedefi olursa ona ARGE denilemez ,o zaten bilinen bir hedef demektir ve ARGE yapmadan sadece iyile?tirme y?ntemleri kullan?larak ula??lacak noktad?r.Arge eldeki verilerin veremediklerinin neden analizleri ile sorgulayarak dusunulemeyen bir noktanin kesfidir,yani sürekli sorgulamaktir

In goal setting, consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to that. Set SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate the work and write them down to make them feel tangible. Then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross off each one as you work through them. By following a simple powerful framework, we can cultivate the mindset, habits, and actions necessary to achieve our goals and fulfill our potential. One such framework is the "7 Cs of Success," which includes clarity, competence, constraints, concentration, creativity, courage, and continuous learning.

Goal settings to be considered as follows for R&D; 1. Business plan 2. New product in line with sales requirement 3. Feasibility for the market acceptance 4. Targeting large scale customer requirement 5. Cost conscious and process optimization

Unlike most other people commenting here, I fundamentally disagree that SMART targets in RuD are a good idea. The fundamental problem with SMART targets is that, when it comes to development or research with a high innovation impact, it is almost never possible to assess whether something is "achievable". SMART targets therefore pretend to be predictable, which is simply not the case - and which turns great innovators into frustrated "sandbaggers" through only a few “management-iteration” learning loops. So better not to advocate SMART target in innovation driven environments. There are far better things to promote like Ranked Backlogs and similar . SMART target might be better than “totally unaligned happy engineering” . But only a bit.

In my view the radical innovations are only possible when organization makes profit and profits are majorly comes with the incremental innovations. SMART helps you to achieve the incremental innovation. With SMART I know my constrains when you have constrains lots of ideas pops up and one can be radical which can be taken separately. SMART also helps to keeps the enthusiasm by providing small achievements which is the fuel for achieving big things.

Projetos inalcan?áveis, confliantes ou até mesmo que nao refletem a cultura do grupo ao qual se relaciona pode ser um desperdício de tempo e custos, os critérios SMART s?o ótimos para identificar os potenciais impecílios e tra?ar metas alcan?áveis ainda na fase de planejamento.

As already stated, the “A” for achievable might not always be useful in R&D, since those might limit innovation. That’s why others have proposed “A” for ambitious or aggressive to reflect the the R&D-character.

Full agree with @RobertNeuhauser - the the idea that you have specific, measurable, meaningful & realistic goals from the start in innovation projects make me chuckle. Part of the job is to figure out how a product could look like, if it fits the customer/market expectation (neither the customer or product management nor you will know from the onset). The only way to do this is to start with a rough idea, build prototypes quickly, work closely with the customer and innovate/iterate the product relentlessly until it makes sense (dealing with all the market, technology & organisational uncertainty on the way). So you end up with something that is less SMART but more "Start Simple, Iterate Quickly With Customer, Expect Change" - SSIQWCEC ?.

No research is possible without teams involvement. Like any other field there are different skill set every scientist possess. In consumer research world an ingredient scientist, formulation scientist, analytical scientist, clinical scientist, processing scientist all have to work with each other in perfect synchrony to deliver a full proof product. Any one missing out will make the music out of tune and consumer will surely not appreciate that

R&D thrives on creativity, expertise, and collaboration. Involving the team in the goal-setting process leverages diverse perspectives and fosters a culture of ownership and commitment. Engaging team members in discussions about objectives, timelines, and expectations encourages them to contribute their unique insights and expertise, leading to more robust and achievable goals. Furthermore, this collaborative approach enhances team cohesion, drives motivation, and builds a shared vision for success.

The people that knows better what are the pains of the real world are those that have their hands on the problem, and these are not usually the same people that leads the projects. Having the team perspective on the goals setting will ensure that the solution you’re working on will meet the needs of your clients. The role of the leader is to rationalise the strategy view to give direction and define priorities, with all the information they can have.

This can increase their commitment and ownership of the goals, as well as their understanding and acceptance of the expectations and standards. Moreover, the R&D staff can provide valuable input and feedback on the feasibility, suitability, and desirability of the goals, based on their expertise and experience.

Multiple perspectives come together to take decisive action and plan agreeable to the team to work and perform. Involving team for ideation and planning makes inclusiveness from the beginning besides all risk and weakness areas identified to safeguard corrective action plans.

Balancing exploration and exploitation in R&D is key for goal-setting. Start by dedicating specific time for both: explore new ideas to foster innovation, while leveraging existing strengths for efficient progress. Regularly reassess and adjust this balance to stay agile and maximize outcomes. Embrace curiosity while leveraging proven strategies for optimal results

R&D is all about experiments, a crucial balance between Exploration and exploitation is important. It is imperative to expand the horizons looking for new technologies, new methods, and disruptions but keeping in check the existing knowledge and resources in mind. Therefore a stock market approach should be there where there is a "Stop-loss" on the exploration.

In my experience, one of the key elements is to properly balance the incentives that both universities and Government institutions put on the table to encourage the work of researchers, since at least in Latin America, publication continues to be rewarded over protection of new knowledge through patents and its transfer to society and the market, thereby losing great business opportunities and attracting private capital to finance more R&D. We must promote public policies that reward innovation and tech-transfer and their social and public recognition as drivers of development. Let's move to a world of more applied R&D to solve real problems in our societies!

The role of R&D is to create knowledge that can be converted into goods and services today, tomorrow and in the future. In a learning organization both are leveraged harmoniously without rationing. On one hand, nobody has time to experience every mistake. On the other hand, a culture that challenges the value of exploration will not innovate. Therefore, provide tools, measures of performance and reward both behaviors.

Na verdade, a tradu??o para “exploration and exploitation” seja explora??o e aplica??o. A primeira significando a busca de novos conhecimentos, oportunidades e recursos, enquanto a segunda se refira ao uso ou aplica??o destes em um novo promotor de bem-estar para a sociedade. A inova??o é, portanto, a transforma??o da capacidade humana em novos produtos, processos ou aprimoramentos que melhorem as condi??es de vida dos seres humanos.

Define the right goals for year to year for research and development area. Define the process improvement and define the centric development approach to meet the global development requirements

There's almost nothing more frustrating than doing an annual review where you answer "n/a" or "priorities changed" for the majority of your goals. When goals are not updated and current, people stop paying attention to them. And that hinders team and individual progress toward company goals.

Set Goal for Research and Plan accoriding to Goal for Reach to the target point . According to market research and customer need set the goal and Target.

As said R&D is a dynamic process. It is important to review and revise the projects periodically and at well defined stage gates. Risk assessment and mitigation plans have to be laid out and continuously monitored and resolved. It also gives a visibally early on in the process of the direction of research to be changed or any course correction needed. Important is to be transparent and communicate with the team. Brain storming with team has immense power to reach resolutions

Emphasize introspection over initial goal setting. Investigate failures thoroughly, analyze root causes, and assess their occurrence ratio. Communicate findings and revised proposals promptly to all stakeholders. Ensure constant team involvement at every stage.

?? Improving goal-setting in any R&D project may need the following 5 steps... ?? 1. Begin by clearly defining the objectives of the project. 2. Break down larger goals into smaller, actionable tasks. 3. By openly communicating within the team, actively seek feedback on the goals set. 4. Monitor progress. 5. Don't forget to celebrate your achievements! ??

Before venturing in to any R&D, the problem must be clearly "defined", the ways to approach the problem is subjective to the knowledge & skills of researcher. Therefore, after clearly defing the "problem" & the expected specifications of the resulting solution/ product, team lead should involve the specific subject matter experts in discussing the ways to approach, further independantly validate with other experts, Evaluate the resources, cost & time involved in all the ways / strategies before setting the goals, milestones in the task.Aswell the intermittant goals are to be aligned with the main objective, continuous adjustments & realistic milestone setting, monitoring the progress & resource utilization at optimum level is to ensured

Feedback is the cornerstone of validity in research projects. In my experience creating primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary loops for validation aids triangulation. It is crucial to co-relate feedback from multiple loops because some redundancies or highlights become clear. The challenge is to keep feedback loops active in time. Some patterns become visible and encourage familiarity. Researchers must continue looking at the relevance of these in the research macro-context. Open ended feedback also has its disadvantages, closed loop feedback has its inadequacies. A balanced quantitative, qualitative and neutral approach allows outcomes to crystallize naturally. Changing feedback patterns also represent newer research opportunities.....

In my experience, the question for feedback, as long it is constructive, only benefits the personal development and therefore strengthens the team. However, a critical review of the feedback as well as the own traits is necessary to draw the right conclusions.

Well articulated. The only thing I add is that strong R&D teams are generally made of people with independent thought and action; although that is an excellent quality at times it maybe at odds with corporate goals. For example, sometimes companies may drop a project for business reasons, in which R&D team is emotionally invested (and advanced the project)… Here mentoring plays an extremely important role to change the course of action. R&D teams don’t need managers, they need mentors with expertise and experience who channel the creativity in the right direction while satisfying both corporate goals and individual goals.

R&D teams continuously struggle with balancing the tyranny of the immediate (AOP, supply challenges, quality issues, line extensions, general sustaining engineering) while also leaning into the long-term needs of the organization's strategic plan and portfolio roadmaps. At TFX Interventional we found balance (not equally weighted!) by identifying a portion of R&D hours that we specifically earmarked to support the mid/long-term goals, primarily focussing on Innovation/Ideation, Technology Development, and Process Improvement. This time not only supported achieving the strategic plan, but engaged our talented team of technical people in creative outlets to do work meaningful to them personally - and that's when people really shine.

Here I would like to add the value of criticism in improving your goal setting. Always accept criticism from your seniors or through feedback with open hands because it is the criticism which lets you think beyond the set boundaries. It will help you in polishing your vision and its implementation. Secondly one must be ready with the plan B side by side, it gives strength to your work and gives you confidence to attain your goal.

Personally how I see the goal setting in the R&D scenario is based on two questions Do you understand the project completely with definitive outcomes Do you know your role in the outcomes of the project Once you know these two, you will automatically break down the tasks to be completed to merge or diverge from the team. Those are your goals and put a time stamp if you are a stickler of time. That's it. Done

It’s critical to decide as an organization if you are going to reward accomplishment (we did 100% of the things we said we would do) or exploration (we tried x, y, and z and eventually realized that the best thing to do was q). It’s not fair to ask teams to set aspirational goals if at the end of the quarter or year they will be scored poorly for not achieving all that they set out to do.

En base a mi experiencia con objetivos y metas de I+D, sugiero considerar lo siguiente: 1) Primero separar objetivos / metas relacionadas a Generar Conocimiento (Papers por ejemplo) Versus aquellas que buscan generar rentabilidad. Generar conocimiento no mide la innovación y generación de negocio rentable (aunque si puede tener el potencial). 2) Segundo, tener bien en claro si las actividades buscan generar nuevos productos o nuevos servicios o solo mejoras en lo existente. Tenemos que considerar los horizontes (+/- disruptivo) 3) Si se apunta a rentabilidad, tener en cuenta el plazo en el que van a generar beneficios en el balance de la institución (I+D + propiedad intelectual generalmente genera beneficios a varios a?os a futuro).