How can the effectiveness of MBO be increased?

MBO is an effective motivational technique which is commonly used by managers and organizations. To attain maximum benefit from MBO the following steps could be helpful:

1. Support and commitment from top level management: It is essential that MBO should have the support and commitment of the top management without this support, MBO can never be a success. The superior must be willing to relinquish and share the authority with the subordinates. They should consider the subordinates as part of the team for decision making.

2. Clear Goal and objectives: The objectives should be clearly formulated must be realistic and achievable. They should be clearly understood by all concerned. The targets should neither be very high nor very low.

3. Participation of subordinates in Goal Setting: The objectives and goals should be set with the active participation of the subordinates. There should be effective two way communication between the superior and the subordinates for setting the goals, and for discussing their problems. These objectives must be properly communicated and clearly understood and accepted by all. MBO works best when the goals are willingly accepted.

4. Overall Philosophy of Management: MBO should be treated as an overall philosophy of management and the entire organizations. It should not be simply performance appraisal technique or a divisional process. It should change and replace all the old systems rather than just being added to them.

5. Delegation: MBO will not be effective if the manager is not willing to delegate sufficient authority to the subordinates. The subordinates who have been given challenging assignments through discussion with the superior must be given adequate authority to accomplish their goals otherwise they will not be willing to accept new assignments and they will resist the setting of clearly defined goals.

6. Revision and Modification Goals: The goals must be continuously reviewed and modified as the changed conditions require avoiding inflexibility. The review technique should be such that all deviations are caught early and corrected.

7. Orientation and Training of executives: As the philosophy of MBO is to be implemented by the executives, they must be given format training in understanding the basis as well as the contents of the program. They must be adequately oriented about the value of MBO. They should be trained in how to set the goals, the method and tools to achieve these goals, methods of reviews and evaluation of performance and provision to include and feed back that may be given.

Integration of MBO Program: MBO cannot be implemented as an isolated program. It should be accepted as a style of managing and should be synthesized with the organizational climate. All personal involved should have a clear understanding of their role, authority and their expectations. The system should be absorbed wholly by all departments and members of the organization.