Goal Setting Template

Setting goals sounds simple, but in practice, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, lose focus, or forget to follow through. Maybe you’ve set ambitious targets without a plan, or struggled to stay on top of who’s doing what.

That’s where the Asana goal setting template comes in. It provides a repeatable way to define specific goals, break them into manageable steps, and keep everything visible as you progress. Whether you're setting employee goals, business objectives, or personal milestones, this template keeps your team connected and motivated.

Who benefits from this goal setting template?

If you’ve ever set a goal and lost track of it, this is for you. Our goal setting template is perfect for individuals, teams, and businesses aiming to simplify the goal setting process and clearly track success.

You’ll use this project-based template to set goals within a standard Asana project. It’s separate from the Goals feature.

Use this goal setting template if you:

• Want to break down long-term goals into manageable, time-bound tasks, like opening three new retail locations within 12 months.

• Need a central place to track personal or team goals, such as managing seasonal promotions or campaign launches.

• Are building an employee goal setting template or performance management process.

• Are planning strategic business objectives or objectives and key results (OKRs), like improving net promoter score (NPS) by 10 points or migrating 100% of operations to a new platform.

Why use Asana’s goal setting template?

We developed this template to make goal setting easier, as clarity results in better outcomes.

• Create focused, trackable goals. Use SMART fields to define goals like “increase monthly eCommerce revenue by 20%” or “cut inventory stockouts in half by Q4.”

• Monitor individual and team objectives. Manage goals for onboarding, upskilling, or productivity. For example, “complete three leadership workshops by year-end.”

• Measure real-time progress. Use dashboards to monitor KPIs or OKRs, such as average order size, website conversion rates, or reductions in delivery time.

• Connect work to outcomes. Break down goals like “launch new subscription plan” into design, legal, and fulfillment tasks; then see everything in one view.

• Maintain momentum. Use built-in reminders and notifications to keep goals visible and active from kickoff through completion.

Asana goal setting templates support everything from personal growth to annual strategic planning, allowing you to rally stakeholders and team members throughout your entire project management workflow.

How to use this goal setting template

1. Duplicate the project template in Asana. Give it a clear name like “Q3 Sales Goals” or “Employee Performance Objectives.”

2. Define goals. Use custom fields to identify goal type (personal, team, business), timeframe, and priority.

3. Choose your framework. Apply SMART, OKRs, or KPIs to match the type of goal. For example, use OKRs to increase customer lifetime value, or SMART goals to improve order fulfillment speed.

4. Assign owners and due dates. Clarify who’s responsible and by when.

5. Break goals into tasks. Add subtasks for deliverables such as drafting legal agreements, designing new packaging, or preparing internal rollout plans.

6. Monitor and update. Use updates, comments, and dashboards to watch goal health, flag risks, and celebrate milestones.

7. Reflect and close out. Mark completed goals and document outcomes like “cut ad spend by 12% while maintaining ROI.”

Asana features designed for goal setting

Asana includes built-in features that make it easier to define, manage, and follow through on goals, from high-level strategic planning to daily task execution. Check out our full list of features that support effective goal setting.

Goals and sub-goals: Set high-level goals and break them into smaller, connected sub-goals. It’s easier to stay motivated and identify what’s working when you can visualize how each part contributes to the bigger picture.

Custom fields: Tag goals by type, timeframe, department, or strategic priority. Whatever helps you sort and plan.

Timeline view: View your goal deadlines and dependencies in a Gantt chart timeline.

Milestones: Identify key checkpoints within long-term goals to keep up motivation and monitor incremental progress.

Task dependencies: Keep everyone on the same page regarding the work order, so that critical tasks are completed in the correct sequence.

Reporting dashboards: Get real-time visibility into team and individual goal progress, blockers, and performance trends.

Status updates: Share quick, clear updates on how goals are going: what’s moving forward, what’s falling behind, and what’s on the horizon. It keeps everyone informed without requiring additional meetings.

Smart status (with Asana AI): Let Asana’s AI handle the heavy lifting. It pulls together recent activity and highlights what’s going well, what might need attention, and what to focus on next.

Recommended integrations

Integrations connect your Asana goal setting templates to other platforms in your toolkit, allowing you to update goals, automate tasks, and track progress without switching between apps. Explore the complete app and integrations gallery to find the applications you use in your workflow.

Salesforce: Automate task creation in Asana from Salesforce events, linking sales and project goals together.

Google Calendar: Keep your schedule on track by syncing goal deadlines and check-in meetings to your calendar.

Everhour: Include time tracking on your goal sheet to monitor team progress metrics and validate KPIs.

Slack: Receive real-time notifications when goals are updated, completed, or discussed.

Gmail: Turn emails into action items by adding tasks related to goals directly from your inbox.

ServiceNow: Automatically convert IT requests into Asana tasks for more accurate goal tracking.

Google Drive: Attach goal planning worksheets, performance reports, and tracking spreadsheets directly to Asana tasks.

Zapier: Automate routine check-ins, goal reminders, and status updates without any manual effort.

Use this template to set SMART goals, OKRs, KPIs, and more

There are many ways to organize goals. Whether you're setting short-term objectives, monthly goals, or planning your to-do list, this free template adapts to any type of goal.

SMART goals

SMART goals are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It's a widely used framework that helps clarify goals and promote accountability.

One healthcare organization we worked with used SMART goals to improve new provider onboarding processes. They created a clear onboarding roadmap with key steps, metrics, and deadlines for credentialing and training, which helped eliminate confusion, reduce delays, and get new providers up to speed in a matter of weeks.

The SMART framework helps you write goals that are:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.

• Measurable: Identify metrics or indicators to track progress.

• Attainable: Ensure the goal is realistic given available resources.

• Relevant: Connect the goal with broader priorities.

• Time-bound: Set a deadline to stay focused.

In Asana, you can use custom fields to label each component of SMART, set due dates, and add subtasks as actionable steps. We also offer a SMART goals template to help you get started even faster.

OKRs

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a popular way to turn big ideas into measurable actions. Many teams at Asana use OKRs to connect priorities across departments every quarter. For example, when our product team launches a new feature, they might set an objective, such as "Deliver a seamless user onboarding experience," with key results tied to usage metrics and bug reduction.

• Objective: A clear, inspirational goal (e.g., "Launch a new product successfully")

• Key Results: Quantifiable outcomes (e.g., "100% of product tasks completed by launch date")

This goal setting template lets you group objectives in sections and list key results as tasks underneath, so you can see who’s doing what, by when. If you want a head start, check out our step-by-step OKR template.

KPIs

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are business metrics that help you measure success over time. They are essential for progress tracking against benchmarks and spotting performance trends.

One retail operations team we supported used KPIs in Asana to monitor inventory turnover and customer satisfaction. By linking their goal tracking to a separate inventory management template, they ensured that key metrics remained visible in their daily routine, allowing them to address issues more quickly.

Use this goal planner template to:

• Track individual or team KPIs with custom fields

• Monitor changes with reporting dashboards

• Set reminders for monthly or quarterly KPI reviews

Zig Ziglar's 7 steps

Zig Ziglar, a well-known motivational speaker, developed a seven-step goal setting worksheet to help people pursue simple goals with a clear sense of direction and motivation. It’s a classic method that complements any strategy for creating effective goals.

Here are Ziglar’s seven steps:

1. Identify your goal: Be as clear and specific as possible.

2. List the benefits: Know exactly why this goal matters to you.

3. List obstacles to overcome: Brainstorm challenges ahead of time.

4. Identify knowledge and skills required: Know what you need to learn or improve.

5. Identify the people to work with: Who can support or guide you?

6. Create an action plan: Break the goal into simple steps.

7. Set a deadline: Commit to a realistic timeframe.

Whether it's strategic planning, ambitious yearly goals, or modest personal goals, Asana's goal setting templates can help you organize and achieve them. For even more visibility, Asana’s goal tracker features help you stay on top of key metrics. And when it's time to achieve goals, you can use one of our free action plan templates to outline the steps and stay on track.

FAQs about goal setting templates