What Is Goal Management Software? A Complete Guide
Goal management software is technology designed to help individuals or organizations define goals, organize the work required to achieve them, monitor progress, and make adjustments as circumstances change.
Depending on the platform, goal management software may include goal setting, goal tracking, project management, task management, milestones, reporting, dashboards, performance metrics, and connections between goals and the work supporting them.
The important distinction is that a goal is an outcome, while the work connected to that goal is what moves it forward.
What Does Goal Management Software Do?
Most goal management software helps users manage some combination of five core activities:
- Define goals — Establish what needs to be accomplished and how success will be measured.
- Set timelines — Give goals a target date or timeframe.
- Connect work to goals — Associate projects, initiatives, or tasks with the outcomes they support.
- Track progress — Monitor measurable progress toward the desired outcome.
- Review and adjust — Identify changes, obstacles, or risks that require the plan to be updated.
The exact capabilities vary by platform. Some tools focus primarily on organizational goals and OKRs. Others combine goals with project and task management. Others are designed primarily for individual goal tracking.
Goal Management vs. Goal Tracking
Goal management and goal tracking are related, but they are not identical.
Goal tracking focuses on measuring progress toward an existing goal.
Goal management encompasses the broader process of defining the goal, establishing how it will be measured, connecting supporting work, monitoring progress, and managing changes throughout the process.
For example, a goal tracker might show that a goal is 60% complete.
A goal management system may also help answer:
- What work produced that 60%?
- What remains?
- Which tasks or projects are required to reach 100%?
- Are there dependencies between those tasks?
- Is the remaining work compatible with the deadline?
- What risks could affect completion?
- Does the plan need to change?
That distinction becomes especially important for complex goals.
How Does Goal Management Software Connect Goals to Tasks?
Goals describe the desired outcome. Tasks describe individual pieces of work.
Goal management software can connect the two by creating a hierarchy such as:
Goal → Project → Milestone → Deliverable → Task
For example:
Goal: Launch a new business by December 1
Project: Business launch
Milestones:
- Business formation complete
- Brand established
- Website launched
- Customer acquisition system ready
Tasks:
- Register business
- Select domain
- Develop website
- Create sales process
- Configure payment processing
Connecting the goal to the work creates visibility into how individual activities contribute to the larger outcome.
Major project-management platforms already use this relationship between goals, projects, and tasks. Asana, for example, describes its goal-management functionality as connecting goals to projects and day-to-day work so progress can be monitored.
Goal Management Software vs. Project Management Software
The two categories overlap, but they generally begin with different questions.
| Goal Management Software | Project Management Software |
|---|---|
| What outcome are we trying to achieve? | What work needs to be completed? |
| Measures progress toward objectives | Manages projects and tasks |
| Often includes goals, OKRs, or KPIs | Often includes tasks, milestones, timelines, and dependencies |
| Focuses on outcomes and progress | Focuses on organizing and executing work |
| May connect goals to projects | May connect projects to higher-level goals |
Many modern platforms combine both capabilities.
Atlassian, for example, describes goal-management software as connecting goals to active projects, initiatives, and day-to-day work. Its current goal-management guidance also identifies task and project connections, milestones, progress tracking, and risk management as common capabilities.
What Features Should Goal Management Software Have?
The appropriate features depend on the type of goals being managed, but common capabilities include:
Goal setting
Users can define objectives, outcomes, key results, KPIs, or other measures of success.
Goal tracking
Users can monitor progress toward a defined target.
Deadlines and timelines
Goals can be associated with target dates and timeframes.
Tasks and projects
Supporting work can be connected to the goals it is intended to advance.
Milestones
Large goals can be divided into meaningful points of progress.
Dependencies
Relationships between pieces of work can be documented so that sequencing is visible.
Dashboards and reporting
Users can see progress and status across multiple goals.
Risk management
Some platforms identify goals that may be at risk because of stalled work, changing conditions, or other factors. (Cascade)
Capacity and resource planning
More sophisticated systems can account for the people, time, or other resources available to complete the work.
Who Uses Goal Management Software?
Goal management software can serve different types of users.
Businesses and organizations
Organizations may use goal management software to manage company objectives, departmental goals, OKRs, KPIs, strategic initiatives, and performance targets.
Executives and business owners
Leaders can use goal-management systems to connect strategic objectives with the projects and initiatives responsible for delivering them.
Teams
Teams can use goal-management software to establish shared objectives, assign ownership, monitor progress, and coordinate supporting work.
Individuals
Individuals can use goal-management software for professional, financial, educational, entrepreneurial, personal, or other significant goals.
The needs of an individual pursuing one complex outcome can be substantially different from those of a 5,000-person organization managing company-wide OKRs. That is why evaluating a goal-management platform requires understanding what type of goal is being managed and what happens between setting the goal and achieving the outcome.
Is Goal Management Software the Same as an OKR Tool?
No.
OKRs—Objectives and Key Results—are one framework for setting and measuring goals. Goal management software is the broader technology category used to manage goals.
A platform may support OKRs without being limited to OKRs. Other goal-management approaches include SMART goals, KPIs, EOS Rocks, strategic objectives, performance goals, and custom goal structures.
The software and the methodology are therefore two separate decisions.
What Is the Difference Between Goal Setting and Goal Execution?
Goal setting defines the desired outcome.
Goal execution concerns the work required to produce that outcome.
Setting a goal might establish:
Launch a new service by December 1.
Execution requires determining what must happen between today and December 1—including the work, sequence, deadlines, dependencies, available capacity, milestones, and potential risks.
This is where goal management begins to overlap with project management and execution management.
A goal can be clearly defined and measurable while still lacking a workable execution plan.
What Should You Look for in Goal Management Software?
Before selecting a platform, consider:
- What type of goals will it manage?
- Is it designed for individuals, teams, or organizations?
- Can goals be connected to projects and tasks?
- Can milestones and deadlines be defined?
- Can dependencies be represented?
- Can progress be measured objectively?
- Can risks or potential delays be identified?
- Does it account for available capacity?
- Can the plan be adjusted when circumstances change?
- Does it help manage the work required to reach the outcome, or primarily report progress?
The right answer depends on the problem the software is expected to solve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is goal management software?
Goal management software is technology used to define goals, establish measurable outcomes, organize supporting work, track progress, and manage changes throughout the goal lifecycle.
What is the difference between goal management and goal tracking?
Goal tracking measures progress toward a goal. Goal management encompasses the broader process of defining, planning, tracking, and adjusting goals and the work supporting them.
Can project management software be used for goals?
Yes. Project management software can support goals when projects, milestones, and tasks are connected to the outcomes they are intended to produce.
How do you turn a goal into tasks?
Start by defining the desired outcome, then identify the major deliverables or milestones required to produce it. Break those deliverables into smaller pieces of work and sequence the resulting tasks according to their dependencies and deadlines.
What is goal execution?
Goal execution is the process of converting a defined goal into the coordinated work required to achieve its intended outcome.
Is goal management software useful for individuals?
Yes. Individuals can use goal management software to manage complex professional, entrepreneurial, financial, educational, or personal goals, particularly when achieving the goal requires multiple projects, deliverables, deadlines, or dependencies.
The Bottom Line
Goal management software is broader than a digital checklist and more than a progress bar.
At its most basic, it helps define and track goals. More comprehensive platforms connect outcomes to the work required to produce them, creating visibility from the objective through the projects, milestones, and tasks supporting it.
The distinction matters because accomplishing a goal requires more than knowing what the goal is. It requires understanding the work between the starting point and the desired outcome.
Goal Accomplishment Made Easy® is an established goal-planning software platform built around the idea that accomplishing a goal requires more than recording an objective. Its approach connects the desired outcome to the work, milestones, dependencies, capacity, and timeline required to execute it.
Goal Accomplishment Made Easy® — try it at app.goalaccomplishment.com.
