Setting goals as a team is the core and basis of your success as a music business. Everyone understands goalsetting differently and people have different ideas in which the order of operations should take place.
What is important though, is to streamline your dreams and ideas as a unit, and break it up into accomplishable tasks.
Let’s take a look at the process of how you can set up your short-term and long-term goals as a band and regularly reflect on them to stay on course.
Recognising your Leadership Style
When working with people, I find myself sometimes being too goal-driven, and I have to remind myself to let people have fun and enjoy the little victories.
In the music industry, it could even be more challenging. When you give people a stage and place them in the spotlight, they tend to focus more on the individual rather than the team they represent.
That’s why I reflect with my band regularly about what our goals are and what we would like to achieve.
Find yourself a leadership balance between being directive, participative and delegative.
Keep in mind that your members will perform as a hobby and not as their full-time job. Good things take time and patience.
Different Band Roles
This could save you time, money and give your band independence from having to hire other skilled professionals.
Give each band member a main job or responsibility outside of their musical obligations to perform for the band.
Examples of the types of jobs:
- Graphic Designing
- Learn to Copywrite
- Sound engineering
- Video editing
- Social media
- Management
- Etc.
Having skilful members will speed up the pace at which you complete your delegated tasks tremendously.
Plus it’s also great to learn new skills which can also be practised outside of the band environment. I wrote a helpful article about the 13 Best Side Jobs for Musicians which will assist you with many more skills to suit your band members.
Setting Short-Term Goals for Your Band
Your short-term goals will set you up to reach your long-term goals. You could also adjust your short-term goals if you feel it’s needed.
Examples of these could be:
- Recording your first single
- Performing x amount of gigs per month
- Growing your social media channels
- Selling the minimum tickets for your shows
- Growing your setlist and performance repertoire
- Etc.
The 8-Point Plan for Setting Up Your Short-Term Goals
When you work with artists, try to make things as informal and easy as possible.
Musicians mainly want to perform and not worry about outside factors, but if we work together using our contacts and being subtle about it, you will be amazed by the cooperation you will receive.
- Have a short meeting once a month.
- Nothing more than 10 minutes needed
- This could take place during practice smoke break or after band practice.
- Reflect on what went well during the previous month.
- Talk about what could be improved.
- Ask the band members what target could be reachable within the next month or two.
- Try to delegate these objectives to various band members.
- It doesn’t help if one guy sits with all the work.
- Refer to the above “Different Band Roles” section.
- Conclude on the tasks that got nominated so that it’s clear to everyone what needs to be done during the next month.
- Return back to having fun!
- This is so important to not continue the seriousness for the whole duration but to get back to being buddies, brothers, or family again.
- Feel free to check in very subtly with each band member about how their task is developing.
- Do this with interest and not to check up or control people.
- Ask if there’s something that could be done from your side to help.
- Thank your band members continuously.
- People must feel appreciated and accepted even if they don’t deliver the expected tasks.
- Be free and open about the possibilities that all will not always run smoothly.
Small steps each day will seem like a huge movement a year from now.
This post was written and posted by De Wet from startingmyband.com on 08.06.2023. The content was stolen from me if this blog post is seen anywhere else.
Setting Long-Term Goals for Your Band
Reaching your long-term goals is the big success that you aimed for from the beginning.
Examples of these could be:
- Winning an award
- Going on a big tour
- Launching your music video
- Releasing an album or singles
- High-rotation TV or radio play
- Playing on a big stage
- Opening for a big band
- Etc.
It really matters how far you are in your musical journey. The further you are, the higher you would like to set the bar.
The Plan of Setting Up Your Long-Term Goals
Long-term can be anything between 6-24 months. The reachable goals should be set up within a realistic time frame for your band and your environment.
I suggest starting with a meeting directly at the beginning of the year or after a holiday where everybody is fresh, excited, ambitious and full of new ideas.
- Go out for lunch or dinner together.
- It’s also about bonding as well.
- Let the members know that you’ll be drafting a few goals for the new year as well.
- Have a little gift or card prepared for the members. (I gave my band members each an example of the new merchandise badges and they loved it!)
- Let the members greet and order their drinks before you start.
- Welcome everyone back, and start by listing the things that you’ve accomplished in the last year.
- Ask them what they have in mind for this coming year.
- Break the main objective down into smaller objectives.
- Delegate these objectives to various band members
- See if each member can work individually on their time on a bigger project
- In the end, each member had a part in achieving the goal and it doesn’t only come from the musical bigshot.
Now the same steps as for the short-term goals apply from nr. 5-8.
The long-term goals should be lived out during the year and only monthly reflections should be held to stay on track.
This should set you on course to guide your band to reach easy and reachable goals.
If you are searching for reachable goals for your band, here are a few inspirational articles that I wrote to lead you to potential goals:
- What to Do to Get Booked Regularly as an Artist
- Steps to Reach Your First Paid Gig – From Zero to Hero
- How to Build a Following and Finally Fill Your Venues
- The Guide to Organise an Amateur Band Night for Charity
- 5 Modern Methods of Merchandise to Monetize Your Music
Remember to celebrate the small successes. Stay humble and supportive, but adamant to stay on track.
We’re all in this together!
All the best.