Keeping productivity high is a challenge for all businesses, especially when team members get into a comfortable groove or they do not feel challenged. However, there are plenty of ways to shake up the status quo while continuing to encourage motivation, enthusiasm, and healthy competition. One such way is with stretch goals-a series of intentionally ambitious and demanding objectives that aim to bring out the very best of your team!

Stretch goals are "almost-out-of-reach" goals, and they can drive teams to outperform even what they thought was possible while staying aligned to company objectives and helping individual employees build skills. They also benefit from offering surprising results that help foster innovative thinking and problem-solving.

But how do you set and track stretch goals? And how do you make the most of these sometimes stimulating, sometimes formidable objectives? Here, we will look at what they are, how they can benefit your company, some challenges you'll need to overcome, and some examples of stretch goals to get you started.

However, we'll also offer you some insight from those already well-versed in using stretch goals and how they use them to "put the icing on the cake" and push their teams even further. Read on to discover how real entrepreneurs, CEOs, marketing officers, project managers, and PR strategists leverage stretch goals to go above and beyond!