What does "Clocked their goal" mean?

Question

I'm translating a book about behavior. What does "Clocked their goal" mean in the following context:

They agreed to delegate more of the “old work” to sub-ordinates. They even clocked their goal: 30 percent fewer hours per team member on paperwork.

I guessed it means "set their goal". Is that correct?

I guess yes, the meaning might be: "they set their goal in terms of hours" (roughly speaking). You can set a goal in terms of "less sheets of paper processed by a team member" -- that would not be "clocking your goal", because you've expressed your goal in sheets of paper, not in hours. — CowperKettle, Commented Dec 28, 2015 at 10:40

Varun Nair · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-28 10:36:12Z

1

To "clock" something means to 'time it'. Or it could simply mean 'to measure' or 'to quantify'.

The car clocked the lap in a minute fifty.

This means that the car finished the lap in a time of 1:50.

Here, "30 percent fewer hours...." is the "clocked" value. So it means "to measure".

Also, "clocked" also means 'to notice'. Check this out.

answered Dec 28, 2015 at 10:36

Varun Nair

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Peter · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-28 10:37:31Z

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The meaning is more about measuring time.

They clocked their goal
They measured the time to attain their goal

It probably comes from the phrase on the clock when people had to punch in and punch out on a time clock in factories.

answered Dec 28, 2015 at 10:37

Peter

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