Joined-up Goal Setting (Part 3 of 4): How to Set Smart Goals

Many people are aware of the SMART goal setting model and may even be sick of hearing about it. However, through our over 50-years accumulated leadership and learning & development experience, it is often not used too its full potential. This method is extremely useful for describing task-based goals and we wanted to share with you our tips for getting the most out of it.

An explanation of SMART

There are variations on SMART. In this version SMART stands for: 

• Specific – states exactly what you need to achieve 
• Measurable – includes a quality or quantity measure 
• Achievable & Agreed – can be challenging, but must be achievable & agreed between job holder and manager 
• Relevant – to organisational and career goals 
• Time-bound – with a clear end date or timescale 

Well written goals are easily managed and provide a clear route to success, so how do you write them? 

Specific

Specific is all about defining ‘what’ we want to achieve and also ‘how’. Goals should clearly state what you are expected to achieve, using action verbs to describe what has to be done. For example: 

Not specific: Get fit 

Specific: Change my weight to 12.5 stone (79kg/175lbs) by attending the Sports Centre

Measurable      

Goals must include measures so that you know when and how the goal has been achieved. Typical measures include: cost, quality, timelines, value for money, return on investment, customer satisfaction and feedback. Think about both shorter and longer term success measures.

• How will you measure achievement?

o   How many?

o   By when?

o   What level of frequency is expected?

o   What are the quality measures?

• Who would be useful in providing feedback?

For example: 

Not measurable: Get fit by attending the Sports Centre 

Measurable: Change my weight to 12.5 stone (79kg/175lbs) by attending the Sports Centre three nights a week for either one hour of weights/machines or one hour group training session. 

Achievable and Agreed

Goals should also take account of the skills, knowledge and resources needed to achieve them. Achievable doesn’t mean easy but rather feasible for that person; goals can often be a challenge.

• What support measures are available/required?
• What resources are required? How and where will you obtain these resources?
• What might hinder progress?
• Is a reasonable adjustment appropriate?
• Is there enough time to achieve all goals without having a detrimental impact on an area of delivery or management responsibility?
• Is this goal stretching?

For example: 

Not Achievable: Attend the Sports Centre nine-times a week for either 2 hours of weights/machines or 2-hour group training session each time.

Note: ‘Unachievable’ will be relevant to you: for example, if you haven’t ever been to the gym before or have a very low level of fitness, this would not be achievable (or safe) because you would need to first build your fitness levels to avoid injury and to allow for effective training during the allotted time. 

Achievable: Change my weight to 12.5 stone (79kg/175lbs) by attending the Sports Centre three nights a week for either one hour of weights/machines or one hour group training session and cutting sugar from my diet. 

Relevant

Goals should be relevant to the job in hand and where work related, driven by departmental & organisational plans and if possible career development goals. Not all goals will be directly relevant to the immediate role. Some may be personal, e.g. designed to expand your skills or remit, but must still benefit the department.

• Do the goals reflect priorities?
• Are standards incorporated?

Note: R can also equal “Realistic”.

The original model of SMART has R as ‘Realistic’. There is often there is a very fine line between Achievable and Realistic, hence our choice of ‘Relevant’. Of course, the objective needs to be achievable and realistic! For example: given the current Covid-19 crisis, if I aim to start going to the gym now when gyms are closed, it ain’t gonna happen!

Time-bound

Tie-bound refers to a deadline or frequency. As American author Napoleon Hill said: “A goal is a dream with a deadline”. It is clearer for a deadline to be a specific date or review period, rather than “by the end of the appraisal period” or “by the end of the year”.

• What is the timescale of each goal?
• What is the deadline?

For example: 

Not time-bound: Attend the Sports Centre 

Time-bound: Starting on 20/06/20, change my weight to 12.5 stone (79kg/175lbs) by attending the Sports Centre three nights a week for either one hour of weights/machines or one hour group training session and cutting sugar from my diet, over the next six months or until the target has been achieved.

The time reference for other goals might be in terms of frequency or turnaround time. For example: 

• Time-bound: Once a month, update all library web pages and printed guides  
• Time-bound: Circulate minutes of Committee Y within five days of the meeting. 

Examples of action words

By using action words in goals you will be able to create positive and powerful statements. Examples include:

Hints and Tips when Writing Goals

• keep the wording simple and succinct, avoid using jargon and acronyms
• ensure the goal is able to answer all the questions around what, when, how and who
• breakdown large goals/over-arching objective (sometimes called the umbrella objectives) into small steps with the smaller objectives feeding in to the umbrella-objective
• build the small steps into the overall plan for achieving the goal (consider and agree timescales)

o   where possible, create a visual on these steps

o   create milestones to check/review progress and what needs to be achieved

• when writing the steps, start each sentence with action words
• focus on your goal, not on what ‘the team’ or other people have to achieve or need

Ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is my goal specific enough; could a friend or colleague understand it? 

o   When working with others, ensure there is shared and specific understanding

• How can I decide if my goal is achievable and how will I measure it? 
• What evidence do I need to say I've achieved my goal? 
• Is it realistic in terms of time, money, resources (systems/people) and opportunity? 
• Is it agreed to by all the relevant stakeholders? 
• Have I set a clear and realistic deadline by when I want to achieve my goal? 

When you look at your SMART objective you may realise it’s going to take many smaller steps to achieve. In that case the overarching objective becomes an “umbrella objective”. You’ll need to ensure all smaller objectives are also SMART and include milestones and review dates to ensure you are awareness of your progress toward achieving the umbrella objective.

Test it for yourself. The next time you have to set a task goal for yourself, your team or team members, test out the SMART model and see how it works for you. And if you’re having problems with your goal setting, reach out to us. You can email us at [email protected] or tweet at @InfintBlaze_HD and we’ll be happy to speak with you.

It's worth remembering the words of renowned American philanthropist Elbert Hubbard: 

"Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal." 

Further reading:

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 About InfinitBlaze Consultancy

Adrian DeCoursey – Adie to his friends – is a strategic advisor and executive coach to CEOs, boards and leadership teams. He is also an international consultant, leadership coach, author and trainer. In a career spanning over thirty years, he has worked with the UK and foreign governments, corporate banks, the not for profit sector and a variety of other organisations. His non-consultancy roles have included marketing director, culture & change director, deputy chief executive and non-executive director.

Judith Hammer is a multi-lingual, international learning and development professional with 20 years-experience in consulting, designing and delivering L&D initiatives/solutions to all staff levels in a variety of international and UK-based companies. Her non-consultancy roles have included head of learning and development for hotels in London and HSBC Bank in Switzerland.