S.M.A.R.T

A goal without an action plan is just a daydream.

As founder of AnActionPlan I am trying to play catch-up and learn some of the basics of e-learning, process modeling and project management. Our platform combines these concepts into a single product. So, with all due hubris, I am learning as much as possible about some of the fundamental Business 101 concepts that we are seeking to improve.

A colleague mentioned S.M.A.R.T to me in a meeting recently, and I admit that I had forgotten what it stood for. You probably already know, but here it is:

Specific - target a specific area for improvement.

Measurable - key performance indicators.

Assignable - who gets to do it.

Realistic - does not violate the fundamental laws of nature.

Temporal* - a specific time-frame in which results can be achieved.

Since AnActionPlan is all about creating step-by-step processes that are designed to be specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and temporal, I figure now is as good a time as any to explore them and how AnActionPlan addresses each of these criteria.

Specific

Action Plans should be specific. Since we purposely don't implement fancy branching or conditional execution, the best way to create an action plan for a business process is to be as specific as possible. For example, "Starting a business" is a pretty broad category of action plans. A better example would be "Starting a single-member LLC in the State of Florida".

Measurable

One of the key features of AnActionPlan is to keep track of the progress of our process execution. Therefore Action Plans are measurable. When you turn an Action Plan into a process, the specific schedule and milestones are laid out for you. In addition, with forms and surveys you can gather any kind of metrics that you desire directly from the user as the process is being executed.

Assignable

Delegation is the key to success of any substantial endeavor. Assignable tasks are encapsulated so that one person can complete them. No man is an island. Assigning tasks to teammates makes the work faster - especially if everything needed to complete the task is included in the task itself. Steps in AnActionPlan contain templates, forms, videos and instructions that make it clear what is required to complete them and minimize the level of effort required.

Realistic

The scope of an action plan should be limited to completing one realistic goal, even if there are many nested action plans, each with their own goals, required in order to reach that ultimate goal. Limiting scope is the key tool of reasonableness. Action Plans are step-by-step, with very specific instructions. There is very little wiggle room - because vague processes are not well suited for AnActionPlan.

Temporal

The advanced scheduling features of AnActionPlan mean that the temporal nature of step-by-step instructions is easy to follow. The Action Plan author specifies the order and timing of every step. Steps can happen in parallel or in serial. For example, a procurement action plan may have a step that permits evaluating several vendors in parallel at one stage, and then converging back to a single pipeline once the vendor has been chosen.

What do you think?

*Temporal is "Time-related" in Wikipedia, but that is not as elegant as "temporal", and they mean the same thing.