You Want Me to What?

Ensure your goals are SMART so you don’t get lost along the way.

We sat down next to each other at a desk that ran the length of the entire office wall. The chairs were metal bar stools and the fluorescent lighting made it impossible for you to lose your concentration. My boss shuffled her papers. She was petite, stylish, and rigid. She would crack her knuckles often as she spoke. Interactions with her were usually cold and uncomfortable.

She would pencil in TB, for touch base, next to your name on the zone sheet for the day so you knew you would have to sit down with her at some point. You never knew what the conversation would entail but you knew that it would probably be about something you did wrong. No TB was ever penciled in to tell you how great you were.

She opened the conversation by saying, So…I’m not sure about your personality. I stared at her blankly and blinked. Oh. Okay. I think I managed to get out. But what I was thinking was, What does that even mean? What kind of feedback is that? and also — How do you just say that to someone?

I had worked with her for a few months at this point so I was still new. She continued on to tell me that basically, I was stoic. Nothing seemed to stress me out or throw me off guard. She couldn’t figure me out I guess and this was somehow my fault and she needed me to work on it. I left the office angry, confused, and not knowing how to proceed. It was also the first time that anyone had inferred that calm, cool, collected as personality traits were a bad thing. (It was also the last time. It hasn’t happened since).

The truth was that I was stressed out beyond belief and I was hoping that nobody would notice. Every day one of the two upper managers approached me about something I did wrong and they told me almost daily that I wasn’t fast enough. I literally didn’t know how to be any faster. I had never worked in a building that large and I was constantly running. I would eat a bagel as I ran through the store trying to clean, open registers, and lead a morning meeting. God forbid they catch you actually taking a break or sitting down to eat. You’d probably catch a side eye and then later they would gossip about you.

At one point my neck froze up from the stress. Like, the entire left side of my neck and shoulder ached constantly and I couldn’t turn my head left. I couldn’t figure out why. It stayed like that for weeks.

Regular feedback is good. It’s great! But not feedback like, I don’t know about your personality. Maybe consider changing it. I never felt like I could be myself with that boss and I don’t ever want my team to feel that way with me.

Feedback, action plans, and coaching need to be: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. SMART goals they’re called. Why? Well, if you’ve had feedback that doesn’t include some of these pieces than you may be left in the dark or your leader may be stringing you along. Without these key pieces you can’t keep track if you’ve met any goals and are progressing. How was I supposed to go to work and improve my personality? I don’t know. I would never know.

Here is an example of a SMART goal that we use in retail: Achieve a +2% increase of your ADS (average dollar sale) by fiscal year end. That is a simplified version but you can see it has all the elements. Figure out what dollar amount the increase is and you’re in business. You need to improve your ADS is not a good goal. By how much? By when? It leaves your team confused and fuzzy on the details.

This SMART mixture can apply to so many scenarios. You can even throw the equation into your personal life: I want to preserve my sanity so I will take the dog to the groomer once a month so I don’t throw my back out by trying to wash him in my shower. It’s worth every penny, let me tell you.

The next time you are writing reviews, looking for feedback, or seeking out your next promotion think about those goals. If your boss isn’t laying it out for you in context that you can measure and achieve, ask for it.

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent my employer or clients.