S Is for Specific When It Comes to SMART Goals
Using specificity saves us from creating nebulous goals that can be interpreted in a number of ways—ones that could easily be changed as the project moves forward, detracting from what we truly set out to accomplish. To make sure you're creating a specific goal, consider the following questions:
- Who is needed?
- What will you accomplish?
- When do you expect the outcome to be accomplished?
- Which steps will you take along the way, and which obstacles will you need to overcome?
- Why should this be done? Why do others need to be involved? Why are certain steps essential?
SMART goals example: Jane wants to learn about email marketing. To set a specific SMART goal, she should first explain why she wants to learn email marketing, defining exactly what she wants to learn, and how she plans to achieve her new skills. Then she can research and make decisions about where she can find email marketing courses and when they start, who can teach her, when she should take steps to further her learning, which strategies and technology she may want to use, how she will practice, etc.
M for Measurable
If you can't measure your success, then how will you know when you've achieved your goal? Planning for the M in SMART means identifying which metrics you'll use to measure progress and how you'll determine whether and when you've met your SMART goal.
SMART goals example: A marketing team needs to improve the quality of leads it passes to sales. Team members must determine which metric will not only help them measure the quality of their leads overall, but also how to compare the lead quality both before and after their improvement efforts. They decide to use the "percentage of closed marketing-qualified leads" and then decide upon the amount of improvement they'd like to achieve.
A for Achievable
Are people likely to strive for a goal that they don't believe is possible? Setting an unattainable goal typically ends up demotivating people. Make sure the SMART goal you set is achievable by considering whether you can do it with the skills, time frame, resources, and tools currently at your disposal.
SMART goals example: If, for instance, you're setting a goal around the number of new client deals closed each quarter, remember to keep in mind your sales team's tenure, the quality of their networks, current market conditions, and any seasonality that affects your business and industry. Set goals throughout the year that stretch their abilities but are still possible for them to achieve. And, if you plan to set goals beyond what is achievable now, start slowly by allocating loftier goals to later quarters while outlining for your team how you will help them boost their efforts to get there by then.
R for Relevant
SMART goals must be relevant to be worth accomplishing. Consider whether your new goal is aligned with your overall business goals. If a tributary SMART goal doesn't align with your larger business objectives, then consider how it can be modified before moving forward. Otherwise, you may just decide to scrap for now.
SMART goals example: If your main business objective centers around improving profitability, then setting a SMART goal to generate new customers or open new branches to increase sales isn't relevant. Focusing instead on keeping customers and improving account penetration would be a more relevant goal.
T for Time-bound
Creating a realistic timeline—including an end date—for your goals stimulates ongoing progress and motivates team members to keep moving. Assigning deadlines for when things need to get accomplished avoids confusion and keeps projects on track.
SMART goals example: Imagine asking your assistant to organize and prioritize your email inbox so that you don't have to waste time looking at low-priority emails and sifting through junk to find important client requests. If you don't tell your assistant that you want this done daily by 10:00 a.m., then he may think that it's a one-time task he can complete by the end of the day or week.
