smart goals
Order Description
SMART Goals
Directions:
Create a list of five Career SMART Goals and explain how they are SMART by utilizing the following format:
Text of the Goal:
The goal is specific because:
The goal is measurable because:
The goal is achievable because:
The goal is realistic because:
The goal is time-bound because:
Success Factor:
Assignment includes 5 SMART Goals
Author follows directions
Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
In the November 1981 issue of Management Review, George T. Doran wrote a paper called There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write
management’s goals and objectives. It discussed the importance of objectives and the difficulty in setting them.
Mr. Doran does not say that all objectives must be quantified on all levels of management. In certain situations it is not
realistic to attempt quantification. Practicing managers and corporations can lose the benefit of a more abstract objective
in order to gain quantification. It is the combination of the objective and its action plan that is really important.
Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you
must answer the six “W” questions:
*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a
week.”
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Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement
that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……
How much? How many?
How will I know when it is accomplished?
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Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come
true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously
overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out
those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because
your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see
yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
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Realistic- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can
be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every
goal represents substantial progress.
A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the
hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
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Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you
want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May
1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is
realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to
exist to accomplish this goal.
T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch,
smell, sight or hearing.
When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
Recently, two new criteria have been added to form the term SMARTER:
Evaluate -Your goals are not set in stone and will change from time to time. Constant evaluation of your goals is essential
to reaching your goals. Change factors must be taken into consideration during your evaluation. Factors such as a change in
your major, a change in job responsibilities, or a change in available resources may affect your stated goals.
Revise– After evaluation, you should re-do the goals that need changing and continue the SMARTER goal-setting process.
Verbs to use in writing SMARTER objectives
* Activate address adjust analyze apply arrange assemble assess assist associate
* Balance breakdown build
* Calculate categorize center change charge check choose cite classify clean
close combine compare complete compute conduct connect construct contrast
convert copy count create critique
* Define describe design detect determine develop diagram differentiate
disassemble discharge disconnect display distinguish
* Enumerate estimate evaluate examine, execute, explain
*File fill form formulate
* Grasp group
* Identify illustrate indicate inspect install interpret
* Label lift list listen locate make manage manipulate measure modify
* Name
* Order organize outline
* Perform plan predict prepare prescribe produce proof purchase
* Quote
* Recall recite record reiterate repeat reply reproduce respond restate
* Select serve solve specify
* Tabulate tell test trace transcribe transfer troubleshoot use
* Validate verify
* Write
SMART Examples:
Solicit updates and new material for the website from our department managers on the first Friday of each month; publish this
new material by the following Friday. Each time material is published, review the Website for material that is out-of-date
and delete or archive that material.
Review the department’s web page on a monthly basis to insure that all data is up-to-date; that design is consistent with
corporate standards; that access and navigation capabilities are user friendly.
Bad example of a SMART goal: “I want to have a lot of money”.
Good example of a SMART goal: “I want to make one million within 10 years by starting an internet marketing business selling
personal development products all over the world and by providing life coaching consultancy and conducting live seminars.”
Bad example of a SMART goal: “I want to lose weight”.
Good example of a SMART goal: “I want to lose 20 lbs by April 15th 2008. I will perform a half hour of cardio and half hour
of strength training per day, 5 times a week and I will only eat starchy carbohydrates 3 times a week.”
Bad example of a SMART goal: “I want to write a book”.
Good example of a SMART goal:“I want to write a work book on “How to add 10 years to your life” that is at least 150 pages in
length and get it completed by June 30th 2008. I will write at least 4 pages every weekday until I complete the book.”
Goal setting is not without its critics. Some argue that the theory is over-prescribed and can potentially cause harm to an
organization. Care should be taken in applying goal setting due to the possible unintended side effects. For example, it has
been argued that unethical behavior can result from motivating employees to meet specific and challenging goals. In an effort
to reach a sales quota, salespeople may either fudge numbers or lie to customers in order to reach their monetary goal. This
focus on goal attainment can actually promote unethical behavior by creating a focus on ends rather than the means. This
negative behavior can be mitigated by means such as offering progressive awards toward goal attainment, organizational
control systems, and an ethical workplace culture.
Goal-setting theory can motivate individuals and improve organizational outcomes. While some caution may be in order,
failures resulting from the theory are usually due to errors in its application and can often be prevented. The subject of
human motivation is vast and complex. No single theory fully explains every aspect of what motivates individuals to perform
better.
