Setting goals may not be an easy task; it is a common challenge for teams and organizations. While every team wants to be successful, the question stands on determining how they can achieve success.

By setting visible SMART goals, you and your team can reach a common understanding – a consensus, to answer the “what,“ “why,“ and “how“ related to your tasks and issues.

What are SMART Goals and what are they for?

SMART Goals are a proven technique in setting goals, such that, people can have a visualization of what they need to do; why they need to implement them, and how to achieve those.

It is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. They are all interrelated, whereby each factor cannot exist without the other. SMART Goals turn unclear ideas into actionable targets.

S - specific

M - measurable

A - attainable

R - relevant

T - time-bound

Anyone - from University students to Business Executives - can benefit from using and applying SMART Goals.

💡 Key takeaways: Specific, measurable goals can be attained if they are relevant to the team and are time-bound.

If one of these elements is missing, try to re-evaluate your goals.

Specific

When setting goals, you have to be specific instead of being broad or generic.

What goal does your team want to achieve? Which problem do you want to solve? Do you want to boost productivity, improve communication, or eliminate silos?

You can start by thinking of a general overview. Then, drill it down to more specific objectives and outcomes that the team can clearly understand.

Define what actions you need to take to achieve those goals.

Measurable

You need to quantify your goals so that in the end, you would know whether you have actually achieved them or not. Setting measurable goals allows you to track progress and be adaptable in your way of working.

Decide what data you need to collect and how it can measure the goal.

Attainable

To attain means to achieve or be successful in getting something. In goal setting and planning, teams must consider the skill set of the people involved.

Then, you will be able to determine whether the goals are attainable. Setting realistic goals is helpful for the organization and team health.

Relevant

Goal setting should revolve around its relevance in the team and the organization as a whole. Goals should be meaningful to the team.

Also consider that when situations change, the relevance of a goal may be affected.

Time-bound

Goals must be time-bound.

A roadmap or timeline will help your team visualize how near or far you are from achieving the goal, or if it is even attainable.

Setting a time-bound goal means giving your team a deadline and reaching that deadline would imply that you have attained that specific goal.

Conclusion

Effective goal-setting is a key to an individual’s and a team’s success. SMART Goals have been proven to be effective that is why organizations have been using them as a guide.

As an individual, how do you think you could apply this concept to your personal goals?

Steps to write your S.M.A.R.T. Goals:

1. Write your initial goal. It could be a broad one at this point.

2. Specific - What do you want to accomplish? Who is involved? Why is it important?

3. Measurable - How can you measure your goal? What tools and methods are you going to use to know that you have successfully attained it?

4. Attainable - Are you capable of reaching this goal? If it is not yet attainable, what steps do you need to take to enable you to reach this goal? What resources do you need? Do you have access to such resources? How motivated are you to reach your goal?

5. Relevant - Why are you setting this goal now? Does it align with your values and vision? Is it relevant to the overall objectives of the team and organization?

6. Time-bound - When is the deadline to reach this goal? Are you setting a realistic deadline?

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Examples of SMART Goals

Initial goal: I want to be a better leader.

SMART Goal: I will improve my leadership skills by giving 3 pieces of constructive feedback to each team member during our weekly 1:1 for the next 3 months. When I repeat this loop, we will reach a positive team health check every quarter.

Initial goal: To motivate my team to complete the project in these challenging times.

Specific: I will motivate my team to persevere on [this project; specify as appropriate] amidst challenging times by recognizing their efforts. I will do this by encouraging open communication and scheduling team-building activities.

Measurable: There will be less complaints and productivity will increase. 

Attainable: We have a team budget that we can spend for the activities. Everyone is free to suggest options for the team to choose from and agree, accordingly.

Relevant: By motivating my team by holding team-building activities, we will be able to prevent burnout and attrition. Our team will develop resilience and realize the value of their perseverance. This will help not only our project but also the company.  

Time-bound: We will have team-building activities twice a year to coincide with the quarterly health check. These activities also align with the company’s annual team health check.

Variations of SMART Goals

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-based

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed

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