S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals is easy.
S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and
Timely. If you and your management team are creating them you have a
better chance to succeed.
They are very granular in natural.
There is no ambiguity and there is a time frame for achieving each goal.
If you are setting vague goals you most likely will produce results that
match. An example of this is ……"We will reduce operating expenses this
year”. This is vague, non specific and not measureable or timely.
There is no way to measure the outcome
because we don't know the specific destination. If your
business is measuring its success like this you probably have
employees who don't know if they are doing a good job or not. And
chances are very good that you are not achieving your goals as
well.
A solid example of a S.M.A.R.T. Goal
is: "We will reduce operating expenses by 2% for the second quarter
of the fiscal year”. This contains all the elements that we need to
reach our destination.
It is specific “reduce operating
expenses by 2%, it is measurable, and it is timely. Of course it has to
be attainable and realistic too.
Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals is specific,
dynamic, and a call to action. The acronym stands for:
Specific – A specific goal will
contain enough detail to answer who, what, where, when.
Measurable - A measurable goal
will contain an exact end. Answer the questions how much or how many is
a good start.
Attainable – Goals must stretch
you, but should be achievable with good effort. If they are not it could
cause apathy because the goal seemed too far away.
Realistic – Do you think the goal
is achievable? Can you get it done with maximum effort or will your
maximum effort still come up short? Goals should not be easy…to the
contrary. However, they should be realistic.
Timely – Set an exact start and
end time. If you do not establish a start time, you will never begin. If
you do not establish an end time you will never achieve your goal in a
timely manner. Having a start and end time greatly increases your chance
for success.
Creating S.M.A.R.T goals will help
you achieve a higher percentage of them and this all adds up to driving
more business. Let it work for you today
