How to Build Clearly SMART Goals
Putting thought into the development of goals is critical to your success at reaching them. Goals help us move towards a vision we have created for ourselves, a desired result we are looking to achieve. For a very long time, effective goals have been defined as being ‘SMART’ goals:
Specific
Measurable Milestones
Attainable
Realistic
Timely (time-bound)
Even in this simple version of SMART, there can be many variations. In fact, you could probably make a case for the fact that goals need to answer the age-old questions – who, what, where, when, why and how. Well, needless to say, if you do not have all of the components, the goal can really be a random statement. Let’s look at this goal:
§ “I would like to have more clients.” This is a goal, but not specific, measureable or time-bound. It is a realistic goal and an attainable one because there are no values attached to it to measure the success or failure. The goal is not very specific.
When the goal changes to:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year”, the goal starts to take shape. If you had 10 clients last year, then that would mean adding another 5 clients. Still realistic, still attainable, somewhat measureable but not time-bound at all, nor specific.
When the goal is flushed out to:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year by June of 2012”, the goal develops time parameters along with a realistic and measureable desired result. You would also be able to develop milestones to ensure that you stay on track with your goals. You can break the 5 clients into 1 per month for January – May 2012. From this point, you can also develop the tactics to follow to find those clients. There is still not an understanding of what type of clients.
To really be precise about the goal you need to take it one step further:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year in segment X of my business by June 2012”. Now you have taken and narrowed your focus on the goal and made it extremely specific. This will allow you to develop clear action steps that will target your desired results.
Clearly SMART goals are critical to your success. Once you have developed your goal using the acronym, you will be able to build your implementation plan complete with milestones and target dates. This will help you keep on track and successfully reach your goals. Now what are you waiting for....go review the goals you have currently written and see if they meet all the criteria.
Specific
Measurable Milestones
Attainable
Realistic
Timely (time-bound)
Even in this simple version of SMART, there can be many variations. In fact, you could probably make a case for the fact that goals need to answer the age-old questions – who, what, where, when, why and how. Well, needless to say, if you do not have all of the components, the goal can really be a random statement. Let’s look at this goal:
§ “I would like to have more clients.” This is a goal, but not specific, measureable or time-bound. It is a realistic goal and an attainable one because there are no values attached to it to measure the success or failure. The goal is not very specific.
When the goal changes to:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year”, the goal starts to take shape. If you had 10 clients last year, then that would mean adding another 5 clients. Still realistic, still attainable, somewhat measureable but not time-bound at all, nor specific.
When the goal is flushed out to:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year by June of 2012”, the goal develops time parameters along with a realistic and measureable desired result. You would also be able to develop milestones to ensure that you stay on track with your goals. You can break the 5 clients into 1 per month for January – May 2012. From this point, you can also develop the tactics to follow to find those clients. There is still not an understanding of what type of clients.
To really be precise about the goal you need to take it one step further:
§ “I would like to have 50% more clients than last year in segment X of my business by June 2012”. Now you have taken and narrowed your focus on the goal and made it extremely specific. This will allow you to develop clear action steps that will target your desired results.
Clearly SMART goals are critical to your success. Once you have developed your goal using the acronym, you will be able to build your implementation plan complete with milestones and target dates. This will help you keep on track and successfully reach your goals. Now what are you waiting for....go review the goals you have currently written and see if they meet all the criteria.
