Have you ever been on a team that has a goal but the team never gets off the ground? Have you ever been assigned a goal without knowing what you really need to accomplish by when? I will admit that in years long ago, I had been assigned to a team that had a goal that was not getting anywhere. In those years long ago, I had also been assigned goals that were unclear in nature. These types of goals can be frustrating for all parties involved. In order to avoid this frustration I have found that the implementation of SMART Goals seems to help.
Many of us in Project Management have heard the term SMART Goals but a quick review may be beneficial from time to time. The word SMART is an acronym that is broken down into …
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Timely
Please note that there are other variations of the SMART acronym but I find this version best suites me personally and professionally. With that in mind, I would like to break this down a bit further.
S – Specific, I feel that this should address the who, what, when, where and why of the SMART goal. In other words …
Who needs to be involved to accomplish the goal?
What needs to be accomplished?
When does this need to be completed by?
Where does this need to be accomplished?
Why does this need to be accomplished?
M – Measurable, I feel that this should measure the progress of the goal. It should be a periodic scheduled review that is measuring what is being accomplished over time.
A – Attainable, I feel that this should determine if this is something that can truly be accomplished. It is important to remember that goals take time, money and resources to accomplish, it is not something to be taken lightly by the organization or individual.
R – Realistic, I feel that if the individual, the team and/or the organization believes that the goal is realistic than it can be accomplished.
T – Timely, I feel that a goal without a deadline or schedule will not get the attention it deserves and will most likely not get accomplished.
These are the SMART goal criteria that have been advantageous to me over the years. But I want to focus on something I have found very important and that is … “Why does this goal need to be accomplished?” If you don’t have a big enough reason why this goal needs to be accomplished, chances are you will not get the engagement or traction necessary to get moving on the goal.
My advice is to be clear about SMART goals and periodically measure their progress over time. I feel that we all desire the successful outcome for individual and team goals, if there are written status reports and scheduled periodic reviews of goals this will lead to a successful outcome. Take a look at the calendar, when did you last check the status of your goals? In addition, how are your goals coming along? This is something you may want to think about.
