S.M.A.R.T goals mean specific, time-based, realistic and achievable goals. These are the factors that help in achieving a specific goal or for smart goal setting. There are certain objectives that should be achieved after setting up a project and setting up SMART goals can help you/your team to achieve them. It holds everyone accountable for their role.
The SMART full form can differentiate with respect to the tasks specified by the project and can vary under different circumstances.
1. Specific:
· Precise
· Intuitive to anyone who has a basic knowledge about the project
2. Measurable:
· Can measure how completed the project is
· Understand the success of the project
3. Attainable:
· Accountability-who is accountable for what task
· Does everyone agree with the objectives and terms of the project-stakeholders/team members
4. Relevant:
· The project should represent an objective which you’re working on
· Does this add value to your project?
5. Time Bound:
· Time limits should be set to achieve goals
· What can be done now?
As goals are being develop and different phases are being completed, reevaluate each goal to make sure they are still relevant and attainable. SMART goal setting gives your team structure to direction to how you will achieve your goals. SMART goals serve as a form of communication between employees and managers. In addition, they’re used as a performance enhancer tool, if not followed properly; it can lead to poor performance and waste of time for the entire team.
SMART goals are derivative of management of objectives (MBO), which is an effective way to prioritize objectives and tasks. When utilizing SMART goals, collecting feedback is necessary with your team members because it shows the development of the current status of the project, which allows space for adjustments. Feedback includes regular checking to measure the current development with the theoretical results.
Recording progress of the status of the project is asking the following questions:
· Are we following the plan?
· Are our efforts helping moving the project forward or holding us back?
· Are changes needed to the current plan?
SMART goals help us follow our goals and prevent us from getting distracted by day-to-day distractions. Contact us to get started setting up your SMART goals.