DNAproximity Teaches - S.M.A.R.T.

Goals/Objectives

What is S.M.A.R.T.?

Criteria to guide an individual or a team in the setting of goals and objectives for personal development.

How was S.M.A.R.T. instigated?

George T. Doran is credited with being the individual who had first utilised the acronym S.M.A.R.T. within the issue of Management Review , November 1981.

How is S.M.A.R.T. an advantage?

A core advantage of S.M.A.R.T. objectives is that development of a person or project is easier to comprehend once they they have been accomplished. S.M.A.R.T. is reflective. SMART goals are better for setting sub-goals. This means that where tasks are too big to handle in one go, it must be broken down further into smaller task in order to mange and minimise work stress.

How you can define S.M.A.R.T. for your development objectives and goals (personal, business)

S in SMART: SPECIFIC (also Strategic, Stretching)
The “S” in S.M.A.R.T. usually stands for Specific, to ensure the objective is not vague.
Unclear objectives are a recipe for disaster and leave individuals uncertain as to how to act. This means you will not experience a true increase in productivity. This is how many line managers fail in their role when it comes to helping workers set, understand and achieve goals.

(Q.) Are your S.M.A.R.T. objectives really Specific?
Be 100% honest with yourself when considering the answer. As a line manager, for instance, is shrieking “Increase sales!” to your workers close to, or, far from a specific objective? A competent worker may well question the ability of a line manager who cannot hold it together, where the line manager reverts to shrieking when pressurised from their line manager who bellows to them “Increase sales!”.
This worker would have at the forefront of their mind; regarding their line manager and the organisation that s/he works for, “Precisely more sales of what?” Or. “How many more sales are you thinking of?” In addition to this thinking from the worker is “By when?” This uncertainty will only add to stress levels and can lead to the burnout of workers. Where worker burnout is recognised as an organisational development of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

As such, a Specific objective should be:
“I want you all to increase sales of advertising space this calendar year by 15%”.
This gives workers clarity about what to achieve, plus by when.
In addition to having an objective that is Specific, it is also useful to encapsulate an objective that is sufficiently Stretching for an individual and organisation. When an objective is Stretching, it is more Motivating for the individual and leads to higher levels of achievement. Put simply, Stretching goals create better results. It should be noted, however, the degree of stretch needs to be reasonable to ensure the objective is realistically achievable (see “A” for “Achievable” below).

M in SMART: MEASURABLE (also Motivating)
The “M” objective definition within S.M.A.R.T. often relates to Measurable.
It is important for both a worker and their line manager to understand what success looks like for the objective. This is the only way both parties will know if the objective has been achieved. This is why objectives need to be traceable, measurable goals.

The measure of a S.M.A.R.T. objective can be either qualitative, or, quantitative.
1. A quantitative measurement, or activity, may be something as “This department needs to reduce its overheads by 10% this financial year”.
2. A qualitative objective may be “This project has to be completed on time and within budget to the satisfaction of the customer”.

A in SMART: ACHIEVABLE (also Agreed, Assignable, Action-oriented, Ambitious, Aligned with corporate goals = agreed, attainable + achievable)
The “A” is one of the letters in S.M.A.R.T. which has a variety of occurrences within its objective definitions.
The most common variations are Achievable, Attainable, Agreed and Aligned. It is commonly advised to use Achievable rather than Attainable, as Achievable has the significance of being perceived as slightly less bureaucratic. It is understood that whilst performance objectives should certainly be in an upward/improvement alignment to the overall objectives of an organisation, in general the preference is to use “Relevant” as the “R” to cover this point. This is because Aligned can sound like business jargon to workers; or too airy-fairy, with little comprehension as to what is actually being asked of them.

The “Agreed” factor is an important aspect. All objectives should be agreed by both the individual and the line manager in question, or the customer and the organisation. If the objective is forced upon the worker by the line manager, then there will be no ownership on behalf of the worker and the objective is less likely to be achieved. On the other hand, if the worker has the freedom to create her/his own objectives to a certain extent, then the goal is far more likely to be achieved and to a high standard.

If, as the decision-maker, you have a preference to use an online performance management software system to capture worker objectives, the Agreed word may not be necessary. As such these systems tend to ensure that both parties formally agree on the objectives before they are finalised.

R in SMART: RELEVANT (also Realistic, Resourced, Reasonable, Results-based)
The “R” links to effective performance objectives that are Relevant to what an organisation and/or the team needs to achieve. Otherwise, objectives could be successfully delivered but have no impact on the overall performance of the organisation, which defeats the ultimate purpose of performance management. Thus, the overall goals of the organisation and team(s) should be communicated to all persons involved, in a language they can understand, before specific workers objectives are set.

It is in this sense that continuously cascading goals downward be limited; or even avoided. In its place is a statement to action aligning S.M.A.R.T. objectives upward. This improves an organisation’s communication and transparency whilst enabling persons to come up with objectives that will contribute to the achievement of the overall goals.

Note that some S.M.A.R.T. objectives definitions tend to associate “R” to ”Realistic”. By its very nature Realistic goals are important. However, if Achievable has been used to represent “A” within S.M.A.R.T. then using “R” as ”Realistic” is not necessary. This is because the two words are essentially making the same point.

T in SMART: TIME-BOUND (also Time-limited, Time-based, Time-sensitive, Time-oriented, Timely, Trackable, Time/cost limited, Time-frame, Testable)
A target date is very important for objectives as they need to show when they are to be completed. Thus the need for incorporating an aspect of being time-bound. This not only provides a sense of urgency but also aids when it comes to reviewing whether or not the objective has been successfully achieved.

For some decision-makers utilising “T” to equate to ”Trackable” makes more sense for their objectives. However, it is important to bear in mind that if a distinct, success measure is defined (i.e. the objective is measurable) with a target deadline, then it should be easy to track progress towards achieving the objective in any event.