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How To Set Smart Goals

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22 views

How To Set Smart Goals

Uploaded by

Matheus Teodoro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SMART GOALS

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

As an entry-level project manager, you may or may not be setting the project's
main goals, but you will need to be able to identify and clarify them as needed,
and that's where the SMART method can be a valuable tool.
if your goal is not specific, you'll have trouble figuring out how long it should
take to complete and whether or not you've accomplished it.
SPECIFIC
 What do I want to accomplish?
 Why is this a goal? (Does it have a specific reason, purpose, or benefit?)
 Who is involved?
 Who is the recipient? (Employees, customers, the community at large? )
 Where should the goal be delivered?
 To what degree? (In other words, what are the requirements and
constraints?)
MEASURABLE
Next, we want to set goals that are measurable, meaning we can determine that
they were objectively met. but also a tool to help people stay motivated.
You can tell the goal is measurable by asking:
 How much?
 How Many?
 How wil I know when it’s accomplished?
Sometimes the success of a goal can be measured with a simple yes or
no.
You will need to measure most of the goals you have with metrics.
Example: At Office Green, the project goal is to increase revenue by five
percent. > revenue is the metric.
Lastly, consider benchmarks or points of reference to make sure you're
choosing accurate metrics.
For instance, if your overall goal is to increase revenue, you can look at last
year's data as a benchmark for deciding how much to increase revenue this
year. If last year's revenue increased by three percent, then an increase by five
percent in a booming economy would be a reasonable goal for this year.
ATTAINABLE
 Can it reasonably be reached based on the metrics?
(Typically, you want goals that are a little challenging to encourage growth,
otherwise, what's the point of the goal if nothing's going to change?) However,
you don't want it to be too extreme or you'll never reach it.
How can you know if a goal is attainable, if it's unfamiliar? A clue to helping you
figure out if your goal is attainable, is to ask:
 How can it be accomplished? (Break down the goal into smaller parts
and see if it makes sense.)
- use the same process on your Office Green project goal. Businesses
usually conduct quarterly reviews. So let's assume that increase is
expected to occur over the course of a year or four quarters. In order to
meet the goal, of you need to see an increase at least 1.25 percent each
quarter, seems pretty reasonable to me.
RELEVANT
Does it make sense to try and reach this goal? Think about how the goal lines
up with other goals, priorities and values.
 Does the goal make sense?
 Is the goal worthwhile?
(Does the effort involved balance out the benefits? Does it match your
organizations' other needs and priorities? Everyone, from the client, the
project team, and the people who will ultimately use the product, need to
feel like the goal is worth supporting.)
 Is the right time?
(There might be a budget to complete the project now, but will the
company be able to sustain the project over time? Is there an audience
that will continue to use the product or service once it's delivered?)
TIME-BOUND
Means your goal has a deadline. Deadlines give you a way to track your
progress, otherwise, you may never reach your goal or never even get started.
Time and metrics often go hand in hand, because time can also be used as a
metric. Making your goal time-bound gives you a way to break down how much
needs to be accomplished over time.
For example, if you need to increase revenues by the end of the year, you can
break down how much you need to increase each quarter, month, and week,
and there you have it.
SMART: a nearly foolproof method to create and evaluate project goals.

Benchmarking: significa “ponto de referência”. No contexto corporativo,


benchmarking se refere ao processo em que uma empresa pesquisa e avalia
as práticas e estratégias adotadas por outras organizações que atuam no
mesmo mercado.

SMART goals: Making goals meaningful


As you start your career in project management, you may not directly set the
project goals, but you should be able to clarify and understand them. SMART
goals help you see the full scope of a goal, determine its feasibility, and clearly
define project success in concrete terms.

Let’s recap what we discussed in the previous video by taking a look at a


breakdown of the criteria for SMART goals below:
 Specific: The objective has no ambiguity for the project team to
misinterpret.
 Measurable: Metrics help the project team determine when the objective
is met.
 Attainable: The project team agrees the objective is realistic.
 Relevant: The goal fits the organization’s strategic plan and supports the
project charter.
 Time-bound: The project team documents a date to achieve the goal.

You may see variations on what each letter in the “SMART” acronym stands for.
(For example, you may see “actionable” or “achievable” instead of “attainable”
or “realistic” instead of “relevant.”) However, the general intent of each of these
terms—to make sure the goal is within reach—is always similar.

Focusing on the "M" in SMART


Let’s take a moment to zoom in on the M in SMART, which stands for
measurable. Having measurable goals allows you to assess the success of
your project based on quantifiable or tangible metrics, such as dollar amounts,
number of outputs, quantities, etc. Measurable goals are important because
they leave little room for confusion around expectations from stakeholders.

Not every metric will have value, so you will have to determine which metrics
make sense for the project. For example, measuring how many meetings the
software engineers on your project attend on a weekly basis may not be the
most valuable metric for a productivity goal. Alternatively, you might measure
other aspects of the engineers’ productivity, such as a particular number of
features created per engineer or a specific number of issues flagged per day.

Defining a SMART goal


Let’s explore an example related to making a personal goal measurable.
Imagine you are looking to make a career change, and you set a goal to
complete a Google Career Certificate. You can measure the success of this
goal because after completing the entire program, you will receive a certificate
—a tangible outcome.

Now, let’s determine how to make the remaining elements of this goal SMART.
In this example, your specific goal is to attain a Google Career Certificate. You
can make this goal attainable by deciding that you will complete one course per
month. This goal is relevant because it supports your desire to make a career
change. Finally, you can make this goal time-bound by deciding that you will
complete the program within six months.

After defining each of these components, your SMART goal then becomes:
Obtain a Google Career Certificate by taking one course per month within the
next six months.

Key takeaway
Determining metrics can be extremely helpful in capturing statuses, successes,
delays, and more in a project. As a project manager, identifying meaningful
metrics can help move the project toward its goal. Additionally, by defining each
element of a project goal to make it SMART, you can determine what success
means for that goal and how to achieve it.

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