For those of you have read any of my other posts you may have seen some mention of the SMART system within them.
I love this simple system and am sure it will be of great use to you if you have not used it before. If you haven’t heard of it, you may already be using it without even knowing it!
Read on to learn more about this system and how to use it.
What is the SMART system?
The SMART system is a tool used to support the setting of clear goals and manage expectations.
This method provides a simple structure for individuals looking to boost their productivity, as well as managers in larger organisations who need to ensure their teams remain on track while working collaboratively on projects, particularly those that involve meeting agreed deadlines.
The system, as written in the original article by George T Doran, states that goals should be:
Specific
The goal should be clear and not open to misinterpretation. For example, “I would like to read 24 books this year” provides far more specificity than “I would like to increase the amount I read”.
It gives the person taking on the task a clear outline of what ‘more books’ looks like and how we can quantify its completion.
Measurable
To keep a goal measurable means to ensure it can be tracked using figures, statistics or milestones. Having previously taken some time to be specific, it can be simple to install some unit of measurement for reviewing the progress throughout the project.
In our reading example, we can determine that we would like to target an average of 2 books per month and have reached 12 books by month 6. The measurement used doesn’t need to follow a linear path of units divided by available time and can instead vary throughout the project, taking into account other external factors.
You may for example, establish that from September to December you are able to read 3 books per month and therefore you will have aimed to reach 12 books by month 9 if beginning the task in January.
Assignable
The next step is to establish who is going to be doing the task. In the reading example, one individual is assigned to the task but in larger projects this could be a number of people carrying individual components of a greater task.
Realistic
Once we have outlined how we are going to measure the progress and we know who the project is assigned to, we need to assess the amount of units each assignee can realistically achieve.
In the reading example, if you are only able to allocate 1 hour per week to this task and the average book takes 7 hours to read, we can comfortably say that our ambition is not realistic as we would only finish 1 book every 7 weeks, 11 full books per annum! Some further review is required if we want our goal to be achievable.
In this example, to ensure our reading goal is realistic, we either need to:
- Time block a minimum of 3.5 hours of reading per week (30 mins per day)
- Reduce the target to a lesser number of books
- Extend the timeframe in which we hope to complete our goal
Time-bound
Incorporating a target date on a project helps to sustain the required pace for progression. A timeframe can also compliment the ability to measure the task, assessing if the progression made is enough or too little.
In our example, we have assigned a timeframe to the objective by being specific when creating it. When projects are generated, they usually begin with the idea of a timeframe… ” We need to get [ X task] completed by [Y date]…” When this happens, we need to ensure that the completion date is realistic.
Where there is not a preset deadline, we can establish one by estimating the time of completion.
Note, while a target date can serve as a motivating factor, an unrealistic timeframe can serve as the opposite a lead to demotivation.
Who created the SMART goal setting method?
SMART has been attributed to George T Doran after discussing this goal setting system in his article “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”.
George T. Doran was associated with the Washington State University and the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC). He was also involved in various consulting roles related to management and goal-setting practices.
How has SMART Goal Setting Evolved?
The SMART work system was originally built to create management goals within business. At the time of creation, the acronym stood for specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time bound.
The versatility of this system has meant that with two slight variations, individuals can get even more out of using this tool outside of the work setting to create, manage and complete goals efficiently.
The SMART Variations for Individual’s
Assignable > Achievable
Although ‘assignable’ makes sense in a business setting, it is of little use when writing goals for yourself – it should be obvious who is going to do it!
In its place, we use the world achievable. It is here we we spend some time assessing if our goal is realistic.
Remember – It is important to not underestimate our ability to overestimate our capabilities!
Realistic > Relative
As ‘realistic’ has already been covered in the ‘Achievable’ section, the ‘R’ of SMART goal setting becomes ‘Relative’.
For personal goals, it’s more helpful to ask whether the goal is relevant to where you want to go in life. It’s not just about what’s possible, but about what aligns with your bigger picture.
A goal may be achievable, but if it doesn’t serve your larger ambitions, it can quickly lose its value. By ensuring that your goals are “relative,” you ensure that each step you take is meaningful and directly contributes to your overall vision for the future.
Too many times, I have found myself enrolled on courses and studying articles which have been of great interest to me, but have not been at all relevant to my future vision. When an activity will absorb a significant portion of your time, it is vital to ensure it aligns with your future goals.
Remember – Each hour spent perusing irrelevant information, is an hour lost perusing your true goals.
Writing SMART Objectives
In the words George T Doran, “the acronym does not mean that every objective written will have all five criteria”. The suggestion is that the closer we can get to fulfilling the SMART guideline, the smarter our objectives will be.
I am yet to come across a situation in which a well planned goal does not have an outline that will match the guideline set out by SMART, even if this system has not been actively used during its creation.
If the goal or project does not have specificity, a desired outcome, the resource to support it or a target date, we have to ask ourselves, it’s the goal really the main focus right now and if it is, have we broken it down into achievable parts?
With this in mind, we should be looking to populate each section of the SMART guideline in almost all scenarios when writing our goals.
How Can You Begin to Implement SMART Goal Setting Into Your Productivity Workflow?
Have you heard of the saying “begin with the end in mind”? This is a fantastic saying from the book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. This habit involves setting long-term, personal, and family-based goals, and then working backwards to create a plan to achieve them.
To apply this habit, you start by imagining what you want to achieve in the long run, and then work backwards to identify the steps you need to take to get there. This approach helps you stay focused on what’s truly important and ensures that your daily actions are aligned with your overall goals.
Let’s use an example and say we want to take part in a 100 mile ultra marathon. Beginning with the goal “complete a 100 mile ultra” is far too big of a task to take on in one go for most of us. This is where working backwards can pay dividends towards creating a successful plan.
Let’s assume we currently run 20 miles per week and we are considered race ready when we can comfortably run 2 x 100 mile weeks back to back. We do not want to increase our running mileage more than 10% per week to avoid injury.
With this set of criteria, our 18th week would be our first 100mile week. Knowing this, we can now create smaller achievable goals to move us closer to our final goal.
Our new goal…
I would like to run an 100 mile ultra marathon before the end of this year to tick this off of my bucket list. To do this I must:
- Book an ultra marathon leaving a 20 week training window, allowing 1 week for tapering off
- Run 20miles in week 1 and increase the mileage by 10% per week. Max out at 100miles and sustain until end of week 19.
When we review the above, it already begins to sound achievable!
- The above is specific, it couldn’t be any clearer what we want to achieve.
- It is fully measurable as the programme is built around measurements.
- It is achievable assuming injury is prevented. A slow increase in mileage has been incorporated to assist with this.
- The goal is relative. This person enjoys running and would like to achieve this milestone.
- The goal is time-bound with a deadline of the current annum.
Summary
The SMART goal setting system is a simple but powerful tool that can help you make clear and measurable goals.
The acronym provides a fun checklist to quickly assess whether the task is viable, or if we should be pursuing it at all.
Have a go at implementing this system into your life and see how you get on. I’m sure you will find yourself coming back to it again and again!
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