A method to set clear and relevant objectivesSMART objectives

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SMART – overall presentation

What is SMART?

Where does it come from? The concept first appeared in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran. (1)

How does it work? The five criteria of a SMART objective are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. By following the five steps you ground your plan in the reality of time, space, feasibility, personnel and potential impact. You make sure that your objectives are the right goals and improve your strategy’s probability of success.

SMART is a framework that allows you to ask specific questions of your strategy so that you can see how well it stands up as a concrete proposal.

Who does it apply to? The method is useful in all strategic planning situations and can be well extended to all professional scenarios in which objectives have to be set.

(1) Doran, G. T. (1981). There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11(AMA FORUM), pp. 35–36.

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SMART objectives – The attributes in details

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S for Specific

This stage is crucial. The key is to establish the

concrete foundations of your plan. You need to

define and formulate your objective clearly and

in details. You have greater chance of success

when your objective perimeter is clearly set

rather than when the definition remains foggy.

Furthermore the more clearly your objective are

defined the easier it will be to assess the success

or failure of the project.

For example : ‘I want to improve sales

performance’ is unclear.

‘I want our sales to improve by 10% by this time

next year and our margin to remain stable’ is a

much clearer one.

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SMART objectives – The attributes in details

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M for Measurable

Are we able to quantify the effect of our work:

- Can we say with precision when our target has

been reached?

- Can we measure the rate of progress?

- Will we be able to quantitatively assess the

level of success of the undertaking?

In order to measure both the final level of success

and the rate of change, you have to know both

where you're starting from as well as where you

want to go.

To continue with our previous example, if we want

to improve our sales figures, it’s crucial that we

know precisely what they are now, so that we can

check the rate of progress.

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SMART objectives – The attributes in details

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A for Attainable

This is where you ask yourself if your goal is really

feasible or if it is wishful thinking.

Based on previous performances, do you think

your company will be able to achieve the goal you

have set?

Be sure to ask yourself this question if this kind of

objective has never been set before or if your

expectations are much higher than recent trends.

Most of the time the answer to the question will

depend on:

- The time frame in which you have decided to

reach this goal (see final step: Time Bound)

- The resources you will be able to access in

order to achieve that goal (money, human

resources, infrastructure etc)

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SMART objectives – The attributes in details

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R for Relevant

Relevancy is where you locate your objective

within the broader narrative of your firm's

strategy. What does it contribute? How does it

fit in? Will it have a positive effect on your

company's over-arching plan?

Example: setting the goal of reducing

production costs in all business units might be a

clever goal but may not be viable if the

company’s overall strategy for the year is to

double production at all costs.

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SMART objectives – The attributes in details

S

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T for Time bound

Setting a time frame is essential to the definition of any

objective, otherwise it’s no more than simple wishful

thinking.

Without a time target a project can be left to drag on and

on. It's a good idea to think about feasibility and

relevancy again when you think about setting a time-

frame. What is the strategic rationale behind your

timeframe. Does it fit in with your other business

projects? Considering all your other projects and

priorities, will you be able to reach your goal by that date,

or does is have to come second to other projects?

But by setting time by which your project should be

finished gives you a yardstick with which to measure your

progress.

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This slideshow is part of Eloquens’ blog post on ‘5 steps to define SMART objectives’