Ken Blanchard in his book, Leading At a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations, Prentice Hall, 2006, writes “… the goal-setting process works best when both the manager and direct report come to an initial goal setting meeting, having each thought through what key goals are appropriate for the direct report.” Furthermore, “Once both parties have shared their proposed goals, it is easier to reach agreement…. goal setting should be a joint process.”
After 30+ years of being involved in strategic planning and goal setting, I fully agree with this statement. The desired outcome of the goal setting process is that the proposed goal is owned and understood by the person(s) who need to execute them
For us here today, let’s unpack what a SMART goal actually means. In simple terms, a SMART goal has the following characteristics:
- specific, observable, and measurable
- motivating, i.e. a person needs to know why the goal is important
- attainable
- relevant
- trackable and/or time-bound
When a goal meets the above criterion, then the person and their supervisor are able to measure performance frequently and praise progress when appropriate.
When I see people set SMART goals, the “S” stand for “specific.” Here, the goal starts with an action oriented verb and there is a behavior associated with the goal. It is concise and it should be able to be communicated easily.
The “M” in SMART goals often focuses on being measurable more than motivating. When goal setting fails and I get called in to figure out what went wrong, I often discover that the measurement connected to the SMART goal was based on a lack of clarity about the difference between a leading measure and a lagging measure. A leading measure can be measured daily, weekly or monthly, and a leading measure is predictive. If the leading measure is effective and understood by the person or persons who have to execute the goal, then the lagging measure will be influenced and change will take place.
The “A” in a SMART goal focuses on being “achievable” or “attainable.” The problem with many goals is that they are more concept focused rather than action oriented. Effective goals are not ambiguous. Ambiguity is death to execution.
Furthermore, effective goals and the goal setting process are personal. All involved need to have the mindset that “I own my goals and my goals own me. Executing them is a part of my regular work, and I expect my supervisor to hold me accountable to executing them successfully.” Therefore, we as supervisors need to do regular supervision, coaching and check-ins.
One small note on achievable goals, I have observed this year that actionable goals work better when people are participating in “healthy” teams and within a healthy and well defined work place culture.
The “R” in a SMART goals focuses on being “realistic”. I also like to connect this “R” to being relevant to the strategy of the company. From experience, I have learned that many goals are not in alignment with the overall strategy of the company. I also have learned that many people also don’t understand the strategy or the strategic direction of the company. And without this level of clarity, execution of the goal can become problematic.
The “T” in a SMART goal focuses on “time”. We forget somedays that all effective goals must have a finish line. I often ask people involved in a goal setting process to answer these two questions. Upon completion, how will you know it? Most people just move on to the next thing on the list. And upon completion, how will you celebrate? We get so busy some days that we forget to celebrate when someone effective achieves a goal.
Finally, please remember this advice and counsel from Ken Blanchard in the aforementioned book: “Three to five goals are the ideal number on which peak performance can concentrate, according to most research.”
This week, share and discuss the above with your team. It is time we did goal setting better.
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