Writing SMART and Meaningful Goals

May 19, 2013

This guide on crafting your future through strategic goal setting is a very important part of the strategic planning process. Writing good goals is the critical piece of whether your strategic plan will become something you can execute, or just a list of good ideas.

To that end, applying the SMART approach to goal development is something we are all familiar with and are perhaps getting sick of. The principals inherent in this best practice is great, but let’s tackle it another way. Think about making goals meaningful because meaningful goals are important to creating energy to drive execution. Couple this with a meaningful commitment and you will have SMART goals by default.

Leading Your Team

Prepare your team to write corporate goals by having them watch the “How to Set SMART Goals” video. Using the “Organization-wide Goals” worksheet, develop two to four, 1-2 year goals for each strategic objective by answering the question “what must we accomplish/prioritize this year?” Once you have a list, refine to ensure they are at the right goal level (meaning not too tactical):

  • Encompasses a large portion of staff/departments (needing more than one person to complete).
  • Minimum one year in nature, but not longer than two.
  • Outcome not task oriented.
  • Be focused. Do less to accomplish more.

The Bottom Line

“Unless commitment (owner and deadline) is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no action.” – Peter Drucker

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