What are SMART goals? 

Goals are a part of every aspect of business or personal life. They give a sense of direction and help you focus on a certain target. However, not every objective that you’ve said can be regarded as a goal. For instance, for your business, you may want to grow your customer base, improve brand awareness, or just increase conversions. But, none of these are necessarily ‘goals’ yet. For them to become goals, they need some additional details and specifications. This is where SMART comes in. SMART is an effective tool that is used to help guide goal setting. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Ensuring your goals meet these criteria will help keep you organized, give a sense of direction, and provide a time frame to work within & therefore, increasing the chances of you achieving your goal

SMART goals are: 

Specific: well-defined, clear & unambiguous 

Measurable: with well-defined criteria to measure your progress 

Achievable: Attainable

Relevant: Reasonable, result-based & aligned with the overall objectives of the company or business

Time-bound: with a clearly defined time-frame

SMART GOALS: SPECIFIC

A smart goal is well-defined, clear & unambiguous. Be clear about what you want to accomplish. When drafting your goals, try to answer the five ‘W’: 

• What: what is it that is to be accomplished?
• Who: who is involved?
• When: when does it need to be accomplished?
• Why: why does it need to be accomplished?
• Where: where does the goal need to be achieved?

 

SMART GOALS: MEASURABLE

A measurable goal will be instrumental so you can track your progress and determine if you are on your way to meeting your deadlines. Ask yourself:

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when my goal is accomplished?
• What is the indicator of my progress?

SMART GOALS: ACHIEVABLE

A smart goal must be achievable & attainable. Try to keep your targets stretched so that you feel challenged but make sure to define & quantify your targets, so you can achieve them. When defining, point towards ‘How’ & ‘what actions are needed to be taken’ to achieve your goals. Moreover, if needed, calibrate again given the constraints. Ask yourself:

• Do I have the resources and the capabilities to achieve the goal? If not, what are the constraints and how can they be overcome?
• Are the goals realistically possible to be achieved?

SMART GOALS: RELEVANT

When setting SMART goals, evaluate if the set goals truly matter and that they align with everyone involved in the situation: the business, the company’s overall objectives, the team, and the stakeholders. Ask yourself:

• Is this goal worthwhile?
• Does this goal fulfill critical company needs?
• Is everyone involved fully on-boarded with the goal? Are they fully aligned and have the same goal in mind?

SMART GOALS: TIME-BOUND

SMART goals must always be time-bound. This will enable you to accomplish the goal within the defined time frame. In addition, setting time-bound smart goals will also help you prioritize the tasks and prevent delays. Besides,  if the goal is not time-constrained, you run the risk of procrastinating and therefore, may lose the motivation to achieve it. Consequently, when setting up the goal, always define these:

• When do I want my goal to be achieved?
• What can I do today?
• What can I do in six weeks?
• What can I do in six months?

EXAMPLE OF A SMART GOAL

Suppose you want to increase your sales by the end of next year. Here is how you will set up your SMART goal that is well-defined, quantifies the target, sets a strategy & assigns a time frame:

We aim to increase the sales of jackets by 20% by the end of the next quarter through social media campaigns where we will predominantly focus on influencer marketing.

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Goals are a part of every aspect of business or personal life. They give a sense of direction and help you focus on a certain target. However, not every objective that you’ve said can be regarded as a goal. For instance, for your business, you may want to grow your customer base, improve brand awareness, or just increase conversions. But, none of these are necessarily ‘goals’ yet. For them to become goals, they need some additional details and specifications. This is where SMART comes in. SMART is an effective tool that is used to help guide goal setting. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Ensuring your goals meet these criteria will help keep you organized, give a sense of direction, and provide a time frame to work within & therefore, increasing the chances of you achieving your goal

SMART goals are: 

Specific: well-defined, clear & unambiguous 

Measurable: with well-defined criteria to measure your progress 

Achievable: Attainable

Relevant: Reasonable, result-based & aligned with the overall objectives of the company or business

Time-bound: with a clearly defined time-frame

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SMART GOALS: SPECIFIC

A smart goal is well-defined, clear & unambiguous. Be clear about what you want to accomplish. When drafting your goals, try to answer the five ‘W’: 

• What: what is it that is to be accomplished?
• Who: who is involved?
• When: when does it need to be accomplished?
• Why: why does it need to be accomplished?
• Where: where does the goal need to be achieved?

SMART GOALS: MEASURABLE

A measurable goal will be instrumental so you can track your progress and determine if you are on your way to meeting your deadlines. Ask yourself:

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when my goal is accomplished?
• What is the indicator of my progress?

SMART GOALS: ACHIEVABLE

A smart goal must be achievable & attainable. Try to keep your targets stretched so that you feel challenged but make sure to define & quantify your targets, so you can achieve them. When defining, point towards ‘How’ & ‘what actions are needed to be taken’ to achieve your goals. Moreover, if needed, calibrate again given the constraints. Ask yourself:

• Do I have the resources and the capabilities to achieve the goal? If not, what are the constraints and how can they be overcome?
• Are the goals realistically possible to be achieved?

SMART GOALS: RELEVANT

When setting SMART goals, evaluate if the set goals truly matter and that they align with everyone involved in the situation: the business, the company’s overall objectives, the team, and the stakeholders. Ask yourself:

• Is this goal worthwhile?
• Does this goal fulfill critical company needs?
• Is everyone involved fully on-boarded with the goal? Are they fully aligned and have the same goal in mind?

SMART GOALS: TIME-BOUND

SMART goals must always be time-bound. This will enable you to accomplish the goal within the defined time frame. In addition, setting time-bound smart goals will also help you prioritize the tasks and prevent delays. Besides,  if the goal is not time-constrained, you run the risk of procrastinating and therefore, may lose the motivation to achieve it. Consequently, when setting up the goal, always define these:

• When do I want my goal to be achieved?
• What can I do today?
• What can I do in six weeks?
• What can I do in six months?

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EXAMPLE OF A SMART GOAL

Suppose you want to increase your sales by the end of next year. Here is how you will set up your SMART goal that is well-defined, quantifies the target, sets a strategy & assigns a time frame:

We aim to increase the sales of jackets by 20% by the end of the next quarter through social media campaigns where we will predominantly focus on influencer marketing.

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