SMART Goals

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A number of team problems can be addressed by having three to five SMART objectives or goals the team agrees to work on in a given time period. You will see different definitions for the acronym, but TeamTrainers says each goal should be:

• Specific—With wording so clear that related tasks can be created without further discussion of the goal.
• Measurable—Including numbers an outsider could use to declare the item "done."
• Action-based—Starting with action verbs like "add," "increase," or "reduce."
• Realistic—Possible given the team's resources, including labor hours.
• Time-bound—Having a due date.

A SMART goal example is, "Increase our average customer satisfaction ratings to 80% by December 31." Note how specific the wording is. If your rating is 70% now, raising it by "10%" would mean 77%. But some members might read that as raising it by "10 percentage points," which takes it to 80%. That could be a source of conflict. Better to specify the target figure you want.

Research suggests that having more than four or five goals at once reduces the number of goals that get accomplished. Set team goals that are aligned with any company or division goals to enhance support from above and raise cooperation from other teams. If your company uses a formal performance appraisal system, including the team goals as part of each team member's objectives is a powerful way to improve cooperation between members.

For more help:

• Review the "Goals" section starting on page 69 of our "do-it-yourself" team building book.
• Bring in our team coaching services to speed the goal-setting process.