An Essential Guide to SMART Goals
Helpful tips and best practices for setting up SMART Goals
What’s in this guide?
Smart goals: Why do goals matter? p. 3
A history of SMART goals and management by
objectives p. 5
What are SMART goals? p. 6
Why is it important to set SMART goals? p. 7
What does setting SMART goals mean in 2019? p.10
How to set SMART goals for yourself? p. 10
What does a good SMART goal look like? p. 12
What does a bad SMART goal look like? p. 13
What does the SMART goals methodology mean for a
manager? p. 14
What does a typical SMART goal cycle look like? p. 15
What does the SMART goals methodology mean for an
employee? p. 16
What does the SMART goal methodology mean for a
company? p. 17
10 SMART goal examples for company leaders p. 18
10 SMART goal examples for HR p. 19
10 SMART goal examples for Sales p. 20
10 SMART goal examples for Marketing p. 21
Tracking and updating SMART goals p. 22
SMART goals resources p. 23
SMART goals: Why do goals matter?
Setting SMART goals is an essential step to run a However, as already mentioned, if you don't set your
successful business. How are you going to achieve mind on what you want to achieve and how you aim
anything if you don't know what are you aiming for? to get there, it's more than likely that you will NOT
Setting up goals, writing them down and sharing them achieve anything at all. A lot of us are setting the
with others is important because it gives you wrong goals and some aren't setting goals at all.
something to work towards. Plus, sharing your targets
with others makes them real and holds you Setting objectives helps you keep up with your
accountable for your actions. Many organizations progress and essentially puts your decision making on
manage to set some objectives and meet them, but an autopilot. SMART is an acronym that stands for
they lack a sense of purpose. So how can you specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and
effectively set individual goals and align them with the timely - all attributes you'll need to set effective goals.
bigger picture of the company? Applying this method will enable you to break down
unachievable dreams into actionable objectives and
Setting goals is challenging. Not many of us find it progress in your career as well as personal life.
easy to set meaningful goals, and sometimes it can be
even difficult to see the value of setting SMART goals. In this guide we'll take you through a history of SMART
"Going with the flow” and “seeing where we get to” is goals, what exactly they are, why setting them is
very tempting. Not setting goals is comfortable and important, and how can you set SMART goals for
takes the pressure off of a potential failure, which is yourself. You'll also get helpful tips along the way and
scary to most of us. we'll provide you with some useful examples.
3
“Vision without action is a
daydream. Action without vision is a
nightmare.”
- Japanese Proverb
A History of SMART goals and Management
by Objectives (MBO)
In 1954 Drucker introduced his theory of Locke and Latham suggested that there are 5
Management by Objectives. Management by essential principles of setting goals:
objectives (or MBO) is a process that allows
companies to define the specific goals they strive to ● Clarity - clear goals enable people to focus
achieve, how to achieve them and who is on their objectives and make them
responsible for the activities involved. It enables understand what they are trying to achieve.
companies to break big objectives into achievable ● Challenge - setting challenging goals boosts
tasks and allows employees to see their people’s motivation.
accomplishments throughout the process - ● Commitment - people are more likely to
keeping them engaged. engage with a goal if they were involved in
setting it up.
Similarly, in 1968 Edwin A. Locke introduced a Goal ● Feedback - feedback and reflection on goals
Setting Theory. when he first highlighted how is essential for the assessment of progress
setting specific and measurable goals combined and identifying further areas of
with appropriate feedback is much more effective improvement.
for businesses than trying to achieve vague ● Task complexity - people tend to push
aspirations. themselves too hard if working demanding
roles and forget about the complexity of
However, the theory also pinpointed how aspiring their tasks. It is therefore important to
for something that's a stretch can keep you account for it when setting the goals.
motivated. Setting challenging goals can keep you
on your toes and help you to develop new skills,
improve motivation and performance. His research In 1981, SMART Goals were first introduced by
also showed that the more challenging and specific George T. Doran. He was a Director of Corporate
a goal is the harder people work towards achieving Planning for a Washington Power Water Company
it. However, even though it's important that the who published a paper titled, “There is a S.M.A.R.T.
goal is challenging, it does need to be achievable in Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives.”
order for the technique to be effective. The methodology has proved highly effective across
different industries and is implemented by many
organizations - not to mention most likely by every
coach and mentor in the world.
Doran recognized that companies often set
objectives that are too diluted to have any impact
on the business performance. Therefore, he
suggests that especially for effective leaders, it is
essential to set up SMART goals to successfully
manage the workforce.
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What are SMART goals?
SMART goals are targets or objectives that an
individual is trying to achieve over a certain period of
time. These type of goals are drafted by an employee
and then reviewed by a line manager before being
finalised. They often link tao company objectives and
team and department goals.
The definition of the acronym stands for:
● Specific
● Measurable
● Achievable
● Relevant
● Time-bound
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Why is it important to set SMART goals?
As Doran suggests “the establishment of
objectives and the development of their
respective action plans are the most critical
steps in a company’s management process.”
Goals have significant value for achieving
individual success as well as company-wide
growth. The technique is specifically designed to
help businesses to improve their performance
and hit their targets. As Jeff Boss explains, here
are 5 very good reasons to set SMART goals:
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[Link] provoke behaviour 2. Goals help to guide your focus
Imagine you want to go travelling. If you don't know Once you have a clear goal to work towards it will
where and when you want to go, how long you are help you focus on what you need to actually achieve
going for and who with, chances are you won't have it. Stephen Duneiner highlights in his TedX Talk [“How
enough motivation to save up for your travels and it to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals”][11] that the
won't happen at all. How could you? You wouldn't key to success for any big and ambitious project is to
even know how much you need to save up in the break it down to its simplest form and make marginal
first place! On the other hand, if you know you want improvements to improve your odds of achieving
to go to Japan in September for a month with your them. Therefore, [setting goals helps you to guide
significant other and you know you would need to your focus][12] and achieve them step by step.
save up £2,000 for it, you have something to aspire
to. It also gives you an idea of how much you need to
put aside every month or week to be able to reach 3. Goals sustain momentum
your goal.
This is possibly the most powerful aspect of setting
In “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be goals. As Jocelyn Glei explains in her article for Inc:
Persuasive”, authors Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldstein “Our brains are wired to seek completion. When you
and Steve Martin explain how making an active recognize a task as complete, your brain releases
commitment directly affects action. In one of the dopamine, which makes you feel good and makes
studies they reference, researchers found that of a you want to repeat the behavior again to feel more
group of individuals who passively agreed to pleasure.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to a
participate in a volunteer project, only 17% showed phenomenon he calls flow. According to
up to participate. Contrast that with those who Csikszentmihalyi, "What makes an experience
agreed to volunteer through active means (writing it genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called
down, signing a contract, etc.) and 49% appeared as flow. During flow, people typically experience deep
promised. Setting goals provokes behaviour, as enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with
proved by science. The same applies to any life.” Experiencing flow can positively influence one’s
objectives you set up to reach at work. Once you engagement in work. Think about your exercise
have a clear idea of what you need to achieve it is habits. It's often difficult to start but once you are in
much easier to take action towards it. the “flow” you start to enjoy the experience and you
want to repeat the behaviour.
Sharing your goals with others also holds you
accountable for your behaviour. As Jackie and John Blake Beattie, in his book Bullseye - The Ultimate
Coleman explain, by including others in the goal Guide to Achieving your Goals, defined a technique
process we invite the others not only to know what called the POWERTIP achievement system that helps
we plan to accomplish but also to hold us to maintain momentum when you are struggling as
accountable as we strive to reach these goals. As well as to eliminate habits that limit you, and
soon as you share your goals with others they maintain “magic success” for long-term success.
become real.
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4. Setting personal goals helps you to align
your behaviour with the bigger picture
If you set personal objectives you not only break big
dreams into actionable steps, you give yourself time
and space to evaluate what you need to do in order
to achieve your personal or professional aspirations.
Setting SMART goals also allows employees and
managers to align their individual goals to the larger
vision of the company which not only improves
productivity but helps to maintain company culture
and keeps everyone on the same page. Through
setting individual goals companies can ensure that
every member of the team is involved in the process
of improving and growing the business, as well as
being aware of what's expected from them.
5. Setting goals is essential for
self-leadership
Last but not least, setting goals is an essential tool
for self-leadership. Setting goals allows you to define
what is really important to you, helps you to build
your character and maintain personal and
professional development. Creating goals makes you
continuously reflect on your performance and upskill
yourself. Especially if you feel like you lack guidance
from your supervisor you need to develop tools to
self-coach yourself. And if you're a busy manager you
always need to provide your team with tools to
improve and engage with their work. It will allow you
to become more efficient in your role and sustain a
healthy work-life balance.
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What does setting SMART goals mean in
2019?
Setting SMART goals is more important for companies than ever before. The dynamic, fast-paced environment
of the 21st century we live in makes it difficult to keep up with successfully implementing changes to meet the
demands of the market. The changing work culture and rise of contract employees, remote working and
operating international companies from multiple locations around the globe makes it complicated to keep the
workforce aligned to company objectives. Therefore, setting goals for individuals, teams, departments and
organizations as a whole is a must for for any leader who wants to successfully compete and grow their
business.
How to set SMART goals for yourself?
What is the key to setting SMART goals? It's a very straightforward process of following the
template provided by the 5 SMART attributes:
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Specific Relevant
Firstly, your goals need to be clear and provide you Why do you want to achieve this goal? Smaller goals
with a concise aim that will give you a sense of should be always relevant to the broader goals you
direction. If you simply set a goal to improve website want to achieve, or the ones your company and team
traffic, it won't give you enough guidance to stay is striving for.
motivated or recognize when you've reached your
objective. Instead, you need to ask yourself the ● Do my goals align to the team, department
following questions: and organizational targets?
● Is the task worthwhile?
● What do I want to achieve?
● Who is involved in the process? Setting up your individual goals is just the start of
● What are the possible challenges and my your success. Aligning the goals with other people or
limitations? as a part of a team will help you to stay motivated.
● How am I going to achieve this?
Timely
Measurable
It is unlikely that you will achieve your goals if you
In order for your goals to be effective they need to don't set a deadline. Every goal needs to be time
be measurable. That way you'll be able to assess your specific. To set up time specific goals you usually
success and know whether or not you have achieved need to answer one of these questions:
your objectives. Therefore, you should consider:
● When do I aim to achieve this goal?
● How will I know when it is accomplished? ● What can I achieve in 6 months?
● What measures am I going to use to assess ● What can I achieve in a year?
when I am successful?
To set SMART objectives you might consider some of
the following verbs to use; acquire, create, complete,
drive, improve, produce, standardize, upgrade. To
find more access this useful list of action verbs for
SMART goals.
Achievable
We often have big targets and big dreams that seem
impossible to accomplish. Breaking one big goal into
a series of smaller ones will give you a series of joyful
moments that occur once you have managed to
achieve something small along the way. As
mentioned before, your goals should be challenging
yet achievable. Ask yourself:
● How can I accomplish this goal?
● How realistic is the goal?
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What does a good SMART goal look like?
Once you have considered all these questions you are ready to set a SMART goal for yourself and your team. So,
what does a good SMART goal look like? Imagine you work as a marketer in an organization that is aiming to
improve its online performance. Then you could set a goal such as:
Improve the organic traffic to the website by 10% in the next six
months by increasing the number of blog posts from 2 to 4 per
week, focusing on our 5 most successful topics.
Similarly, if you are a marketing manager setting goals for your direct reports you can say:
Zoe will improve the organic traffic to the website by 10% in the
next six month by increasing the number of blog posts from 2
to 4 per week, focusing on our 5 most successful topics.
This goal is specific because it defines who is responsible for this activity (you/Zoe) and defines how are you
going to reach this objective. It is measurable as it identifies the key metric you are focusing on (organic traffic)
and by how much you aim to improve it (20%). It is achievable (you need to make an informed assumption
based on your performance), relevant (it aligns to the broader marketing department goals and the objectives
of the company) and it's timely (in next six months).
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What does a bad SMART goal look like?
It can be very easy to set up vague, unfocused goals. Taking the example we just used it would mean setting a
goal such as:
Improve the website traffic.
You might feel like setting vague goals is good enough because in your head you know what you want to
achieve. However, if you don't break that down to specific steps and actions that need to be taken you are
destined to fail to reach your aims (if you really know what those are in the first place).
A goal like this is not specific as it does not define who or how is going to fulfil this objective. It also does not
provide you any metric of measuring success, and you wouldn't know when you've reached your target or what
the target is! It's not relevant as you cannot assess if the goal is worthwhile as it's too vague. Lastly, there is no
time scale or deadline to the goal it is not time-bound.
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What does the SMART goals methodology
mean for a manager?
If you are a manager or a supervisor, you should
always keep in mind the larger vision of the company
What does a typical
when reviewing and setting goals for your direct SMART goal cycle look
reports. Setting SMART goals is vital for your like?
workforce to understand what the expectations from
them are and what they need to achieve to
successfully progress in their career.
Setting up goals for your employees will enable you Take a look at our timeline of a typical goal cycle to
to evaluate their performance, recognize their understand all the steps involved in setting
success, and identify potential areas of improvement. actionable goals.
Providing them with on-going feedback on their
performance is necessary in order to keep them
motivated and engaged. Similarly, you should always
ensure to involve your employees in setting up their
goals as it helps to further improve their engagement
levels and dedication.
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SMART Goals Cycle
4-6 WEEKS BEFORE END OF THE QUARTER
Brainstorm annual and Q1 SMART
organizational goals
C-suite should brainstorm and set annual plan
and Q1 goals to determine the general
direction of the business for the upcoming
year.
2 WEEKS BEFORE START OF Q1
Share organizational annual and Q1 goals
Ensure everyone in the company is aware of
the company goals and strategy.
START OF Q1
Share team SMART goals for Q1
Develop team goals aligned to the
oganizational ones and share them with the
teams.
1 WEEK AFTER START OF Q1
Share individual SMART goals
Ensure every employee sets and shares their
individual goals aligned with the vision of the
company. This might involve one-to-one
meetings of managers and their direct reports.
THROUGHOUT THE Q1
Track employee progress
Ensure tracking progress and regular check-ins
through continuous feedback and, regular
one-to-ones.
NEAR END OF Q1
Employee self-evaluation and review
Ensure employees complete self-assessment
and review their achievements.
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What does the SMART goals methodology
mean for an employee?
Creating individual goals is a fundamental step
to professional and personal development.
Breaking up your biggest and wildest dreams
will help you to define the key steps that will get
you where you want to be. Through SMART
goals, you will be able to reflect on your
performance and assess what the next steps are
to upskill and develop your character. Setting
goals will also help you to stay focused and
motivated to achieve what you are striving for.
Goals that are aligned to the bigger vision of the
company will allow you to see how you bring
value to the business and give you sense of
purpose. Additionally, sharing the goals with
others will make them “real” and hold you
accountable for your actions.
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What does the SMART goals methodology
mean for a company?
Unfortunately, many companies fail to execute on Goals allow you to monitor the performance of your
their SMART Goals. One of the main reasons behind business and make strategic changes following the
it is that they fail to successfully implement change mid-year review. You will have the ability to modify
in their organization. Through setting up and aligning your revenue and expense targets to reflect exactly
SMART goals, business leaders can revisit the vision how your business is trending. Lastly, setting
of the company at any time and ensure the company objectives provides the leadership team
workforce collaboratively works towards achieving with an understanding of what are you trying to
it. Company goals support the development of a accomplish and then make better tactical decisions.
cohesive company culture, bring purpose to the
business and thus improve the customer and
employee experiences.
Michael A. Olguin identifies 4 main reasons why
companies need to set SMART goals. Firstly, setting
goals provides a cohesive way to measure success
and progress of the organization. It also allows you
to look at your business from a wider competitive
and economic perspective. Setting up goals enables
companies to gain deeper understanding of the
effects of a business strategy.
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10 SMART goal examples for company
leaders
In this section we bring you some relevant examples to inspire you to effectively set SMART goals to drive the
success of your company. There are some essential skills for successful leaders such communication skills,
management skills and motivational skills. As a leader you have to focus on not only your personal
development but the development of your workforce. It's advisable to focus on goals such as:
● Align employee SMART goals to the company objectives and increase revenue growth by 10% by the
end of the year.
● Improve presentation skills to decrease the number of questions asked in the team meetings by 25%
and increase team efficiency in the second quarter.
● Develop stronger motivational skills and show appreciation to the workforce, to increase the overall
employee productivity by 10% by the end of the year.
● Improve remote management by utilising virtual communication tools and increase the productivity of
remote workers by 15% in next 3 months.
● Develop better active listening skills and improve the team engagement by 10% in the next quarter.
Additionally, company leaders are responsible for setting company objectives to maintain the growth and
success of a business. Some effective examples include:
● Grow market share by 10% by the end of the year.
● Increase the number of customers by 15% in the next six months.
● Implement automation workflow to operational processes within the next six months.
● Attend 3 industry conferences in the next year.
● Add £1,000,000 in billed revenue by the end of the year.
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10 SMART goal examples for HR
HR departments have various functions including recruitment of new employees, employee performance
management, training and development, succession planning, compensation and benefits, amongst others. The
specific requirements of individual employees are rising and companies therefore need to focus on providing
an outstanding experience to the employees in order to retain the best talent. In order to do so, it is essential
to have clear goals set, such as:
● Improve employee retention by 15% in next six months by conducting exit interviews and employee
pulse surveys.
● Decrease churn rate by 20% by the end of the year.
● Increase the number of open positions filled within the deadline by 25% in the next quarter by
automating parts of the candidate recruitment process.
● Improve the review completion rate by 15% in the next quarter by automating the reviews process.
● Increase the number of employees fulfilling their goals by 20% in the next 6 months by providing
training courses for managers to facilitate individual support.
● Increase the number of development training courses available by 15% in the next quarter.
● Increase the employee satisfaction rates by 25% by the end of the year by implementing the actions
defined in our last employee engagement survey.
● Increase the number of employees perceiving a positive working environment by 20% in the next
quarter by rolling out the employee wellness programme.
● Increase the attendance of team building events by 25% in the next quarter by allowing more flexible
workshop dates.
● Achieve internal satisfaction with HR services over 90% in next 6 months by sharing the workload more
effectively through our weekly team meetings.
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10 SMART goal examples for Sales
Sales and business development are essential for growth of any organization. Therefore it's vital to set specific
goals to reach in order to maintain the performance of a business:
● Win 5 new customers per month by improving our live demos.
● Convert 5 leads per month per representative through proactive outreach.
● Increase the total number of sales by 25% in the next 6 months through our new referral programme.
● Increase the number of demo calls by 15% in the next 3 months by actively suggesting live demos rather
than trial accounts.
● Increase the closing ratio by 20% and decrease the closing time by one week in the next 6 months.
● Improve the customer lifetime value by 20% in 2020 by upselling additional products.
● Increase the number of sales meetings by 15% per each representative in next quarter by facilitating
networking events.
● Improve customer loyalty by 15% by the end of the year through loyalty discounts and extended annual
contracts.
● Increase the number of sales meetings by 10% per representative in the next month.
● Attend 3 networking events per representative per month.
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10 SMART goal examples for Marketing
The main objective of marketing is to grow brand awareness, generate and nurture leads and support the sales
operations. In order to do so marketers can set up goals such as:
● Increase organic website traffic from 1,000 to 10,000 visitors per day in next 9 months.
● Increase the number of lead conversions from social media by 20% by promoting 2x more long-form
educational content on social media platforms in next quarter.
● Increase the number of email newsletter subscribers by 25% utilizing paid social media advertisements
by the end of the quarter.
● Increase customer reviews by 25% in the next six months by following up with high NPS scores and
case study participants.
● Gain 20% more LinkedIn followers by taking part in relevant LinkedIn groups by the end of the year.
● Increase the number of LinkedIn followers by 25% by sharing double the amount of video content in
the next 3 months.
● Improve the clickthrough rate of the newsletter campaign by 5% in next 3 months by sharing better
quality content.
● Increase lead form inquiries by 15% through paid promotion in the next month.
● Automate email initiatives by the end of the quarter to save time through a more efficient process.
● Increase the software subscription by 10% by the end of the year using our educational campaign.
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Tracking and updating SMART goals
In order to make the goal setting process truly effective
companies should bear in mind that this technique can
be limited when it comes to long-term organizational
objectives. Therefore, it is important to regularly review
the goals and allow for flexibility in their adjustments.
We suggest you review and adjust one's goals on a
monthly basis to review the progress and implement
adjustments if necessary.
To do so, you should set a clear action plan of steps to
achieve your goals. The action plan should include
milestones and potential pitfalls might have to be
overcome, and a schedule for achieving goals.
SMART goals resources
This SMART goals template in Word will help you to
start using the SMART methodology.
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