Imagine that you are meeting with your source of authority to have your annual performance review. You know you are going to discuss the goals you set at the beginning of the year. The trouble is that they were so vague that there is no way that even you can know if you met them. Besides, there were so many changes during the year you can hardly remember what you planned to do when the year began. It's frustrating not to be able to demonstrate that you have been effective, that you actually got more done that you yourself thought was possible.
There is an answer to this annual frustration. It is in setting S.M.A.R.T. goals.
In the Relationship Model™ of governance, leadership and management we speak of strategic goals and tactical goals. The strategic goals are organizational goals that fulfill the Board's strategic expectations for the year. They are measured in what may be called strategic results or outcomes. These determine the degree to which the organization's Mission was achieved.
Tactical goals are those goals that address the management's efforts to accomplish the operating results or outputs that result in meeting the organizations strategic goals. In other words, if you have provided the amount of services to the target groups (tactical outputs) you may be able to determine that you have delivered the benefits those services were designed to provide (strategic outcomes). The measurements are different, but the construction of the goals should have the same characteristics.
The S.M.A.R.T. acronym identifies the five characteristics of a goal that will result is clear measurement of success.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant to the Mission
- Time-Limited
Here is an example of a S.M.A.R.T. tactical goal: "To complete the construction of the new library and have it fully operational by the end of the fiscal year."
Specific goals are goals that have a definite and clear definition. The library will be finished and operational or it won't be. There is nothing vague about it.
Measurable goals can be determined to have been achieved because it is possible to define indicators of results that will determine the degree to which the goal has been realized. If the library is operational but only in one of three areas, because some critical furnishings didn't arrive in time, it can be determined that the goal was partially achieved.
Achievable goals are those that we consider to be realistic. Planning carefully means that we determine a realistic balance between resources (human, financial, time, organizational capability, etc.) and expectations (construction complete and library fully operational). Perhaps this goal was achievable but circumstances beyond our control intervened.
Relevant to the Mission means that the goal fits into the bigger picture and will enable the organization to achieve it's strategic goals. In our example the library is considered critical to the success of the organization's Mission. It's very relevant.
Time-Limited means that there is a point in time when we will plan to evaluate the goal. Normally, goals are drafted to be completed by the end of the performance review period or the fiscal year. If the goals requires more than one year to complete, then milestones should be determined so that performance can be reviewed fairly on an annual basis. Perhaps the library will be constructed by the end of the review period, but it won't be operational for another three months.
Changes during the year may affect S.M.A.R.T. goals and may require revisiting the terms of the goal. The challenge of setting goals is to monitor them in such a way that the balance between resources and expectations is maintained. The performance review should measure progress towards mutually negotiated revised goals, not goals that are no longer S.M.A.R.T. even though they may have been at the time they were written. Once it becomes known that the furnishings would not arrive on time because of a work stoppage at the point of manufacture, the goal should be renegotiated.
Not setting S.M.A.R.T. goals is D.U.M.B.
Les Stahlke, President
| 
