The success of any organization comes down to one thing: How well it organizes it’s members to focus on and work towards the same purpose. As leaders we have to continually define what is most important. By using the SMART acronym we can clarify expectations and accomplish more.
The more specific the goal the more likely it is to suceed. HOw many times have you said, “This is not what I meant!” Specific goals take the wigle room out of accountability. Try to avoid generalities. Make it as clear and focused as possible.
- What do I mean by theat?
- What would success look like if I saw it?
- What would I observe or hear?
Do your best to avoid subjective measurements. Can you count what you expect from this goal?
- How much, how well or what level or degree?
- How will I know when it’s accomplished well?
- What’s an objective way to evaluate this?
Goals that are action oriented help keep the focus where it should be: on your team’s behavior. Focus goals on what you observe: results, action or behavior. For example, the goal of maintaining an attitude of serving others, how would I know it when I see it? What does it look like? We cannot measure attitudes or intentions.
- What would this look like or how could they prove it to me?
Avoid asking for perfection and the unattainable.
- How likely is the employee able to accomplish this?
- What is the probability of success?
- How confident am I that this person can accomplish this?
“As soon as possible” is not a time bound statement. Avoid making assumptions about priorities and urgencies. This will remove the ambiguity of when it should be accomplished.
- What time of the day does it need to be done?
- What other work is dependent on this?
Using questions helps clarify expectations, which is the number cause of poor performance!
What type of questions do you need to work on?