Smarter Goal Setting

Quick Insight

A popular acronym for effective goals is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based). Here are some tips for building better SMART goals.

Goals clarify how a company defines success in achieving its strategies. Broad strategies like "increasing sales" mean little to all employees and are interpreted differently by every employee. A specific goal like "Sales increase of 100,000 units" helps to communicate the success criteria.

Ineffective goals are vague and lack accountability. A popular acronym for effective goals is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based). Here are the specific requirements for an effective goal:

Deadline: Goals without deadlines never get done. A final deadline and intermediate milestone deadlines track timely progress toward goal achievement.

Accountability: Assign primary responsibility to one person. When more than one person is accountable, no one is accountable.

Metrics: Goals are measurable when they have at least one objective metric. You may also want to set metrics that are in tension with each other. Look at what happened during the banking crisis in the Great Recession. Many banks had lending goals that basically said: "make more loans." Promoting that goal along with profitability and risk metrics would have led to fewer future losses.

Targets: Metrics are what you measure, and targets are the metric value you will achieve. Metrics say what measure we use for success and targets say exactly how much of that measure is considered a success.

I wish you the SMART business goals to achieve your vision. I wish you well.

- Rob Stephens

Further Insight

CFO Perspective Resources

  • Video: Objectives and Key Results - Objectives and Key Results, also known as OKRs, have become very popular for improving company performance. OKRs are an effective way to measure progress towards achieving your business goals. Good OKRs follow a simple set of rules to be most effective. In this video, I’ll explain the characteristics of good objectives and key results.
  • Course: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and KPI Dashboards - KPIs are more than metrics. They’re the foundation of your most important decisions. KPIs define success to drive success. This course explains: how to choose metrics,  KPI dashboard tips, the process of implementing KPIs, and managing with KPIs.
  • Course: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) - What performance secret can you learn from Google, Intel, and Intuit? Objectives and Key Results, also known as OKRs, have become very popular for improving company performance. OKRs can improve focus, engagement, innovation, and performance. I'll walk you step-by-step through how to implement OKRs at your company.
  • Book: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and KPI Dashboards - With well-defined and well-managed KPIs, you can align your company’s vision from the ground up and maintain steady progress toward your goals. Get tips on dashboard best practices. Avoid common mistakes managers make with KPIs. I’ll guide you through the implementation process so you can start achieving your goals ASAP.

Get all the CFO Perspective resources with a FAST (Finance and Strategy Toolkit) membership.

Get the tools, guidance, and support for superior business performance

Get all the CFO Perspective courses plus more in one package. FAST (Finance and Strategy Toolkit) is the membership program that gives you the resources for better strategic financial management. Get direct access to me as well tools for improved decisions that lead to superior business performance.

The right tools save you time, reduce your stress, and improve your effectiveness.

Learn More
>
Success message!
Warning message!
Error message!