15: Get Specific with Goals

This week I was listening to the HBR IdeaCast and a recent interview with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson about her book: 9 Things Successful People Do Differently*. I’ve also been reading Get Rid of the Performance Review! by Samuel Colbert Examples of actual ineffective goals: “Communicate more effectively” “Develop leadership skills” “Communication skills to be improved (writing) and get your point across more clearing and concisely” “Improve quality and completion of assigned duties” “Begin working outside of their comfort zone towards new opportunities and/or subject areas” SMART Framework S – Specific M – Measurable A – Attainable R – Relevent T – Time-phased Examples of more effective goals, utilizing the SMART framework: Establish procedures with vendors to reduce year-over-year error rates by 20% before June 30th Become a subject matter expert on departmental software use by achieving Microsoft Office Specialist Certification by the end of the year Develop skill in departmental training activities by facilitating one training class in Q1 of 2012 and receive participant satisfaction scores that are 80% or higher Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.