It seems the business world nowadays operates on acronyms.   One that you may have heard is SMART goals.  In all honesty SMART goals, make a lot of sense, they help you focus on progress, and in a team environment help keep everyone on the same page.

So what are SMART goals?

S is for Specific.  To define a specific goal you have to answer the questions that a reporter would ask.   Who, What, Which, Why, Where, When,  and How.

Who is involved?  What are you trying to accomplish? Which requirements or constraints are involved? Why do you want to do this? Where will it happen? When will you do it?  How will you make it happen?

A specific goal has a greater chance of being successful rather then a general goal.

For example, "Eat better" (a general goal), is too vague and hard to track if you are successful or not,  where as "Prepare healthy meals and snacks from the health food store at least once a week" (a SMART goal), is specific and sets the bar for success.

M is for Measurable, which is used to establish concrete criteria for tracking your progress.  When you are able to see that you are progressing towards your goal, it is easier to keep on track, and be motivated to keep on track.    Good question here is to ask how will you know you are making progress?  How many times do you need to do something? How much of it will you need to do?

So in the example "Prepare healthy meals and snacks from the health food store at least once a week"  The How is once a week, every week.

A is for Attainable but also can be Agreed upon. If my goal is to go to "the health food store at least once a week", and I don't have any health food stores that I can get to, the goal is not attainable, and the goal might have to be changed to "grow my own food" or "buy organic food".

Agreed upon can be helpful in a team environment, if everyone agrees upon the goal, then everyone can make progress towards the goal.  If the team doesn't agree upon the goal, then accomplishing it may be next to impossible.

R is for Realistic. Realistic goals are goals that you are willing and able to work towards.   So in the example, you have to be willing and able to go to the health food store, and you have to be willing and able to prepare healthy meals and snacks, in order to succeed.   If you are only willing to go to the store, but don't make the snacks or meals, you won't achieve your goal.

T is for Timely or can be Tangible. Timely simply means that there is a time frame.  When are you going to start and when are you going to finish?  Are you going to the health food store once a week for the rest of  your life?   Even if you say yes, set a date when you will complete this goal, and see if you need to revise it.  Setting a date helps create a sense of urgency, and also can help the goal from being so overwhelming that you never start it.

Tangible is a goal that you can experience with one of your five senses.  You can taste it, touch it, smell it, see it, or hear it.    So a tangible goal in the example we have been using, would be tracking your healthy meals for the week once you finish eating them.

SMART goals can keep you motivated, help keep you on track, let you monitor your progress, and also help you make adjustments, if need be, so you can achieve your goals.

It's that time of year again. People filled with hope, and determination, makes decisions, and commit them with pen to paper; listing out their New Year's Resolutions. The process fills them with a joyful giddiness. This time I will finally<< MORE >>

Making progress takes work, every day.  The good news is that steps to making progress don't have to be tremendous.  Simple things, done every day, build momentum, and move you forward. 

1. Practice Gratitude.
        Even if your life isn't perfect, start being grateful for the things that you have.   Being grateful opens you up for more things to come into your life to be grateful for.  Besides, being grateful helps you feel better, even if your life is "not so perfect".  Sometimes it is hard to think of things to be grateful for so start and be grateful that the sun is shining, that flowers ...<< MORE >>

These days it seems often, that words have no meaning, and promises have no value.
Contrary to this trend, to build a better business, department, relationship words and promises are vital. Communication and promises are like deposits into an emotional bank account, broken words and broken promises are withdrawls. It is simple math, lots of withdrawls and no deposits, leaves you broke! But unlike real bank accounts, where money is the currency, words and promises don't cost you anything to give, but can cost you a lot in the long run in your bottom line, in both your business, your work, and your relationships.

Following the five points below to ensure that you keep making deposits and not withdrawls:

1. Be Consistent. - Inconsistency leads to confusion, confusion leads to chaos. If you are constantly inconsistent, people will loose faith, loose patience, and will stop asking for your input or direction, as it seems to them that it may change at any point in time anyway.

2. Don't make promises you can't keep. - This includes making blank statements such as "any thing you want" and promises that you don't have the ability or power to keep. My definition of "any thing you want" and your definition are probably two different things. If you make a promise, make it specific, and keep it, that way there can be no misunderstandings.

3. Always follow through on what you say. - This is a combined version of points 1 and 2. People don't usually expect something until you say that you are going to do it, provide it, or act on it. So the only thing that can happen is if you say it and don't follow through on it, is an immediate large withdrawl in the emotional bank account.

4. If you ask for feedback, take it, don't argue about it. (or in other words don't ask questions you don't want the answers to.)

5. Don't jump to conclusions. - There are always three sides to a story, yours, mine, and what really happened. Try to find out all three before deciding or acting. Be informed, before being the judge, and jury.

 

Some managers envision in their heads, the perfect rows of 3x6 cubicles. The grey walls, and blue grey fabric, with the metal railing tops, stacked side by side, aisle by aisle as far as the eye can see from the manager’s office. The 15 inch monitor, occupying half the desk space, the Qwerty keyboard, and two button mouse, and phone, another third, leaving just enough room for a piece of paper and pen to jot notes on. No room for personal items, cups of coffee, glasses of water, not even work related files.<< MORE >>

Often, we try to tackle everything at once, envisioning scenarios of how things that should be, could be, and seldom are. We bombard ourselves with what if scenarios, and their envisioned (often) negative outcomes. Many times, this thought process, keeps us from moving forward and making progress; keeping us stuck exactly where we don't want to be! "A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu. << MORE >>

Effective communications and teambuilding require consistent effort. In times of crisis, and issues, it’s often easier to resort to blame and backstabbing rather than dealing with the problem at hand. That is why rules of engagement are so important, and need to be agreed upon, by all team members, BEFORE they are needed. << MORE >>