How to write and maintain goals to be successful in the workplace
In part three of this series, we will cover the “A” in SMART goals. Unlike the other letters in the acronym, the “A” has been used to define several words such as Achievable, Attainable, Aligned or Assigned. In this example, we focus on achievable or attainable as they are the most commonly used in SMART goals creation. Having a goal that is achievable is important not only for the success of the goal but for the success of the team. If a goal is not achievable, then the goal will never be reached. The impact of a goal not being reached could be the difference between success or failure of the department or organization. Although stretch goals are important, it is necessary to know the difference between a goal that will stretch you and one that in not realistic.
Bad Example:
You are a small startup lemonade stand that has had several successful months since starting up and on average bringing in $10 to $15 thousand dollars in sales monthly. Based on this success, you set a goal to increase sales by 1 million dollars in the second quarter. This example may be perfectly fine, if your business does millions of dollars per quarter but if this goal is for a small lemonade stand, then it is clear that one will never reach this goal.
Good Example:
You are a small startup Tech Company that has become an overnight success and millions of people are downloading and using the app you just developed. Based on this success, you set a goal to increase sales by 1 million dollars in the second quarter. This example is more realistic and achievable based on the current success of the company.
As mentioned the “A” has also been used aligned or assigned. One can use this to assign the goal to a team member or team or can use it to help align the goal with those of the company; however, it is easier to see how making it achievable will help to create a solid SMART goal.
By ensuring that the goals are achievable, is important to the success of the goal as you can see relevancy is also important and we will discuss that in more detail in part four of this series.