Defining goals for ourselves, our team or our business is sometimes not as simple as it seems. Or rather... Defining them can be a simple task, the problem is that many times we write the goals in such a broad and unrealistic way that it becomes a titanic task to fulfill them. That is why today we're going to talk about the SMART methodology to define goals that are actually achievable. Well, goals are meant to be achieved, aren't they?

If you are one of those people who don't even know where to start when it's time to set new goals for your business, keep reading because in today's article we're going to explain in a simple way and with examples, how you can write SMART goals. Ready? Let's get started!

What are SMART goals?

The term SMART was born from George T. Doran in 1981 when he published a paper called "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives", where he specifically talked about an effective methodology to set objectives. 

SMART means that a goal meets certain conditions and these conditions are related to the acronym that defines the term. Let's take a look at it: 

• Specific: the goals must be well defined to make them possible. 

• Measurable: they must be linked to a numerical value to measure their effectiveness. 

• Achievable: they must be ambitious but also achievable in our context. 

• Relevant:  an goal that is relevant to your current context and the one of your company or team. 

• Time Bound: goals must have a deadline.

Advantages of SMART goals

Setting SMART goals has countless advantages, not only for our business but also for our team or even in our personal lives. 

Reduces unnecessary risks

Setting out a clear roadmap helps us to move forward step by step, avoiding mistakes that often occur due to a lack of planning. By setting the objectives this way, the strategies and steps to follow are much clearer and above all, we can monitor how we are progressing to make corrective decisions if necessary.

Keeps our team motivated

The fact that the objectives have a time limit helps to keep our team motivated knowing that everyone will be on the same page, working towards the same goal. 

Makes the measurement and evaluation of our strategies easier

Don't you think it's crazy to set an objective that you have no way of measuring? SMART goals allow us to analyze the performance of our strategies, because as we all know, what is not measured cannot be improved. 

Increases productivity

When we know where we're going, we are much more productive and work focused to reach our final goal. 

How to define SMART goals?

Siempre, debemos partir de la base de que nuestros objetivos deben ser We must always start from the premise that our goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. With this in mind, it may be useful to ask ourselves these questions when writing our objectives: 

To know if our objective is specific enough, we should ask ourselves as many questions as possible. For example, what do we want to achieve with our objective? What people need to be involved for the objective to be achieved? What are the obstacles we may encounter? Where will the objective be carried out? 

Secondly, we must think: how close are we to meeting that goal? Let's remember that a SMART goal is characterized by being measurable, therefore, we must be able to specify how we will be able to know that the goal has been achieved. 

In order to set a realistic goal that encourages us to move forward and that doesn't discourage us, it is interesting to think about how achievable the goal itself is. Is it possible to implement it according to our current conditions, or should we start with a smaller goal? 

The next step is to define whether the objective we are setting is sufficiently relevant to our business. A good way to identify this is to think about why we want to pursue this objective, what would change if we achieve it, and is it aligned with the overall strategy of our business? 

Finally, and very importantly, by what date will our objective be ready? Let's remember that one of the keys for objectives to really be met is to have a deadline, otherwise we will keep stretching the necessary actions and most likely we will get discouraged before reaching the goal. 

Examples of SMART goals

SMART goals can be set for an infinite number of objectives, whether personal or for business. Let's look at an example so that everything we have been analyzing throughout this article is as clear as possible. 

Let's suppose that we have an ecommerce and within our website we have a blog. For some time now, the visits to the blog have been decreasing and that worries us. We must reverse this situation because running the blog involves an effort and investment of time and money. How could we turn the goal "increase blog visits" into a SMART goal? 

In the following way: 

S - Generate 120 new articles in a year.

M - Publish 10 articles per month and achieve 50 visits on each article. 

A -We currently average 35 visits per article and are publishing 5 articles per month. Doubling those numbers is achievable according to our current situation. 

R - Having more visits on the blog will help us capture more leads.

T - 12 months.

Now we ask you, do you notice the difference between stating the objective in this way, and simply saying "I want to increase visits to my blog"? When we manage to write the objectives in such a specific way, they become more tangible and therefore, drive us to action in order to achieve those goals. Do you agree?

Now it's your turn... Let's get to work and write your own SMART goals!