Commitment to a goal
When an individual is committed to a goal, then he or she believe that they can achieve the goal and that they also want to accomplish this goal. In order to aid commitment to a goal:
- Goals are made public rather than kept to oneself.
- Goals are self-set rather than assigned.
- Tasks to achieve the goal are simple rather than complex.
- Tasks to achieve the goal are well-learned rather than novel.
- Tasks to achieve the goal are independent rather than interdependent.
SMART Goals
Smart is an acronym and it stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
It is good to use one sentence (if possible) to state you smart goal
An example is:
“I will post 1 blog post of between 100 and 500 words a week, every Thursday by 17:00.”
Once you have written down your Smart Goal, and then validate by asking:
Is this goal
- Specific?
- Measureable?
- Achievable?
- Realistic?
- Time bound?
If the answer is yes, then move on, if not then it is back to the drawing board.
Summary
1. Unambiguous Goals– Goals must be clear, use SMART goals.
2. Challenging Goals – Not too easy, not too hard, just right.
3. Committed to Goals- Ensure buy in form the person responsible for the goal (could be you).
4. Feedback – ensure regular, open and honest feedback.
5. Task complexity – Is there a simpler way, if not and a task is complex, take this into consideration.
6. Set priorities for each goal – You can’t do everything all of the time.
7. Measure – Measure the success of each goal, if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.
One Response
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> Goals are self-set rather than assigned.
I love this point. There’s no point in getting someone else to assign your goals for you. This is too much like learning your French verbs all over again!