Tribal Know-How

SMART Goals miss emotions

The SMART has been known to stand for a few themes, but they follow the same tangent.

• S – specific, stretching, significant
• M – measurable, motivational, meaningful
• A – attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
• R – realistic, relevant, results-oriented
• T – time-based, tangible, trackable

As quantitative researchers we like SMART goals, they resonate with our specific and measurable approach. As project managers we are also focused on actionable, realistic and tangible research.

With our entrepreneurial base, they miss one key thing, ‘E’ – emotions.

An alternative way to develop goals, is using the 3+/3- rule, that Kate Tribe has written about on her blog and for the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.

It is really simple:

1. What 3 things are frustrating you the most?
2. What 3 things do you most enjoy?
3. What actions can you take to minimise or remove the 3 in (1)?
4. What actions can you take to increase the 3 in (2)?

Your answers to (3) and (4) is what your goals are for the next year.

It gives team members the opportunity to say – “I’ll do that” rather than saying this is your role all the time. It also gives you an opportunity to find out what their out of “work” priorities are and you can customise their role to them better. Doing this improves their job satisfaction and therefore productivity.

You need to be realistic. It is easy to get fired up on a planning day and have people take on too much that is unrealistic and then the energy from the day won’t last. However, the 3+ / 3- Rule makes it more realistic than you probably are when you’re fired up on a planning day. It is also a great follow up activity after you’ve done SWOTs as you can use this list of ideas to develop priorities for the +3/-3 Rule.

Want to have Kate Tribe moderate your planning session? Contact Tribe Research for a proposal.

Photo courtesy of Gadl.