Developing SMART Goals For Your Organization

Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.
FE577
Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization1

Henry M. Cothran and Allen F. Wysocki2
“You've got to be very careful if you don't tactical (defining specific short-term results for units
know where you're going, because you might not get within the organization). Goals serve as an internal
there.” – Yogi Berra source of motivation and commitment and provide a
guide to action as well as a means of measuring
“Goal setting is one of the basic tools used by performance (Barton, 2000). Defining organizational
organizations to assist in setting a direction and goals helps to conceptualize and articulate the future
achieving it. Successful organizations often set long- direction of the organization, thus allowing those
and short-term goals for service development, responsible for setting that direction to develop a
improving quality, reducing errors, becoming more common understanding of where the organization is
customer-focused, and building better internal and heading. Goals provide a way of assuring that an
public relations.” – Jeffery Davis, Managing and organization will get where it wants to go.
Achieving Organizational Goals
Setting Goals
Individuals may set goals to achieve a personal
objective such as career advancement. This How goals are set is as important as the goal
publication is designed to introduce a sequential itself. Thus it is important that goals meet specific
process for setting goals. It begins by defining a goal criteria that can be used to easily assess them. One
and identifying reasons for setting goals. It then way of doing this is to use the acronym “SMART”
describes a process based on the acronym SMART as a way of evaluating the goal. An internet search
for developing and implementing goals. for “SMART” goals yielded some 6.7 million hits.
One of those hits, Measure-X.com said that “the
Defining "Goal" origin of the acronym is lost, and the specific traits
are not universally agreed upon, [but] SMART goals
A goal is a statement of a desired future an
still provide a great framework to improve your goal
organization wishes to achieve. It describes what the
setting and help you create more effective goals.” A
organization is trying accomplish. Goals may be
further search of the first forty websites found that
strategic (making broad statements of where the
most used the following words to define a
organization wishes to be at some future point) or
“SMART” goal:
1. This is EDIS document FE577, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published November 2005. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Henry M. Cothran, Associate-In, and Allen F. Wysocki, Associate Professor, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension
Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and
other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex,
sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry
Arrington, Dean
Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.
Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization 2
• Specific organization's leadership, and where appropriate its

stakeholders, should agree that the goal is important
• Measurable and that appropriate time and resources will be
focused on its accomplishment. An attainable goal
• Attainable
should also allow for flexibility. A goal that can no
• Relevant longer be achieved should be altered or abandoned.
• Time-bound Relevant
Specific Goals should be appropriate to and consistent

with the mission and vision of the organization. Each
A goal is specific when it provides a description goal adopted by the organization should be one that
of what is to be accomplished. A specific goal is a moves the organization toward the achievement of its
focused goal. It will state exactly what the vision. Relevant goals will not conflict with other
organization intends to accomplish. While the organizational goals. As noted earlier, goals are set
description needs to be specific and focused, it also by or in concert with the person responsible for
needs to be easily understood by those involved in its achievement. It is important that all short-term goals
achievement. It should be written so that it can be be relevant (e.g., consistent) with the longer-term and
easily and clearly communicated. A specific goal will broader goals of the organization.
make it easier for those writing objectives and action
plans to address the following questions: Time-bound
• Who is to be involved? Finally a goal must be bound by time. That is, it

must have a starting and ending point. It should also
• What is to be accomplished? have some intermediate points at which progress can
be assessed. Limiting the time in which a goal must
• Where is it to be done?
be accomplished helps to focus effort toward its
• When is it to be done? achievement.
Measurable References
A goal is measurable if it is quantifiable. Barton, R.B. 2000. Chapter 7, Organizational

Measurement is accomplished by first obtaining or Goal Setting and Planning. Murray State University,
establishing base-line data. It will also have a target Murray, KY.
toward which progress can be measured, as well as http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/
benchmarks to measure progress along the way. A rb.barton/40mgmt07.ppt#256,1,chapter7.
measurable goal will answer questions such as:
Davis, Jeffery H. N/D. Chapter 1, Managing and
• How much? Achieving Organization Goals. American
Management Association, New York, NY.
• How many? http://www.flexstudy.com/catalog/
index.cfm?location=sch&coursenum=95086.
• How will you know when it is accomplished?
Measure-X. S.M.A.R.T. Goals. N.D. E-mail
Attainable
Newsletter #27, Phoenix, AZ.
There should be a realistic chance that a goal can http://www.measure-x.com/newsletter/27.html.
be accomplished. This does not mean or imply that
goals should be easy. On the contrary, a goal should
be challenging. It should be set by or in concert with
the person responsible for its achievement. The

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Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.

Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization1

Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization 2

• Specific organization's leadership, and where appropriate its

Specific Goals should be appropriate to and consistent

• Who is to be involved? Finally a goal must be bound by time. That is, it

A goal is measurable if it is quantifiable. Barton, R.B. 2000. Chapter 7, Organizational

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