Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 8

SETTING TARGETS

Management is beset by jargon and acronyms. But, just occasionally, you find an acronym which works. And when it comes to setting targets, there is a popular acronym which helps. Here it is: when you set goals they should be SMART. This is what SMART stands for:

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Achievable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time bound

Clearly, this is better than setting vague, unmeasurable, unachievable, irrelevant goals with no deadline. President Kennedy set the nation a goal of “putting a man on the moon within ten years and bringing them back again”. It was a classic SMART goal: you may not want to ask your team members to go to the moon, but it is worth understanding why that goal was so effective.

Specific. The goal ...