Goal setting
How to use
Everybody in health and social care has goals to achieve. There are many ways in which you might go about achieving a particular goal, but there seems to be general agreement that writing it down and careful planning will contribute towards success. Accordingly, a wide range of frameworks have been developed to help, most notably ‘SMART’ goals (Doran, 1981). Setting SMART goals helps you define a clear, realistic and achievable plan. This idea was extended to ‘SMARTER’ goals (Hendrick, 2006), to help build in sustainability by making the goal engaging and rewarding, as follows.
| Be SMARTER... | ||
|---|---|---|
| S | Specific | Significant but simple |
| M | Measurable | Meaningful, manageable |
| A | Achievable | Appropriate, action-focused |
| R | Relevant | Realistic, resourced |
| T | Timebound | Timed, timetabled |
| E | Engagement | Enjoyable, engaging |
| R | Reward | Recordable, rewarding |
The ‘SMART(ER)’ framework is incredibly useful and widely applied, but Jay (2011) suggests there might be a more powerful way to set goals. She believes SMART goals can limit rather than inspire, and proposes setting goals which are ‘WISE’ as well:
| Be WISE... | ||
|---|---|---|
| W | Written | Instils commitment |
| I | Integrated | Balanced with other life commitments |
| S | Synergistic | Contributes to one vision |
| E | Expansive | Think big for inspiration! |
SMART goals are useful for managing change realistically and WISE goals help to inspire and excite, but you should also be open to flexibility, challenges and the unknown. To accommodate this, Hester (2009) proposes that goals should also incorporate the ‘DIM’ criteria:
| Be DIM... | ||
|---|---|---|
| D | Demanding | Be aspirational, don’t go for something too easy. |
| I | Innovative | What outcome haven’t you thought of before? |
| M | Moveable | Be flexible and responsive to change. |
Each framework differs slightly in approach, but one aspect remains constant – you must write down your goal! The tool below includes a space for writing down your goal and then answering a series of questions to assess how SMART, WISE and DIM it is before you set out to achieve it. Some of the questions overlap a little, but that helps to ensure you really think carefully about your goal and how you set about achieving it.
References
Doran, G.T. (1981) ‘There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives’, Management Review, vol. 70, no. 11, pp. 35–36.
Hendrick, L. (2006) ‘Smarter goals … spread it around’, Motivation on the Run, 27 March. Available online at www.larryhendrick.com/motivate/ 2006/03/27/smarter-goals-spread-it-around (Accessed 23 April 2012).
Hester, R. (2009) Learning Guide 17 ‘Target setting’, K116 Working with children and young people in trouble, Milton Keynes, The Open University. (based on Chambers et al., 2006)
Jay, J. (2011) ‘Make your smart goals wise goals’, Supervision, vol.72, no. 11, pp. 12–13.