SMART goals in project planning and performance management

Revision as of 11:43, 21 September 2017

>>>Work in progress<<<

Considering the obstacles an effective goal setting can encounter such as lacking organisational capabilities or resistance to change, e.g due to individual anxiety, creating and implementing appropriate goals seem to be challenging. However, in a dynamic company environment establishing effective goals followed by developed action plans is of great importance in any project management process. Initially created by George T. Doran in the Management Review^[1], the SMART goals can be classified as an effective goal setting technique. The acronym SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound.

Being in line with the purpose perspective of projects, this goal setting method is not only applicable in professional projects, but also in any project of private nature. Using this tool allows to generate success substantially related to its original efforts, which is of high value for any project manager. Due to the SMART goals' great scope in diverse industrial areas, a deep investigation of the SMART traits and simultaneously a critical reflection of its potential limitations will be conducted as follows.

Introduction to goal setting

Organisations such as companies aim to create benefits and to reach outcomes or goals, respectively^[2]. This process is often initiated by establishing a vision which is translated into measureable goals in the project planning phase on an organisation's strategic, tactical or operational level. Next to the performance evaluation of the proposed goals, goals create a direction(QUELLE-MANAGEMENT REVIEW) which allows to be followed throughout the phases of any project management process^[3].

As any managerial task such as a planning process is accompanied by uncertainties^[4] that can lead to ambiguity and fallacy, an effective way of setting achievable goals is absolutely essential(QUELLE finden, wo es angesprochen wurde!!!!!) to mitigate negative outcomes(AUSDRUCK).

for success validation necessary

goals also for further development necessary (next to direction) (QUELLE-Managementreview)

>>for motivation First, setting goals increases motivation. In fact, goals and motivation are so intertwined that many definitions of motivation incorporate goals. For instance, Mitchell (1982) defines motivation as “those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed” (p.81). The effects of goals on motivation and behavior, however, depend on their properties. For example, it has long been known that giving people specific goals to achieve rather than telling them to do their best increases their motivation (see Locke & Brian 1966, Brian & Locke, 1967; Locke & Latham, 2002). (http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

>>for achievement Second, setting goals increases achievement. Hundreds of correlational and experimental studies show evidence that setting goals increase success rate in various settings, including education (Latham & Locke, 2007; Locke & Latham, 1990).(http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

defined goals/objectives are in the scope category of project, program and portfolio mgmt (SPM p7)

Goals are clearly de ned outcomes and bene ts that describe what the program is expected to deliver. The outcomes are the nal results, outputs, or deliverables realized through the individual projects, while bene ts are the tangible gains and valuable assets to the organization from the economic or other exploited effect of outcomes. >>REVIEW goal SPM image on desktop^[2]

History of goals -> great organisational performance In the 1960’s, research began regarding the power of setting goals and organizational performance. The first contextual event in the history of SMART goals happened in 1968. Dr. Edwin Locke published a seminal paper called “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives”. In the paper, Locke established that appropriately set goals do result in superior organizational performance.(https://www.achieveit.com/resources/blog/history-evolution-smart-goals/)

>> Doran extended the studies of Locke<< In 1981, George T. Doran published a work in the November issue of Management Review that extended upon Locke’s findings. Doran, G. T. (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”. Management Review (AMA FORUM) 70 (11): 35–36. He recognized that companies need to achieve goals and objectives, but often established goals were too diffuse to have a meaningful impact. Rather, they are measurable things that need to be achieved to move an organization forward.

Why SMART?

As it has been hinted by some of the studies mentioned above, goals must be specific (as opposed to “doing your best”), short­term rather than long­term, and challenging (Latham & Locke, 1979; Mento, Steel & Karren, 1987). Similarly, "Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely Goals" or SMART Goals, is a ubiquitous mnemonic used to explain the desirable quality of goals in many areas including education and self­help programs (Drucker, 1954).(http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

SMART goals^[5]

Using this tool allows to generate success substantially related to its original efforts, which is of high value for any project manager.

establishing effective goals followed by developed action plans is of great importance in any project management process(QUELLE-MANAGEMENT REVIEW)

applicability in various industrial areas and project management areas >> figure to show scope

SMART goals can be implemented in any part of an organization: they can be set for personal development, project management or for the entire company(https://blog.weekdone.com/smart-goals/)

>> figure success rate after implementing smart goals towards w/o smart goals

can be implemented in any methodology (QUELLE) >>Setting goals using Work Breakdown Structure, a Gantt chart, or any other project planning methodology(http://blog.capterra.com/10-smart-goal-setting-best-practices-for-project-planning/)

executives. Leaders and managers are looking for a way to guide using smart goals, Over time, SMART goal setting has helped organizations of all sizes set and achieve their objectives. (QUELLE achieveit)

SMART provides a structure for goals and objectives. They track task implementation and, as a result, improve team efficiency. So what are these SMART goals that can potentially solve so many problems in project planning?(http://blog.capterra.com/10-smart-goal-setting-best-practices-for-project-planning/)

SPECIFIC: Clear goals increase persistence and self­efficacy, making individuals less susceptible to the undermining effects of anxiety, disappointment, and frustration (Schunk, 1990). It is also easier to evaluate one’s progress towards a specific goal: well­defined goals help individuals discover and use efficient strategies and modes of thought and perception (e.g., Locke & Latham, 2002; Smith, Locke, & Barry, 1990), Research showed that the specific goal group outperformed the non­specific goal group in performance and self­efficacy.(http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

Explanation why SMART: SpecificThe first is for the goal to be specific with the avoidance of generic or undefined objectives. Measurable requires the goal to have quantifiable qualities that can be clearly articulated and measured. Achievable is, for obvious reasons, something that is realistic and not setting someone up for failure to reach the goal. Relevant is going to have several implications, but the most important is that it is something that is going to be important to the goal setter. Finally, the time constraint might be one of the more critical aspects for getting things actually completed.(http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/job-info-centre/articles/1661-smart-goals-and-goal-setting-career-enhancement)

Application: How to be SMART?

That is why SMART goals appear on the project planning horizon(http://blog.capterra.com/10-smart-goal-setting-best-practices-for-project-planning/)

Guidance

Specific Goals

1. Have precise goals.

Meet Murphy’s Law, which claims that when something might go wrong, it will.

In the case of project planning and goal setting, consider this statement: “If there are several ways to understand the task, then someone will understand it improperly.”

While setting goals, you should make them as accurate and specific as possible to avoid misinterpretation. Writing goals on paper or (even better) in an easily-accessible electronic format is also good practice. Fortunately, there are many types of project management software available to help achieve this end.

Examples of Goals:

Incorrect Goal: Make a cross-browser layout of the www.site.com

Correct Goal: www.site.com must be equally displayed in browsers IE6 +, Opera 6+, and Firefox 2+

Incorrect Goal: Make a valid layout of the www.site.com

Correct Goal: www.site.com must completely pass check validators w3c.org (http://www.w3.org/QA/Tools)

2. Agree on goal meanings instead of details.

You do not need to go into every minute detail of every goal. You just have to agree on each goal’s meaning. It is important that the team and the product owner understand each backlog element in an equal way.

Measurable Goals

3. Measure your achievements.

Measurable goals bring several benefits.

First, if there is a numerical measure of achievement, you know exactly at what stage of work you are and how much is left to do.

Second, you know exactly how much you have done. Sometimes, it is useful reflect on achievements to boost morale.

Finally, at the end of the workday, you and your teammates will be able to calculate by what percentage you achieved your target.

Examples of Goals:

Incorrect Goal: Increase traffic on the site.

Correct Goal: The traffic on the site must be 2,000 visitors per day.

Incorrect Goal: Make every visitor to buy more.

Correct Goal: Increase the sum of an average check by 10%.

The presence of metrics are important, and not only for formulation of backlog elements; they also allow the project manager to assess the size of the goal element. Although latest trends abandon numerical estimates in goal setting, it is impossible to make the process of project planning sufficiently accurate without them.

4. Form implementation intentions instead of goal intentions.

When setting project planning goals, project managers usually create succinct goals. Yet sometimes they fail because of changing requirements and situational cues.

Compare Goals:

Goal Intention: The feature must be released by May 20.

Implementation Intention: If the feature is still under development on May 5, an extra developer should be invited to the project.

With the focus on implementation intentions strategy, you can specify how a person should behave by predefining if-then situations. In this case, risk management is already taken care of, and there is a clear path to respond to negative events.

Attainable Goals

5. Set goals in accordance to your team members’ strengths.

Each person has a unique set of knowledge and skills, so it is necessary to select the appropriate goals for individual people. Referencing the skills and knowledge of the person, goals can be categorized:

Unreachable: The goals are unrealistic. Elusive: The goals are unclear. First of all, you should assign difficult or complicated goals to experienced and ambitious employees. The harder the goal, the greater the sense of achievement.

Good goals look like this:

Achievable: These goals correspond to the knowledge and skill level of the performer. For example, to draw the layout design of the approved site outline and brief in one day. Such tasks are necessary for respite between more difficult tasks and to develop self-confidence. Easily accessible: These goals do not correspond to the competence of the employee. Reaching them does not give any sense of satisfaction for an employee. For example, to draw the button for a form in the specified style in a day. It is desirable to entrust such goals only to new employees to integrate them into the team. The general conclusion is that it is necessary to alternate accessible and elusive goals. Using agile methodologies, when a team evaluates backlog items, such alternation is obtained in a natural way.

6. Set Learning Goals Instead of Performance Goals.

Most project managers measure goal achievements by learning metrics, but not performance metrics. The difference is that performance goals focus on the final result. In contrast, learning goals focus on the process itself and answer the question, “How can I reach this goal?”

Why is it important to focus on learning goals?

Surprisingly, learning goals are more likely to be achieved. Usually, when people face performance goals (these goals answer the questions like, “Can I outperform others?”), they focus on the end result and have a strong apprehension of failure. Doing so decreases their motivation and stops them from completing goals collaboratively.

With learning goals, people are able to devote their cognitive resources to a second task with minimal impact on performance.

Relevant Goals

7. Keep goals inspiring for the team.

The relevance of goals should be considered from two sides: goal relevance for the performer and for the company. Goal relevance (significance) for the team member is closely connected with his or her own set of personal motivations. For example, a research project can and should be given to an employee who enjoys learning new things, and wouldn’t be great for a programmer who would rather just code.

8. Keep goals relevant for the whole team.

Granted, when the team realizes that a goal is important, they’ll put in more effort when compared to “unimportant” goals.

And what can the team do if the goal is prioritized? Focus on efficiency. “Efficiency,” in this case, can be measured by a deadline, the final product, and the cost of work.

Time-Based Goals

9. Set concrete goal deadlines from urgency to availability.

When discussing dates for goals, you should remember one more empirical law called “Parkinson’s Law,” which states, “Any work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If a task doesn’t have a deadline, immediate tasks displace it, and the chance that somebody ever gets around to it decreases. Thus, when setting any goal, always set a deadline.

The urgency of your goals is closely linked to goal-completion attainability. Let me show you why.

Examples of Goals:

Incorrect Goal: Make on the website the section “Contact Us” for a demonstration to the client by tomorrow.

Correct Goal: Make on the website the section “Contact Us” for demonstration to the client by noon 6/10/2016.

These deadline concepts integrate into Scrum. Iterations always have a fixed size and everyone knows precisely when will be a demonstration of sprint results.

10. Keep operational goals small while continuing to set high goals.

One of the SMART project planning tips is that operational goals and high-level goals should be clearly separated. Keep the low-level goals on which you are working small and achievable. This allows you to track the progress of the whole project and instantly make decisions based on the performance metrics.

But when setting ambitious goals, you assume that your colleagues have an ability to meet them, do not have any conflicting goals that can influence the result, and, finally, are moving in the same direction.(http://blog.capterra.com/10-smart-goal-setting-best-practices-for-project-planning/)

So what exactly makes a SMART goal?

S: Specific. A goal of “being the best” is too broad for specific execution. Make your goals more specific steps that will ultimately lead to you being the best. M: Measurable. How will you tell if you are heading towards your goal? If you have metrics that will measure it, you will be much more likely to execute it. A: Attainable/Achievable. Your goals should be lofty enough to inspire but not so big as to be unrealistic. Have big dreams for your company overall, but set smaller goals during the S.M.A.R.T. planning process in order to reach those lofty heights. R: Relevant. Make sure your goals apply to you, your company, and what you want to accomplish. T: Timely. Set a date for completion.(achieveit)

provide template

However, by interpreting “R” as Relevant, leaders add the dimension that the goals should conform with strategic direction.(achieveit)

Case studies

Project management phases: Planning, performance measurement, time management

>>industrial feedback after smart application<<

>>>Further consideration in program/portfolio management

Limitations

Bias, human resistance

effective goal setting can encounter such as lacking organisational capabilities or resistance to change, e.g due to individual anxiety (QUELLE-Managementreview)-requires critical reflection of capabilities and encountering unpleasant realisation of lacking capabilities

not easy to set appropriate goals (tbd- check QUELLE-Management review)

set goals need to be meaningful>>Goals should be meaningful and valuable to students. Even though the goals may be SMART, if students don’t perceive them as meaningful or valued, their engagement with goal attainment progress will diminish (Wigfield & Eccles, 1992)(http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

Other techniques?

goals not ambitious enough

strictly following of guidance can lead to disregard better solutions

Conclusion

It is important to note, while the exact definition of “R” is not critical, it should be meaningful and not redundant in a larger context.(achieveit)

there is no ‘one­ size ­fits­ all’ way of utilizing goal setting(http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/settinggoals.pdf)

Annotated bibliography

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Management Review, 1981, http://community.mis.temple.edu/mis0855002fall2015/files/2015/10/S.M.A.R.T-Way-Management-Review.pdf, Retrieved September 20, 2017
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} PMI, The Standard for Project Management, 2013, p26-29
3. ↑ PMI, XXX, https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/project-management-middle-five-stages-6969, Retrieved September 20, 2017
4. ↑ Gareth R. Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management, 2015, p9
5. ↑ Megan M. Flores, 2017, https://www.achieveit.com/resources/blog/history-evolution-smart-goals/, Retrieved September 20, 2017