Tuesday 2 August 2011

Does your goal setting measure up? Putting the 'M' in SMART

Read any book on performance management and you will soon come across a chapter on the importance of goal-setting.  A mnemonic that is familiar to students of this topic is SMART – making your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant and Timebound.  This article considers the importance of Measurement in the goal-setting process.  Two oft-quoted phrases around good management practice are:

‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ and, ‘You get what you measure’

So if it is so important, why is measurement of performance either neglected or just misunderstood?  Perhaps it is because not all measures are the same, and so we need to carefully select what type of measure is best for the particular task we are trying to manage.

Why do we need measures?  I think there are three main reasons:

  • To give someone a target to aim for (That is telling them what a good job looks like)
  • To have a system for tracking progress.
  • To have a system for taking corrective action, when required.

To read our 7 key messages for effective measurement, visit our Executive Lounge at http://www.enthiostraining.co.uk/ and click on Downloads. 

Miles

Monday 1 August 2011

Performance Management

We've been doing some really interesting stuff around performance management with a client of ours who is launching their new performance review process.  A few questions to ponder on:

What is the difference between a goal and motivation?  Sometimes 'SMART' is not enough, and sometimes we can be motivated by a goal which isn't well defined.

How should you measure success?  How do you do this in a busy world?

How do you give feedback which will change attitudes? 

When is it best to use a coaching style and when should you be more directive?

Over August, we will be putting up some of our own thoughts on these questions and performance management in general.

Feel free to add to the debate!