S.M.A.R.T. Goals: Writing Guide

If you are struggling to write measurable goals, following examples of S.M.A.R.T goals with placeholders for numbers and dates may help.

  • Increase customer engagement from X in 20XX to Y in 20XX, a YoY increase of Z% by introducing A, B, and C by 12/31/20XX

  • Reduce ‘ABC Undesirable Action’ from X in 20XX to Y in 201XX, a YoY decrease of Z% by 12/31/20XX.

  • Drive reduction in “ABC metric” as a percent of total “ABC metric” changes from X% in 20XX to Y% in 20XX, a YoY increase of Zbps by 12/31/20XX.

  • Launch <<name of initiative>> by 6/30/20XX.

Note

The “From” and “To” are as important to the goal as the goal itself because it helps to frame how large the task is that you’re taking on. 

For example:  “Drive cellphone purchases as a percent of total purchases to 71%...” does not have as much impact as a goal that states “Drive cell phone purchases as a percent of total purchases from 58% in 2020 to 71% in 2021, a YoY increase of 1,300bps by 12/31/2021”.  The addition of the 1,300 bps makes it easy for the reader to see that this is a big goal.

Rules of thumb: 

  • When working with absolutes, the YoY should be represented in percentages.

  • When working with percentages, the YoY should be represented in bps.

  • Submit goals that have an impact to the overall business. 

  • Where multiple sub-goals exist, only present the highest-level goals to executives

  • As you’re developing your goals, be thinking about what makes them “C-Suite Worthy”. 

    • Are they big needle movers to the business? 

    • Is there a large shift expected to happen when this goal is achieved? 

    • Even goals with small revenue or profit impact can have a huge effect on our customer satisfaction.

  • Be as discreet and specific as possible.  Remember that if you nest two or three goals into one, if you don’t achieve one of them the entire goal will be considered incomplete.