Goal Time Management – Effective Smart Goal Setting For Better Time Management

Goal Time Management

Setting your goals in livlihood can be remarkably challenging exceptionally if you do not suffer any clue approximately what you outstandingly want. We all own so a good amount of things who we want to do and so much stuff we covet to do in our lifetime. However, we cannot pull off everything if we do not appreciate how to set our goals right. Time is gold and we coup cannot just sit close to and wait for things to happen. Goal Time Management

Time management is an important factor in being successful in life. How we manage our time reflects the kind of person we are and how we deal with everything in this world. If you want to manage your time the correct way, you have to start by setting the right goals. You cannot just write down and follow any goals you want for you need to have a standard in setting them. This is where SMART goal setting comes in.

SMART goal setting is a tested and proven method used by many in setting their goals in life. You too can apply it and become a better time manager. After all, if we want to manage our time well we have to start by setting the right goals.

Here’s what effective SMART goal setting is about and how it can help you manage your time better:

Specific

In setting your goals you have to keep it as simple as possible. You have to be specific enough to clearly identify the goals you want to achieve in a period of time. It will also help if you assess what you want; why you want it, and when do you want to have it. Goal Time Management

Measurable

You must set goals which you can measure. It means that these should be goals wherein you can easily monitor your progress and see how far you have gone in reaching them. You must set some sort of criteria or basis to serve as an evaluation tool to determine whether you are successful or not.

Attainable

Attainable goals are those which you can possibly reach. Upon setting your goals, you must see to it that you are really capable of achieving them. Avoid those which you know are beyond your powers. You can do this by examining your capabilities and resources and analyze if they are enough to make you reach the goals. Goal Time Management

Realistic

Are your goals doable? When you set your goals you have to be as realistic as possible. Remember you are only human and you have your limitations. Your goals must be based on what you can possibly do and not beyond what you are capable of. Be realistic if you want to see results.
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Leadership Tips — When Smart Is Not Enough

You Know It

 

Your employees know it too.  Your clients really know it.  You’ve got one employee whose technical knowledge is unsurpassed.  He (or she — for today we’ll make him male) understands your systems better than anyone else.  When something breaks, no one can fix it faster.  When new capabilities are required by clients, he knows how to build them in. 

 

Everyone knows how smart he is, and everyone dreads working with the guy.  His interpersonal skills are the polar opposite of his technical skills.  He shows no patience for those who don’t understand technology like he does.  If someone challenges or disagrees with him, he becomes argumentative and even insulting.

 

You’ve counseled him.  On his best days, he tolerates your efforts to help him see his behaviors through the eyes of others.  He might even acknowledge the need to improve.  On his worst days, he dismisses the feedback and blames everyone else for his frustration.

 

Your gut is telling you this guy has got to go.  But he’s saved your bacon so many times.  Clients need new capabilities and you suspect your staff can’t step up to the challenge yet.  What if something breaks the day after you let him go?  What if he ends up with your competitor?  What should you do?

 

Trust Your Gut

 

Let him go. 

 

Think about it.  By keeping this genius around, you are guaranteeing that nothing is going to change.  He will behave as he has been behaving.  You, your staff and your clients will depend on him for your toughest problems, and you’ll all continue to be frustrated by the behaviors.

 

More importantly, the rest of your team will continue to be viewed as second tier in terms of technical knowledge.  People on your team with great potential will realize that staying with you isn’t working.  They will leave rather than grow as you need them to grow. 

 

Look at what that behavior of his has done.  Are people on your team talking about ways to solve client problems?  Or are they talking about the latest incident with Mr. Arrogant?

 

Within a few days after you let this guy go, you will see a dramatic change in your team.  They may not instantly replace the loss of knowledge.  They will very quickly start having different conversations, and from there the team will grow.  They will develop their own expertise; they will work directly with your clients and improve those relationships.

 

Communicate Openly

 

Will your clients be concerned?  Of course.  Explain to them what you are doing and why.  Commit to be personally available if they have a problem, and follow through on that commitment. 

 

Be clear in communicating to your team that you made your decision in the best interests of the business.  Tell them what you believe; that the best thing for the business is to create opportunity for more people to shine.  The deeper the strength of your team, the more your business can thrive and grow.

 

Technical expertise can be replaced and it can be developed, though it may not happen overnight.  Behavior problems permeate staff, colleagues and clients.  Most people will respond when taught good business behaviors, but those who do not must go.

 

You would not tolerate a single point of failure in your technology.  Don’t let it happen in your people.

The organization that isn’t changing is dying. For more leadership ideas, along with strategies for managing change, visit www.thomasjodea.com.


Tom O’Dea has over 30 years of IT experience, with 20 years of senior leadership in IT and Professional Services with multibillion dollar corporations.


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SMART Goal Setting – Fast-track Your Success

After working for almost two decades in marketing where we planned and planned and then planned some more I was convinced the world knew about setting goals. Apparently I was wrong so I’m going to take you through a basic process called SMART goal setting.

As you proactively work through your goal plans you will be motivated to build on your success as each step moves you closer to obtaining a job that is fulfilling and satisfying. SMART goals set you up for success by keeping you focused, efficient and in action. The acronym stands for: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely

We’ll use two examples to illustrate the process. One is a SMART goal example and the other is not.

SMART example: As of July 1, I will phone five employment agencies that specialize in IT recruitment and go for three agency meetings by the end of July.

Non-SMART example: I will meet with employment agencies.

** Specific

The SMART goal provides specific guidance on the ‘how’, ‘when’ and ‘what’ will be done to achieve the goal.

Can you see the different between that and the general goal? In the second example we understand we will meet with agencies but we don’t know if we are meeting 2 or 30 or by when?

** Measurable

How will you know if you have achieved a goal if you can’t measure it?

In our example we’ve stated we’ll contact THREE agencies to obtain THREE interviews BY the end of a period.

Once all these factors are ticked off you know the goal has been achieved. Going back to our non-SMART example, how would you know if you achieved your goal, how many interviews would it take for it to be complete and over what period?

Establishing specific criteria for reaching a goal allows you to determine how close you are to achieving it. It is also motivating to watch your progress. Measures usually consist of time, numbers, percentages and dates.

** Attainable

There are two locus of control in life: internal and external.

You have the ability to control yourself so a goal tends to be more attainable if it’s left up to you.

We sometimes set ourselves up to fail on the external factors which can include: time commitments, relying on others or economic factors.

In our first goal we say we are meeting with three employment agencies over the period of a month and although we’re relying on others a reasonable amount of time has been allowed to contact and set up appointments.

** Realistic

Effective goal setting requires you to be willing and able to achieve your goals.

An unrealistic goal may be: I will call 100 IT agencies and set up 30 agency meetings within one week.

Although this might be a viable goal the unrealistic aspect comes into play on the numbers. Of course you can go to IT agencies to discuss your job desires, but it’s unlikely you will be able to set up the set meetings in the specified period of time.

** Timely

Procrastination is one of the key goal achieving inhibitors. Our SMART goal provides an end of the month time frame. Our other example is open ended, so for those of us who like postponing action the deadline could be in 10 years’ time!

SMART goal setting is a practical way to keep you on track, motivated and working towards achieving your goals.

Madisen Harper is a career expert, inspirational author, speaker & life enrichment mentor. Receive 100s of practical tips to create a more fulfilling work life by visiting =>
http://www.MadisenHarper.com and subscribing to her FREE Right Here, Right Now VIDEO newsletter.
Madisen recently co-authored a book with internationally renowned success expert Brian Tracy and ‘The Secret’s’ business mentor John Assaraf and spiritual leader Michael Beckwith.

Problem-Solving Success Tip – Make Your Success Criteria SMART

How will you know when the problem is solved? Success criteria answer that question in measurable terms, but only if they are “SMART”. There are many versions of this memory-hook floating around, but all of them are intended to help you make sure your success measurements can achieve their purpose. Here’s my favorite:

Specific. Point to the particular problem as precisely as possible.

Measurable. You must be able to tell objectively, i.e., by measuring, whether you’ve met the criterion or not.

Appropriate. Be sure that whatever you measure will indicate success in solving this problem, Metrics that are very broad, such as overall revenue growth, are usually useless for confirming that a particular problem is solved.

Reasonable. You must have reasonable expectation that you can actually achieve the numbers you agree to. At the time you’re setting success criteria, you don’t know yet how you’ll solve the problem, but you should have some sense of how big and messy it is. For example, if it will take you full-time work for a week just to analyze the problem and you have other responsibilities, don’t promise a total solution within a week.

Time-bound. Specify when the success criteria will be met. A 10% improvement in a week is a lot different from a 10% improvement in a year. Also determine how long you will monitor the success metrics to be sure the problem really is solved.

Checking your success criteria to make sure they’re SMART can help avoid the trap of measuring something just because you can. None of us has time to collect and review metrics because they are “interesting”. Make sure your success criteria will help you make a decision, are simple in concept, are so clearly connected to the problem that you can remember them easily, and that they are SMART.

Copyright 2010. Jeanne Sawyer

Jeanne Sawyer helps her clients solve expensive, chronic problems, such as those that cause operational disruptions and cause customers to take their business elsewhere. Find out about her book, When Stuff Happens: A Practical Guide to Solving Problems Permanently, and get more free information on problem solving at her web site: http://www.sawyerpartnership.com/.

Personal Goal Setting – Examples of SMART Goals

The SMART in smart goals is an acrostic to help people remember the important points that make personal goal setting effective. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

These are all critical components of goal setting that will motivate you to achieve the goals you set for yourself. Let’s discuss these goal setting guidelines right now.

Specific. First, you want to make your goal as specific as possible. You want to ensure your goal is detailed and describes exactly what you want.

For example, if you set a goal to own your own home, be specific about it. Don’t just say I want to own a house. Describe what kind of house you want; how big will it be, how many bedrooms will it have, do you want a house with a yard or not, and where do you want your new home to be located? Answer the question Who, What, When, Where, Which and How. The more specific a goal is, the clearer target you set for yourself.

Measurable. Second, when setting goals, make sure you set goals whose progress you can measure. There is a difference between saying I want to lose weight and I want to lose 30 pounds. When you say, I want to lose 30 pounds, you can measure that. You can see your progress as you decrease your weight from 30 pounds, down to 25, down to 20 and so on. This will help you see fruits of your labor and motivate you to keep pushing forward.

Now if you merely said I want to lose weight, well, losing even one pound could constitute you achieving your goal, so you wouldn’t be kept motivated to continue.

Attainable. Third, you want to set a goal that is attainable. Based on current restrictions, such as your schedule, workload, and knowledge, do you belief you can attain the objective you set? If not, then set a different goal, one that is attainable for you in the present moment. By setting unattainable goals, it will only make you feel like a failure for not accomplishing the target you set for yourself.

Realistic. Next, and this is in line with attainability, set goals that are realistic. If you are 40 pounds overweight and haven’t exercised in years, it’d be a pretty unrealistic goal to run a triathlon with 2 months of training. So set a goal you have a realistic chance of achieving. Doing otherwise is setting you up to fail before you even start.

Time-bound. Last and most important, all smart goals must be time-bound. Meaning you should have a dead line or there should be a date by which you plan to have the goal completed. Setting a deadline reinforces the seriousness of the goal in your mind. It motivates you to take action. When you don’t set a time-line, there is no internal pressure to accomplish the goal, so you dilly dally, letting the goal sit in the back burner.

So make sure to set a date for when you want to accomplish the goal by. By doing so, I guarantee you will find yourself motivated to act on the goal sooner.

Well, these are the goal setting guidelines to set SMART Goals. You want to make them specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

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