Can we PLEASE abandon SMART Goals?

Setting and achieving goals is my love language. I habitually set high goals for myself and my team and
obsess about ways we can reach them. I know that having a clear and simple goal for a team is the best
way to motivate everyone to work towards that goal.
However, there is nothing that I dreaded more in my corporate position than those haunting annual
SMART goals forms that would come out. Nothing against the concept of goal setting, it was just those
forms. Who’s with me?

Every year, I would block time, create a relaxing environment, and pump myself up for a magical
afternoon of goal – setting for me and my team. Ten minutes in and………NOPE. I hate this form. I hate
this form. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is about this form that elicits so much emotion from
me but I swore that one day, when I opened my own company, I would do it differently. Well, that day
is here, and I would love to share what works for me now, and I think its pretty smart.
Goals are a critical part of our business and our lives. They give us something to work towards, they
demand focus and structure, and they give us markers of progress. After many years of goal setting, I
have implemented a simple and effective plan that includes just three elements:

WHAT | HOW | WHEN
See how simple that is. Now let me show you an actual example using this method.

WHAT: Increase Social Media conversions to revenue by 3%. Our current conversion from SM to paying
client is 7.3%. We want to increase that to 10.3%.

HOW: Increase current SM ads spend on all current platforms by 1.5%. Review all CTA’s and hashtag
strategies.

WHEN: Implement HOW strategies within 5 days. Accomplish main goal within 90 days.
I know, I know, this is a very simple example and there are going to be plenty of you that say this needs
more direction and more detail. What I have found is when you really simplify your goals for your team,
it allows them more ownership of that goal and avoids the process of setting and understanding the
goals and the metrics getting in the way of the desired outcome.
It’s no surprise that I love this method of goal setting because it follows my motto:
When in doubt, SIMPLIFY.