SMART goals can sabotage your success at work. Here’s what to do instead

SMART goals aren’t necessarily wise. 

In 1981, consultant George Doran developed a framework called SMART goals—which stands for smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-related. At the time when the SMART goal system was developed, there were many benefits—namely, the formality of setting and writing down goals. However, the workplace has evolved significantly since 1981. And yet, many organizations and leaders still rely on this system today. 

I am a leadership consultant, and time and time again I have found that today, SMART goals can, in fact, sabotage your success at work. With SMART goals, the primary focus is on outcomes, without accounting for the journey. Further, the framework can cloud what you want your team to accomplish. Even more important, it’s valuable to include learning, growth, and collaboration goals, which can be challenging to account for with the SMART goal system.

Here’s how to set goals that actually work:

Set goals that motivate and stretch your team members 

Instead of focusing on goals that are reachable, I recommend setting goals that motivate. Research shows even in the most challenging environments, employees respond better to goals that stretch them. 

What constitutes an appropriately ambitious goal differs for every organization. I encourage leaders to cocreate goals with their team members, so there is mutual investment and partnership in both the process and the outcomes. To be sure, there is a fine balance between increasing and deterring motivation. Research suggests that when people miss goals that were set too high, it can negatively affect a person’s feelings about themselves—which can have negative consequences for the organization, too. This means managers must diligently consider what goals stretch their team’s potential, without overestimating. I like to think of motivational goals as those that make you feel a bit nervous but still want to leap forward with enthusiasm.

Create goals that go beyond outcomes

In addition to considering goals about job performance, incorporate a learning or professional development goal and be sure to measure people skills, such as collaboration. If your company has organizational values, incorporate these elements into your goals. Use the same clearly defined expectations for these goals. This can demonstrate to your organization that you are invested in the teams’ values, in learning, and in supporting your colleagues.

Connect employee goals to organizational goals

Be sure to connect your goals to your organization’s broader goals. An employee may only be responsible for a fraction of the fundraising or sales revenue, but when they succeed at their part, it lays the foundation for the whole team to be successful. By ensuring that your success is part of the bigger team’s success, you can demonstrate your value to your managers, reinforce your connectedness to your team, and illustrate your commitment to your organization’s mission.

Develop milestones

Rather than focusing only on end goals, develop clearly defined expectations within each goal. In creating these milestones, consider both the short- and long-term needs of the organization. In addition to having a goal that outlines specific outcomes for this year, include a component of the goal that addresses future progress. For example, when a staff member has specific targets, you might end up with a staff member who reaches the outcomes you asked for this year, but didn’t set the organization up for success in future years. Or worse, they might have reached their goals and undermined colleagues along the way. How people achieve their goals is important, too. Having distinct milestones will build in appropriate places to discuss progress.

Review progress

Goals shouldn’t be set at the beginning of the year and then pulled out of a drawer at the end of the year. Review your progress toward your goals regularly. Depending on the goal, that may be monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. Ask for feedback from your colleagues and managers about what’s going well, what could be improved, and revisit if anything needs to be changed or updated. 

Checking in on goals is as important for high-performing team members as it is for employees who may have performance issues. If a team member has been exceeding expectations, reviewing progress provides an opportunity to recognize their successes and hear from them about how you can best support their continued growth. If a team member isn’t on track, ask questions to understand how things are going, what they’re struggling with, and what barriers they may have.

Thoughtful goal setting can provide direction and purpose for all kinds of workers. When you set goals that are motivational—not narrowly focused on outcomes—are connected to your organization’s mission, include clear milestones, and are regularly reviewed, you get one step closer to everyone’s favorite part of goals: celebrating them.

Shanna A. Hocking is a leadership consultant, philanthropic adviser, and keynote speaker. She is also the author of One Bold Move a Day: Meaningful Actions Women Can Take to Fulfill Their Leadership and Career Potential.