How SMART Are You?

Monday, 10 May 2010 09:36

How do you accomplish your goals? Do you have a particular goal-setting strategy?  DMC encourages school districts to build Essential Management Skills to Turn Strategy into Performance. See the results you have long desired in your district by setting SMART goals, or rather, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Aggressive, yet Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

A SMART goal thinks in terms of outcomes (e.g. cost-savings or the redistribution of resources) instead of the activities (e.g. creating strategic plans, conducting assessments, or implementing programs), which can often be vague and difficult to track for success. An activity is saying that, "I will make my transportation department more efficient," while a SMART goal is outcome-based, such as, "I will increase on-time bus arrivals from 93% to 98% in five weeks." The latter has a greater likelihood of producing a return because you are defining the precise target you need to hit. We at DMC encourage school districts to think about their objectives in terms of specificity and measurability to ensure success. We have worked with a number of school districts on goal-setting and building leadership capacity. School districts are seeking real results, but first, they must incorporate real numbers in order for those results to be achieved.

During DMC's May 12 webinar, participants will learn how to maximize performance outcomes over time to yield quick, meaningful results and insights into the effectiveness of their goal-setting process. We designed this webinar to provide new skills to master goal-setting, workplanning, resource allocation, and accountability during these financially-challenging times.