Hi, this is Mike Negami, Lean Sigma Black Belt. Today, I’ll talk about the SMART Goals,
which are very useful when you’re setting up a project goal or KPI's. It's often utilized
to set employees' KPI's in the HR field. It's a very powerful tool, so try applying it in
the Measure Phase. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. There are other combinations, but this is the most
commonly used and the most suitable for project management. The first proponent was Peter
Drucker, but his was a different combination than what we’re using today.
The first criteria is Specific. The goal should be clear and specific. In order to achieve
this, apply the 4 W questions, such as When, Where, Who and What regarding the goal.
The second one is Measurable. This is Peter Drucker’s famous quote: “What gets measured
gets done.” It’s amazing how he explained the substance of this with only one sentence.
At the check phase of the PDCA Cycle, if you can’t measure the current situation, you
can’t know if you are doing well or not, or even decide the next action.
The third one is Achievable. Haven't you had some experience being assigned a too-high
goal and lost motivation right away? Yes, unachievable goals can de-motivate their recipients,
and would work against the goal. It's better to not assign such a goal. It's imperative
to make goals that compare past data and situations with current ones. They should not be low
goals, but achievable with effort. The fourth one is Relevant. For example, a
sales team was given a gross profit % as a primary goal. The result was that they stopped
taking low gross profit % orders, then their sales declined as well as the gross profit
amount, even though they achieved their goal. In that case, that goal was not relevant.
Also, you cannot make any project goals that go against the company’s strategy or direction.
It’s important to put things in perspective and think of goals. Think of the consequences
for each goal, then decide on the final one. The last one is Time-bound. Always connect
time limits to goals. For example, if I just told my kids to clean their room or read a
book, they would not do it promptly. Additionally, giving deadlines or duration by setting a
kitchen timer assures they will complete their tasks in a timely manner.
It’s applicable at work too. A goal without a time limit is just a slogan. Also, the supervisors
who give those goals must participate in the goals and the due-dates first and make effort
such as providing status reports or an un-achiever list as the due-date gets close.
That is the explanation of the SMART Goals that are very useful for goal or KPI setting.
And by the way, as I mentioned in earlier videos: unlike manufacturing operations, it's
more difficult to collect numeric data in non-manufacturing operations.
That being said, data is still important, so please make effort to collect data first.
At that time look at your data while keeping the SMART Goals in mind, then that will give
you hints how to utilize those data. Thank you very much for viewing. If you like my
videos, please click the 'Subscribe' button. Thanks.