"Improve customer service" is a goal. So is "Raise our customer satisfaction score from 72% to 80% by December by answering all emails within one working day." Both point in the same direction, but only one of them can be managed. That is the real difference between a regular goal and a SMART goal.
What a regular goal is
A regular goal is a direction or a wish: grow sales, be more organised, communicate better. It is useful for describing ambition, but it has no finish line. You cannot tell whether you have achieved it, so you cannot plan for it or be judged fairly on it.
What makes a goal SMART
SMART is a checklist that turns a direction into something you can act on:
- Specific: clear about what will change.
- Measurable: you can show evidence that it happened.
- Achievable (or Assignable): realistic, and clearly owned by someone.
- Relevant: connected to what the team or business needs.
- Time-bound: has a deadline.
Did you know? In George Doran's original 1981 version of SMART, the letters stood for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related. "Achievable" and "Relevant" were later variations, which is why you will see several versions of the acronym today.
Side-by-side examples
| Regular goal | SMART goal |
|---|---|
| Get better at presenting | Deliver three client presentations by June and score at least 4 out of 5 on the client feedback form |
| Reduce costs | Cut monthly software subscriptions by 15% by Q3 by removing unused licences |
| Develop my team | Hold a 30-minute one-to-one with each direct report every fortnight for the next six months |
When a regular goal is actually fine
SMART is not always the right tool. For big, uncertain aims, such as a five-year vision or an exploratory project, forcing a precise number too early can lead to meaningless targets. In those cases, keep a directional goal and set SMART milestones underneath it. We cover this in short-term vs long-term goals.
SMART also does not guarantee a good goal. You can write a perfectly SMART goal that nobody needs. Relevance matters more than format.
SMART is not the only checklist. Other mnemonics are compared in the 5 Cs, 5 Fs and 5 Ps of goal setting.
Common SMART mistakes
- Measuring the easy thing rather than the important thing (see what makes a goal measurable).
- Setting "achievable" so low it takes no effort.
- Forgetting the deadline or setting one with no checkpoints.
The bottom line
A regular goal tells you where to go. A SMART goal tells you how far, how fast and how you will know you have arrived. Use regular goals for direction and SMART goals for delivery. Our Business Planning and Goal Setting course teaches SMART alongside OKRs and the balanced scorecard, so you can pick the right tool for each job.