Effective Goal Setting

Time to Learn Top Tips > Plan your learning > Effective Goal Setting

You may have heard about SMART, PURE or CLEAR goals and literature on these are well worth reading. However I have found that in almost all cases I prefer MT goals.

MT goals are strong and simple enough to be applied by anyone to just about anything.

M stands for Measurable – How will you measure the achievement of the goal?

T stands for Time Dependent – When will you achieve your goal?

So if you can measure your goal and it includes a date so you know when you are aiming to get there, then you have an effective goal.

Examples might include:

• By 20th December 2009, I will have researched coaching in the classroom and put my learning into practice with at least one class.
• By 31st March 2010 I will have completed 2, out of 3, of my actions on my Performance Management Review .
• By 10th July 2010 100% of our staff will respond that they feel valued when surveyed anonymously

MT goals are advocated and explained in detail by Mark Horstman and Mike Auzanne in their engaging manager-tools.com podcasts here, here, here and here.

For further inspiration click on the links below: