Setting clear, achievable goals proves essential for any organizational success, especially at the leadership level. Board members play a critical role in shaping an organization’s vision and driving long-term success.
To map a path to the top, executive leaders must collaborate with key board member positions to define clear priorities, track progress, and foster accountability within their organizations. This article explores the SMART goal framework, highlighting how it can empower board members to lead with purpose and drive meaningful results.
You’ll also learn how board management software streamlines key tasks and helps executive leaders excel in their roles.
What are SMART Goals?
SMART goals are clear, well-defined objectives that help organizations achieve specific outcomes. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related.
SMART goals are similar to a SWOT analysis (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, except they’re used at a different stage of the strategic planning process. A SWOT analysis uncovers an organization’s current capabilities and position in the market, which organizations use to set reachable benchmarks that align with their long-term vision.
SMART goals can guide projects and initiatives of all sizes, from writing an annual operating plan to outlining ESG goals.
SMART Goal Acronym
- Specific: The goal should be clear and precise, answering questions like “What do I want to accomplish?” or “What problem am I trying to solve?” A specific goal eliminates ambiguity and focuses on a distinct outcome.
- Measurable: The goal must use criteria that allows you to track progress and measure success. This includes setting key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics.
- Assignable: Assigning a goal or segment of the goal to a specific person or team ensures accountability and helps everyone understand what they need to work toward.
- Realistic: Goals need to be practical and achievable, as setting an impossible goal won’t benefit your organization. Not to say the goal can’t be ambitious, it just needs to be realistic.
- Time-related: The goal needs a specific deadline or time frame to create urgency and maintain focus. Adding target dates to your SMART goal encourages your team to focus on completing tasks within a designated period of time. In addition to a final deadline, you can also set intermediate targets to evaluate your progress throughout the project.
Benefits of SMART Goals
SMART goals provide clarity across every level of the organization. Setting defined goals gives your team a sense of direction and helps you reach your goals with less stress and confusion. SMART goals are also highly versatile. They can be used to streamline workflows in corporate businesses and nonprofits, and used by individuals as a self-improvement tool.
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SMART Goal Examples
Consider these examples for putting the SMART framework into practice.
1. Reduce Churn Rate
- Specific: Our organization needs to develop an effective strategy to build stronger relationships with our customers to reduce churn and increase business revenue before the end of the fiscal year.
- Measurable: Increase customer email engagement by 2% in the next month.
- Assignable: The marketing and customer service teams will work to study the habits of our customers so we can better satisfy their interests.
- Realistic: Make and distribute a customer survey with a discount coupon code to encourage feedback from interested customers.
- Time-related: We need to reach our goal by September 30, 2025. We will hold monthly meetings to evaluate our progress.
2. Improve Landing Page Performance
- Specific: We need to improve conversion rates by 10% and monetize more visitor actions before the end of the quarter.
- Measurable: The goal is to increase the click-through rate by 20% in the next three months.
- Assignable: The IT department will prioritize updating the home page with a more attractive aesthetic that entices visitors to spend more time on the site.
- Realistic: Create and test a new web design layout before we launch our Black Friday sale.
- Time-related: Conversion rates must improve by December 31.
3. Generate New Fundraisers
- Specific: Over the next six months, our nonprofit must double our number of donors via a sound fundraising plan featuring digital marketing and regular in-person and virtual events.
- Measurable: The goal is to acquire 100 first-time donors every month over the next six months.
- Assignable: Nonprofit board members will convene and define the overall vision for the new fundraising strategy.
- Realistic: Create a new marketing campaign, including a revamped nonprofit mission statement, and promote the nonprofit’s mission over the next six months.
- Time-related: We must hit our donor goal by May 1, 2025.
Getting Started With OnBoard
The SMART framework helps organizations achieve their goals by providing a clear roadmap, setting expectations, and defining performance metrics.
OnBoard’s board management software empowers governing boards to work smarter by streamlining board management and enhancing collaboration. Our intuitive platform simplifies meeting preparation, centralizes document storage, and supports secure, real-time access to board materials from any device.
Key OnBoard features include agenda creation tools, automated meeting reminders, secure voting and e-signatures, and robust analytics for performance tracking. OnBoard’s integrated communication tools facilitate seamless discussions, while its advanced security protocols ensure data confidentiality.
See OnBoard in action: Download our free board meeting agenda template to discover how our cloud-based meeting platform can make your next board meeting more productive.
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Ready to upgrade your board’s effectiveness with OnBoard’s board intelligence platform? Schedule a demo or request a free trial.
About The Author
- Adam Wire is a Content Marketing Manager at OnBoard who joined the company in 2021. A Ball State University graduate, Adam worked in various content marketing roles at Angi, USA Football, and Adult & Child Health following a 12-year career in newspapers. His favorite part of the job is problem-solving and helping teammates achieve their goals. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two dogs. He’s an avid sports fan and foodie who also enjoys lawn and yard work and running.
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