What Does SMART Mean?

SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting.
Its criteria are commonly attributed to Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives  concept. The first known use of the term occurs in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran. Since then, Professor Robert S. Rubin (Saint Louis University) wrote about SMART in an article for The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He stated that SMART has come to mean different things to different people, as shown below.

To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:
·      Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
·      Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
·      Achievable (agreed, attainable).
·      Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
·      Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

Professor Rubin also notes that the definition of the SMART acronym may need updating to reflect the importance of efficacy and feedback. However, some authors have expanded it to include extra focus areas; SMARTER, for example, includes Evaluated and Reviewed.