SMART goal statements

Contract

Enforces the SMART criteria on every goal statement produced: each goal is a single sentence that names one specific focus, carries a numeric target with its unit, and states an explicit date or period — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Applies to goal lists for teams, projects, and review periods; not to mission statements or objective/key-result planning structures.

Rules

1. Specific — the goal names one concrete area, process, or behavior. "Reduce cart

abandonment in mobile checkout", never "get better at e-commerce".

1. Measurable — a number with its unit sits inside the goal sentence: a count, percentage,

currency amount, duration, or rating. Where the current value is known, express the move as baseline → target ("from 12% to 8%") rather than a bare delta.

1. Achievable — the target is a stretch that the team's resources and history make

plausible, not a fantasy multiple. Moving a metric 10–30% past its baseline is a typical ambitious band; an overnight 10× usually is not.

1. Relevant — the goal visibly serves the team's purpose for the period. If you cannot say

which priority it advances, cut it rather than keep it for symmetry.

1. Time-bound — an explicit calendar date or named period sits in the sentence: "by

30 September", "within Q2", "before the holiday season". "Soon", "ongoing", and "ASAP" do not qualify.

1. One metric per goal. A sentence tracking two measures is two goals — split it. Joined

half-goals ("raise revenue and cut costs") hide which one moved.

1. No vague verbs without a number. "Improve", "enhance", "optimize", "strengthen",

"boost" are admissible only when a quantified target rides in the same sentence.

1. The sentence stands alone. Metric and date live inside the goal sentence itself — never

pushed into a separate KPI appendix, footnote, or "success criteria" block that the sentence merely gestures at.

Worked examples

Vague aspiration → complete goal.

BEFORE  Improve weekend sales at the bakery.

AFTER   Grow weekend pastry revenue from $2,100 to $2,600 per weekend by 30 November.

The rewrite names the focus (weekend pastry revenue), the number and unit ($2,600 per weekend, from a $2,100 baseline), and the date (30 November) — all in one sentence.

Direction without a quantity → baseline and target.

BEFORE  Get more residents recycling this year.

AFTER   Raise curbside recycling participation from 41% to 55% of households by 31 December.

Two aims welded together → two goals.

BEFORE  Help club members get race-ready and grow the membership.

AFTER   1. Have 25 of the club's 60 members finish an official 10K race by 31 May.
        2. Grow paid club membership from 60 to 80 members by 31 August.

Vague verb dressed up with detail → quantified verb.

BEFORE  Substantially enhance the quality of our member training plans over the coming months.

AFTER   Cut the share of members reporting a training injury from 18% to under 10% by 1 July.

Length and formality did not fix the BEFORE — only the number, unit, and date did.

Edge cases & exceptions

• Qualitative aims (morale, brand, trust) → pick a countable proxy and state it: a survey

score, a count of mentions, a retention figure. "Lift the staff survey engagement score from 6.8 to 7.5 by 15 December."

• No baseline exists → set an absolute target and date now; do not wait a quarter to

measure first. "Reach 500 newsletter subscribers by 31 March" works without a baseline.

• Binary deliverables ("launch the store") → the measure is completion by the date, plus a

quality threshold if bare completion could be gamed: "Launch the online store by 1 October with at least 40 products listed."

• Long horizons → break into per-period milestones, each with its own number and date,

rather than one distant target no one can steer by.

• A metric the team cannot move alone → re-scope the goal to the part the team controls,

or it fails the achievability test no matter the number.

Do / Don't

• Do put the number and its unit inside the goal sentence. Don't park metrics in a separate

table the sentence points at.

• Do state an explicit date or period. Don't write "ongoing", "soon", or leave timing implied.
• Do hold each goal to one metric. Don't join two measures with "and".
• Do use baseline → target when the current value is known. Don't write "increase by 20%"

with no base stated.

• Do keep targets inside a plausible stretch band. Don't set 10× moonshots as period goals.
• Do cut goals that serve no stated priority. Don't pad the list for roundness.

Common mistakes

• Aspirational verbs with no quantity: "improve", "enhance", "optimize" standing alone.
• The date missing entirely, or hiding in a header while the sentences stay timeless.
• Two or three metrics welded into one sentence.
• A vague goal list with a separate KPI table doing the measuring.
• Percentage changes with no baseline, so nobody can tell what the target actually is.
• Every goal quantified except the one that matters most.

Quick checklist

• One sentence per goal; one metric per sentence.
• Number + unit inside the sentence; baseline → target where known.
• Explicit date or named period inside the sentence.
• No bare "improve"/"enhance"/"boost".
• Target is a plausible stretch tied to a real priority.