2 Responses

1. Plan a Journey

   Ask 2 groups to plan a  journey between 2 points.

   London – Edinburgh

   Your premises – Train Station

   After 10 minutes they each present to the whole group how the journey will be made.

   Link this to SMART objectives highlighting the problems of not being SMART

   • What number is the bus I have to take?
   • How long is the walk to the taxi rank?
   • Is this method of transport affordable?

   If we dont look at the detail we might not get to the destination.

    

   PS: The objective is not "fun" and it’s an activity/exercise/experiment never a "game". Using the right words will add value to any training methods you decide to use.

2. Get Definitions

   One of the major issues I have with SMART is that frequently without definitions and criteria against each of the factors the acronym is next to useless as guidance. For instance, the S in Specific, what exactly does that mean? I’ve had a dozen managers in a room and asked them what Specific means in this context and had nearly 12 different definitions. Specific therefore is not that specific!

   What can be a really useful exercise is to ask the participants to write what they consider (perhaps in pairs) to be a SMART objective that they might set for themselves or a member of staff. Get them to write it up on a ½ sheet of flipchart paper. Now get the candidates to review, discuss and agree definitions/criteria for each of the SMART descriptors, get these written up and displayed on the wall. Alternatively you could give them definitions with which they are to work, here’s an example, brilliantly written I think!

   http://www.ewc-popcomm.org/pdf/6_Elements_of_a_Communication_Strategy/Smart_objectives.pdf

   Now get the pairs to revisit their objective and on the other side of the flip chart revise the material to comply with the agreed SMART criteria.

   Finally get each pair to show what they wrote for their original objective and how it was refined or developed to comply with the agreed criteria.