SMART Goals Template

Setting effective goals helps you align your team’s work, set expectations, and ultimately create a guide for one-on-one meetings and performance conversations.

SMART goals encourage employees to use specific objectives to detail how a goal will be accomplished. Regardless of what goals framework your company or team is using, the SMART framework will help your employee set effective, results-focused goals.

Set SMART goals by writing them in a way that answers the following criteria:

• Specific: Does the goal have specific means and ends?
• Measurable: Can the goal be measured? How?
• Actionable/Achievable: What are the specific actions that will lead to this goal? What do you need to do to accomplish it?
• Relevant/Realistic: Is this goal relevant to your job duties, team, and company? Is it based on factors that are under your control?
• Time-bound: What is the time period? Does it depend on a deadline or target date, or is it on a regular schedule?

Whether you're a department head, manager, or individual contributor, use this free PDF template to write your own SMART goals.