5 professional SMART goal examples for work

It may seem silly, but business and sport are much the same — everyone works together to achieve a common goal. But when those goals aren’t clearly defined, things can get murky. With SMART goals and initiatives, teams can streamline their productivity and in turn improve performance. In other words, it’s easy to score when the team is running in the same direction.

But what exactly is a SMART goal? And what are some examples of SMART goals? Learn about the SMART framework with examples that can be used within your organisation to win that championship trophy.

What are SMART goals?

SMART isn’t just an adjective — it’s also an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For a professional goal to be SMART, it must meet all five of these criteria points.

Specific

Broad goals are fine, but if you want real results, it’s specificity that lets the team know what to focus on. Tread carefully — you never want a SMART goal to be too specific that it becomes unattainable.

Measurable

Good SMART goals are always measurable. What’s the point in setting a goal without the ability to measure your progress or success? 

Attainable

Aspirations are great, but at the end of the day it’s important to be realistic about the goals we are setting. Can your team actually score 20 points per game? 

Relevant

We’re talking big-picture thinking. Ask yourself, ‘Why am I setting this goal?’ and ‘Will it deliver success in the long term?’. 

Time-bound

Deadlines aren’t as stressful as they seem. Time is money, so in order to track progress on your goal, you’ll need to have a start and end date. 

We go into even more depth on SMART goals in our guide on making goals bottom-up.

What’s the point of SMART goals in business?

It’s all about streamlining. Goal setting is most effective when everyone’s working toward a common target. When you set professional SMART goals, you’re not only making your goals clearer but also more approachable. Goals — whether they are professional or personal — are much harder to achieve if they aren’t specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).

What are some examples of SMART goals?

Now that you understand the ins and outs of SMART goals for work and why they are necessary to succeed, here are some SMART goals examples to set you off on the right foot.

Business SMART goal examples

General goal — Turn my hobby into a business.

SMART goal — Start an online confectionery business by building out a website and creating social pages. Spend 2 hours on this each day to prepare for an April 5 launch.

• Specific — Start an online confectionery business.
• Measurable — Build a website and social media platforms.
• Attainable — Set aside 2 hours each day to build out a website and social media.
• Relevant — Build online platforms to sell products.
• Time-bound — Website, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok set up by April 5.

Social media SMART goal examples

General goal — Grow social media presence.

SMART goal — Grow social media presence by 30% by reaching 10,000 followers on Instagram by June 30.

• Specific — Grow social media presence by 30%.
• Measurable — Reach 10,000 followers on Instagram.
• Attainable — Target Instagram, where our target demographic is most active.
• Relevant — Improve social media presence to generate more leads.
• Time-bound — 10,000 followers by June 30.

Leadership SMART goal examples

General goal — Improve employee relations and office morale.

SMART goal — Boost team morale and improve relations after two years of working from home by spending $1,000/month for three months on team-building activities and conducting a feedback survey.

• Specific — Boost team morale in the office after two years of working from home due to the pandemic.
• Measurable — Spend $1,000/month on team-building activities. Conduct weekly one-on-one meetings with staff.
• Attainable — Plan activities in advance and set them during office hours.
• Relevant — Encourage social activities to improve morale.   
• Time-bound — Spend three months on these new initiatives before evaluating them through an anonymous feedback survey.

Marketing SMART goal examples

General goal — Increase traffic to the website.

SMART goal — Generate revenue by increasing the number of visits to our landing page by 15% by EOFY.

• Specific —  Increase the number of visits to our landing page to generate revenue.
• Measurable — See a 15% improvement in website traffic.
• Attainable — Ensure the marketing department has the capacity.
• Relevant — Increasing visits to the landing page ensures more conversions.
• Time-bound — 15% more site visits by EOFY.

Sales SMART goal examples

General goal — Reduce churn rate.

SMART goal — Increase customer retention rate by 10% in the next quarter by qualifying leads.

• Specific —   Increase customer retention rate.
• Measurable — 10% customer retention rate increase.
• Attainable — Improve qualifying questions to pass on to the customer service team.
• Relevant — Qualify leads to land more loyal customers.
• Time-bound — 10% customer retention rate increase by the end of next quarter.

Which is the best example of a SMART goal? 

There’s no one best example of SMART goals, but (at least in our opinion) there is one best way of using them … 

Presenting OKRs, the famous goal-setting methodology that embraces the SMART framework with proven results. How? OKRs have introduced a two-step approach to goal setting, hidden in its name. O stands for Objectives and KRs stands for Key Results. 

Objectives may look something like what we’ve called ‘general goals’ in our examples. They’re the guiding light for your team. Key results are your SMART goals framed as targets to help measure the success of your objectives. There are multiple KRs per O, helping you break down your goals into digestible pieces.

OKRs software like Tability will help you set better, SMART-er goals as a team, making it easier than ever to track progress. Try it for free today.