We have turned our backs on the old year, many of us with a goal of something we want to achieve in the new one in the form of New Year’s resolutions. Clear goals to aim for are easier to achieve than vague desires for change that are not translated into words, tactics or deadlines. This applies both in private life and in the association, therefore set smart goals in your association. Here you get the tools to formulate clear goals for your association that are to realize. Set smart goals in your association or club, instead of setting many goals.
Think SMART by objective
A useful tool for objectives in associations, businesses, NGOs and for teaching is SMART targets, which set criteria that can be successfully met by voluntary associations. If we read out the initials, we see that the goals should be:
• Specific, i.e. target a specific area where action needs to be taken, and how and why. There should be no doubt about the association’s goals among the volunteers or those who otherwise have an interest in the association.
• Measurableso that it is clear when the target and any sub-targets have been reached. Without any firm way of assessing whether the goal has been achieved, each member of the association can think his or her own.
• Acceptedso that the association’s volunteers recognise that the goals set must be met. Encounters goal resistance within the association, they are rarely realized successfully.
• Realistic, which somewhat gives itself: the objectives must be achieved within the given time and with the given resources. But it makes perfect sense to think that it is still a matter of how much you really know you can achieve, because even sub-objectives that seem easy to overcome may prove to present more challenges than you had just thought. An example could be difficulty reaching people about an event you’re hosting so that not enough attention is paid to it.
Finally, the objectives must be timedso that the association cannot continue to delay them forever. Either the target must be achieved, or it must not.
Based on the SMART model, you are well on your way to setting goals that should be achievable.
Start at the top
When you are about to set goals in your association, the question may be where to start, especially if you are in a larger association with multiple teams, or where management is divided into several levels with senior managers, sub-managers, etc.
A word of advice is here: Start at the top and work below the goal. When the key goals that association as a whole must strive to achieve are in control of the goals of each team.
For example, it is easier to set individual goals for learning and graduation in a karate club when there is an overall goal of how far the club should move in the coming year.
Tactics and goals – what is what?
It is important to be aware that tactics and targets are not the same. The tactic is the way to achieve the goal. If the goal is, for example, to get so and so many new members in the new year, one tactic would be to attend various rallies, be active at SoMe, draw attention here even through news media, etc. So it is not a good goal in itself that one would like to be more active on SoMe, for why that?
Be ambitious – it pays off
And one last little thing about goal: Don’t be afraid to set ambitious goals. As mentioned above, the targets must be realistic, but there is also no need to set them low, just so they are easy to achieve.
Give your association plenty of room to prove its worth in the coming year, and even if you do not reach the ambitious goals, you will probably reach the smart goals in your club or association and work from there.
Author:
Journalism students at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Blogger at MinForening.