SEVERAL months ago, I blogged about an impressive General Manager and his impressive Plant Manager who had set a GREAT “SMART” goal. (You needn’t read the post, as I’ll reprise it here.)

The Plant Manager had been named to his role for a newly acquired facility, at which many of the employees spoke Spanish primarily. The GM rightly surmised that leadership and management require excellent communication, and the language barrier was significant. So, the GM set an objective for the Plant Manager, which met the standard of a “SMART” goal:

“You and I will have lunch - entirely in Spanish - by (date).”

I’ve owed you an update for quite a while, and here it is.

After missing the initial goal (more on this later), the GM and his Plant Manager DID have lunch, entirely in Spanish.

We at Manager Tools believe that the setting of a goal with a measurable outcome [”entirely” and “in Spanish” do that quite nicely] and a clear deadline [the lunch was on both calendars] is a significant motivator of managerial behavior.

Interestingly, the Plant Manager missed the first deadline. He did so in part because he was knee deep in pressing plant issues, issues that the GM and I and others completely AGREED were pressing and worthwhile efforts. But working on other pressing issues is ALWAYS possible, and an oft-used reason for failing to achieve a goal. Those other issues are the very reason for the clarity of the goal to begin with.

(And a postscript: we don’t subscribe to SMART goals, but this client used them, and many of you are forced to work with them. We have a future cast on SMART goals, and the Manager Tools better alternative. - H)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pm and is filed under general.

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