ABSTRACT
The SMART goal framework is very effective for helping to educate staff on setting effective and meaningful goals, and avoiding many of the common pitfalls that result in meaningless, unaligned, and ineffective goals. This chapter focuses on a few related aspects to emphasize critical aspects of goal setting and alignment. It discusses the mechanics of goal alignment and aspects of goals that are critical (SMART goals), and also discusses when and where these goals are actually determined and negotiated. Every person in the organization needs to have goals translated in a meaningful way so that they can know how their work and daily activities help support organizational goals. Without this translation to meaningful, SMART, countable goals, they serve almost no purpose and can even be counterproductive in many respects. The manager or leader usually starts and describes the goals that they have negotiated with the context of the organization, and the importance of their goals to the organization's future.
