Breaking it down and making it easier

As important as it is to set goals, they can be a little overwhelming. Of course we want to increase sales, run a major event or upgrade our systems, but how to do it and where to start? 

All big tasks are made up of many little ones, and the trick is in tackling them one by one. Start by making a list of what's involved, however minor it may seem:

• It makes it less likely that anything will be missed;
• It allows you to prioritise tasks, which is especially important when the start of one is dependent upon the completion of another;
• It encourages you to delegate.

Once you've made the list, you're better able to assess your resources and how you're going to use them. Set time limits and allocate responsibilities. In this way, what once seemed overwhelming is now manageable - you have created an action plan.

If we apply this to our previous SMART goal - to increase sales for the month of July by 10% on the previous year - the action plan might be as follows:

HOW	WHO	BY WHEN
Asking for every sale	All staff	Ongoing
Dedicated floor walkers during busy periods	Rosters up daily	All through July
Relaying fiction and new titles sections	Bob	3 July
Changing the staff recommendations display weekly	Gordon	Every Thursday in July

The action plan has three components:

• How These are the specific actions which have an impact on the outcome
• Who If it's everybody's responsibility then it's nobody's
• By when There's no point reaching the due date and finding that key elements haven't been done in a timely manner

The actions required will vary depending upon the type of goal set. Increasing sales has a different set of requirements to designing and printing a catalogue, and the task list will reflect that. However, the principles are the same: what is involved in achieving the desired outcome and how best to manage that process.

Some of the benefits of this approach:

• Utilising time and resources constructively;
• Being able to review successes and failures and learn from them;
• You're creating a template for how to execute a successful project;
• A useful training tool for developing staff skills;
• Minimises stress.

Remember the 5Ps and involve your staff in the planning stage if you can. No-one has a monopoly on insight or good ideas, so your action plan will probably be the richer for it. 

Breaking a goal down into smaller component tasks makes it much less stressful and more easily achieved. Less stress, better results - what's not to like about that?

How SMART are your goals?

You may have noticed that I have a love of acronyms. No, I will not LOL, don't do TTFN and as for PMSL, let's not even go there. But I do like an acronym which helps explain a concept and focus the mind. To that end, I'd like you to say Hello to SMART.

What does SMART mean?

• Specific If it's vague, it's meaningless.
• Measurable Are you able to quantify success?
• Attainable Make it too difficult, and you set yourself up for failure. It should be challenging, but achievable.
• Relevant Is it applicable and important to your business?
• Timebound When does it start and finish?

Let's put this into context.

"My goal is to increase sales". Sound familiar? It's certainly something I hear a lot when I ask about business goals. But is it SMART? Whilst it may be relevant, it lacks detail. When do you want to increase sales? By how much? What are you comparing the increase to? When will you assess the success of your goal?

If we take that goal and add a few simple details we can make it something easier to manage and more useful to the business: "I want to increase sales for the month of July by 10% on the previous year."

Is it specific? Absolutely.
Is it measurable? If you keep clear and accurate records of sales, and you have a reliable system which can tell you how much you have taken on a daily basis, then yes, it is measurable.
Is it attainable? Only you know that. If you've been experiencing sales increases of 2% like on like then aiming for an increase of 10% is unrealistic, unless you have special measure in place to boost sales. 
Is it relevant? Sales are always relevant in retailing, so a resounding Yes.
Is it time-bound? We have a start and finish date - the month of July. Again, a resounding Yes.

You can see how the second goal can be measured and reviewed in a way which the first can't. It's important to be able to review the success of your goal: you want to replicate what worked and change what didn't. Without this element of review, you're missing a key tool to develop and grow your business.

The principles of SMART can be applied to pretty much any goal, from redoing the window display to planning for a stocktake. It also has the benefit of taking something vague and overwhelming and making it accessible. For example, by being more specific about what you want to achieve, it makes it easier to think about how you're going to achieve it*. It also enables you to share your goals with your staff in a meaningful way (which WILL increase your sales)*.

SMART and I have become firm friends. I think you'll be smitten, too.

[*Want further information on breaking down goals and sharing them with your staff? If you'd like my next blog post to be about this subject, let me know. Hell, don't be bashful, let me know what you think anyway!]