SMART - Goal Setting

When a scout takes on a leadership position, he needs to identify goals for his term in office. Whether he's an SPL, Quartermaster, or Bugler, he should have a few goals that he will complete before the next scout takes his spot. To help scouts create and meet these goals, BSA training uses the SMART acronym.

• Specific - know exactly what completion of the goal will look like. Use Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why to define the goal. Rather than "Make the troop more fun", a specific goal would be "Have each patrol leader pick a troop meeting and have his patrol present a new skit at it to make meetings more fun."
  Specific goals help to focus efforts and minimize wasted time and effort.
• Measurable - know how you can tell when the goal is accomplished. Answering questions like "How many?" or "How much?" means the goal is measurable. A goal about improving the rank advancement of new scouts could be measured by how many advance at least one rank during my term. Larger goals may have measurable milestones so tracking of progress is possible while the goal is not yet complete.
• Attainable - believe that the goal can actually be accomplished given your resources and time. That doesn't mean it needs to be an easy goal - stretching abilities helps raise the belief in what is possible.
  It should be possible to describe what resources are required to reach the goal and show that they are, or will be, available. Setting a goal of a high adventure trip to Spain this year may not be attainable, but planning it for 1 or 2 years away could be.
• Relevant – make sure the goal relates to the job and has importance to the organization. Having the SPL plan a Cycling campout in a troop where only 2 scouts have bikes wouldn't be relevant. Having the Scribe design a more professional newsletter format would be relevant.
• Timely - know how long the goal will take to achieve. Without a deadline, a goal doesn't get finished. Every goal and task should have a finish date attached so progress can be tracked.

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