SMART Templates

Video Transcription

Hello there and welcome. My name is Gino Sangiuliano. In this lesson, we're going to analyze goal implementation and monitoring using a SMART template. Let's get started.

If you are part of a PLC and a site-based management organization, you are no doubt familiar with the acronym SMART and its use as a means to achieving continuous improvement. What you may not know is that there are several templates available out there to help you develop and monitor your goals. Although many are similar in content their structures can vary, which means you are likely to find one that matches your learning style and preference.

Before attempting to go on a scavenger hunt looking for a SMART goal template, decide if you want to work in a Word document style or a spreadsheet. The next question to ask yourself is if you want to use a format that allows you to work collaboratively with others at the same time. I'd recommend using an online SMART goal template, like a Gantt chart for example, that allows you to create timelines, assign responsibility, monitor progress, and offer a visual display of the work that needs to be completed.

Tools like this are available for free online. In fact, you can find one that lets you personalize your chart to create a SMART goal template on smartsheet.com. You can get a basic version simply by using your Google account.

Now that you've answered those questions, you will have a much easier time selecting the SMART goal template that is right for you. A word of caution, however. Make sure that the template you choose includes a space for all things SMART. That is specific goals, the measures to use, attainable criteria, relevant criteria and persons responsible and participating, timetable for monitoring, expected date of reaching the goal, and time for review and adjustment.

So here's an example of using a SMART goal template built using smartsheet.com. I'll give you a quick overview of how a template like this can help you assign tasks, monitor and evaluate the progress of the initiatives, which in this case is geared toward an elementary school.

Our goal is that 90% of students will develop and demonstrate self-management skills to regulate emotions and achieve behavior-related success during recess time as measured by school based respectful behavior surveys, office referrals, and SWIS data. In this example, our baseline data currently shows that 75% of students experience no behavior issues or concerns during recess. Therefore, an increase to 90% seems attainable.

Let's begin by looking at the Gantt view of our SMART sheet. There are a few things I want to point out.

Tasks can be broken into subtasks. There is a place to add start and end dates. You can color code tasks and also customize the view using the toolbar on the side. There is also a link to a video tutorial, which gives you even more details.

We'll begin by adding the actions that need to be taken in order to help the 500 students in our school. The actions include weekly updates to parents, more activities at recess, increased positive reinforcement. For each of those tasks, I've included subtasks and anticipated start up dates, as well as end dates. In this example, the goal is to start at the beginning of the school year and reach the goal by the 1st of January. The group will meet twice a month to check on progress.

Next, I've added the personnel and what their roles and responsibilities are. In lieu of actual names, I've used titles. However, in reality you can populate this field using your contacts list.

The final piece is the sharing window, which allows you to select permissions for your collaborators and audience. The three options are viewer. This allows the individual to simply view what is happening, but not make any changes to the document at all. This might be shared with the entire staff and maybe even parents.

The second option is editor. An editor is able to make some changes allowed by the administrator. It makes sense to offer this level of permission to members of the team charged with the task.

The third option is admin, and that's reserved for the lead on the project. You really only want one or at the most two people to have access to changing the entire document.

For the purposes of this example, we will say that in January the data collected indicated that based on the survey, 85% of students felt safe on the playground. Only 5%, which is 25 children, had office referrals during that time. And incidents documented by SWIS were down 8%.

Based on this data, the team is doing quite well. However, there are a few revisions I would make. First of all, I would add a goal to increase the visibility of teacher assistants on duty by having them wear orange vests. I would also adjust the dates to extend the initiative through April and perhaps even to segregate the information by grade.

So it's time to go ahead and summarize this lesson. We learned how to find the best SMART goal template for you and explored some questions to ask yourself that will lead to making your selection. Then we walked through an example of using a template from smartsheet.com and analyzed the results. Here's today's food for thought.

Sign up for a free 30-day trial of smartsheet.com and just play with it. As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you might want to explore the additional resources section that come with this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deepen your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skill set.

Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time.