SMART Tools

Video Transcription

Hey there, and welcome. In this lesson, we'll evaluate two fairly simple user-friendly online digital tools and templates that you can use to implement and monitor SMART goals. Let's check them out.

We'll begin with Google Sheets. Using a Google Sheet is like starting with a blank slate you can customize to house and monitor the action steps of your SMART plan that can be shared and collaborated with others. To create a Google Sheet, go to your Google Drive and click on the New tab. You'll be given many choices. Select the green icon called Google Sheets.

It will open up to a blank sheet that you'll be able to title and begin to populate. I'm calling this one Recess Behavior. I've taken a couple of action steps from my SMART goal and listed them under the Task column I created. Next, I've assigned the individual responsible, as well as Start and End dates. I decided to also add a place for Notes and Comments. The next step is to go ahead and share this Sheet with team members and stakeholders. When you click the Share tab, you are given options for permissions, including to edit, to make comments, or to simply view.

This is where the collaborative nature of Google Sheets is realized. Furthermore, this can all be used in conjunction with your contacts and calendars to send messages, reminders, or even Hangout on a video conference. Keep in mind, however, in order to take advantage of all these features, you do need a Google account and Gmail. Another option is to visit smartsheet.com and create a tool that includes project templates a Gantt sheet, and a dashboard all in one place.

Here I've added the personnel and what their roles and responsibilities are, as well as start and end dates. In lieu of actual names, I've used tiles. However, in reality, you can populate this field using your personal contacts list. Using the dashboard, with a single click you can change your view to a Gantt chart, which gives you a visual timeline that you can color-code and customize to meet the specific needs of your plan.

A Gantt chart shows the users the amount of work that has been done over a certain amount of time. This really addresses the T for Time in your SMART goal. There is also a view that allows the team members and stakeholders to identify steps in the plan as completed, green, in process, yellow, or not yet started, red, giving users a quick glance at progress.

Just like with Google Sheets, there are options you have when it comes to sharing the document. They are viewere-- 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. An editor is able to make some changes that are allowed by the administrator. It makes sense to offer this level of permission to members of the team charged with the task. The admin option is 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.

Here's a summary of what we covered. We looked at two smart tools that can help you increase collaboration and productivity. They are Google Sheets and smartsheet.com. With either of these tools, you are able to turn your SMART goals into living documents that can be manipulated to track progress, organize your tasks, and hold members accountable.

Time to get your hands dirty for today's food for thought. Explore the tools you learned about in this lesson. You can do even more exploring by checking out the additional resources section that accompany this video presentation. The additional resources section include links useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.

That's all for this lesson. Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time.