Set SMART Objectives | Arizona State University

Learn how to turn ambiguous goals or problems into solvable objectives.

“I know it is important to leave graduate school with a strong career network, but so far I haven’t made many close ties with people in my program.”

“I feel like the outsider on my research team. Everyone spends a lot of time socializing in the lab. As for me, as soon as I finish for the day I bolt out the door to pick up my kid at daycare.”

“My advisor is not particularly helpful to me. He doesn’t seem to care about my progress.”

Step-by-Step

It is likely there are many aspects of your graduate-school experience that you wish could be different. Graduate school life may not be perfect, but there is a lot about your particular circumstances that you do have the power to change. This module will teach you how to turn general concerns into specific, attainable objectives.

Scholars and practitioners frequently use the terms “goals” and “objectives” interchangeably. In the CareerWISE Coach, we refer to desired long-term professional outcomes as career goals (See Career Goals and Motivation) and apply the term “objectives” to the more-immediate outcomes on the path to reaching a more distant goal.

Using the SMART paradigm is a step-by-step process of strategically defining shorter-term milestones to reach a desired outcome. This process will help in clarifying and organizing your activity to make satisfying progress toward meeting your academic and personal goals.

In this module you will learn to take problems and turn them into objectives that are:

Specific
Measurable
Advantageous/Attainable
Realistic
Time-limited

Let’s take an example:

Describe the general problem: I am struggling to find some balance in my life. I feel that I spend all my time doing research and writing.

Describe the general outcome you want: I want to make friends in my PhD program.

Describe what you need to do: I need to include social time on weekends but also meet my PhD milestones and tasks.

Ask yourself: Is this clear enough to recognize when you’ve achieved your desired outcome?

Reflection: Taking a Look at Yourself

Before beginning, take a minute to think about what you want to be different about your graduate-school experience. Write down any issues or dilemmas you are facing, whether they have to do with administrative burdens, relationships with your advisor or colleagues, being behind where you want to be in the program, or general feelings of dissatisfaction.

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

You probably have more than four concerns, but starting with a small number of issues will help you set objectives and tackle them. If you try to focus on too much at once, you might get overwhelmed and lose track of what's most important.

Now rank them

1st priority:

2nd priority:

3rd priority:

4th priority

Select your first priority and notice that you have probably named a problem rather than an outcome. Describing situations as problems is what we commonly do unless we commit ourselves to approach situations differently.

Now, try something different: Imagine if a miracle happened and that problem just disappeared. Ask yourself what that would look like. What would you be doing differently? How would you feel? Who would be in the picture?

Psychologists refer to this as the “miracle question.” This exercise usually helps clarify what you want the outcome to be.

Now, with that general outcome in mind, walk through the following steps of creating a SMART objective. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-limited.

S – SPECIFIC

The first step in setting SMART objectives is to translate your general outcome into SPECIFIC objectives. Outcomes that are defined broadly and generally are less likely to be achieved.

SPECIFIC objectives can answer the following questions:

Who is involved?
(Your family? Advisor? Research team? Administrators?)
What do you want to accomplish?
(For example, “I want to be on speaking terms again with my labmate.”)
Where? Identify a location.
(Where will your actions take place? Where are you willing to travel?)
When? Establish a time frame.
(After you know what steps you need to take to meet your goal.)
Which? Identify requirements and constraints.
(What has been holding you back so far from addressing this issue? What type of response do you expect?)
Why? List specific reasons, purposes, or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
(Example: career networking, social support, preventing discrimination)

Here are some examples of the difference between problems and SPECIFIC objectives:

Broadly defined problem	Specific objective
Your labmates are unpleasant.	You want your labmates to clean up after themselves and stop asking you to make the coffee. They can make a pot themselves sometimes.
You don’t have any friends in the program.	You reach out to peers in your PhD program to invite them out for a social gathering. You take some initiative in making friends in the program.

M – MEASURABLE

The next step in setting SMART objectives is to define the issue in a way that will allow you to MEASURE the outcome of your efforts. Measuring your objectives will help you stay focused and on track toward reaching a desired outcome.

If your objective is measurable, you should be able to find answers to the questions below:

1. What evidence will signify that you are making progress toward your objective?

2. What signs will suggest that you need a new strategy?

3. If your objective is achieved, how will you know?

Listed below are the examples of objectives that can be measured and those that cannot:

Not measurable	Measurable
You want as many research opportunities as the male students, who are much more chummy with the faculty.	By the time you receive your PhD, you want to have published at least the average number of articles published by students in your program.
You want more feedback from your advisor.	Each time you send your advisor a draft of your thesis, you would like him to respond to you within a week. You would also like him to meet with you twice a semester so you can stay on track and make adjustments if needed.

A – ADVANTAGEOUS (and ATTAINABLE)

The third step in setting SMART objectives is to define your objective in a way that makes it clear how achieving it will benefit you. How will meeting this objective make your life better? What is in it for you?

Imagining how things will be better once you have met your objective will keep you motivated.

For instance, what would be the benefit to having at least two friends in your department?

You can improve the balance between your professional and personal life.
You will have a stronger sense of belonging in the program.
You can develop a support system to help you through the challenges of your PhD program.

Another way to define the “A” in SMART is the attainability of the objective. Ask yourself whether the objective you are setting is actually possible to accomplish.

For example, what if you set an objective of having a circle of five friends in a program where you are:

the only woman of color, or
the only international student, or
one of only two women in a program of 20 PhD students

In each case, how attainable is that objective? There are ways you could adjust your objective, such as aiming to form a circle of friends in:

your college
the university graduate student association
the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program at your university
the American Indian Science and Engineering Society or another campus affinity group

Make sure your objective is attainable because it is easy to get discouraged if something you hoped for is not possible even at the start.

R - REALISTIC

At this point you have taken a problem and turned it into a specific, measurable, and attainable (and advantageous) objective. Still, if you are not willing or able to make the sacrifices needed to work toward it, it is not realistic.

Realistic isn’t about how large-scale an objective is. It has to do with how much you want to obtain that objective and what you are willing to do for it. Your goals need to matter to you if you want to stay committed. Achieving them needs to benefit you in the long term.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What will be the challenges or sacrifices? (For example, if you want more friends in your program, you will have to make time for social activities.)

2. Can you imagine yourself going through with the necessary steps you have laid out in your plan? If not, what part of your plan is unrealistic at this time?

3. How can you redefine your objective so it is something you are willing to begin working on now?

T – TIME-LIMITED

The essence of a SMART objective is one with a carefully considered timeline. In the process of defining a specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic objective, you have already begun to consider a timeline. By when do I want to achieve this objective? What’s my deadline? Do I feel a sense of urgency? Without an end-date in mind, the tendency is to let things slide.

Take a moment to write out a timeline for accomplishing your objective.

Not Time-Limited	Time-Limited
You want a paid internship.	You want a paid STEM internship that’s related to your specialty area during the summer between your third and fourth year.
You want friends in your PhD program.	You want to develop your friendships with two of your labmates by the end of the semester.
You want to publish a manuscript.	You want to publish your thesis manuscript by the end of your 2nd year in the PhD program.

Self-test

Kelly has a goal of defending her thesis before the end of spring semester next year. Which of the following are examples of SMART objectives that she could set?

A. Finish 15 pages of lit review by October 1.
B. Dedicate two hours on five days per week this semester to content writing.
C. Finish data collection with a large sample by the end of winter semester.
D. Meet with her advisor regularly for feedback throughout the process.

Reflections: Apply SMART to an Issue You are Facing

Now that you have identified the aspects of a SMART objective, you are on your way to creating a better graduate-school experience. Take the priority you chose at the beginning and develop at least one SMART objective that will help you in the problem-solving process. [See Follow the Problem-Solving Steps].

CareerWise Point

It helps to remember that if you don’t set an objective, you won’t know when you’ve arrived. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes with meeting the objectives you have set for yourself.

References and Readings

Bjerke, M., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation and Program Planning, 61, 125–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.12.009

Centers for Disease Control, & Prevention (2021). Developing SMART objectives. Evaluating COPs. Public Health Information Network Communities of Practice. Retrieved May 6, 2021 from https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/evaluate/smart_objectives…

Conzemius, A., & O'Neill, J. (2009). The power of SMART goals: Using goals to improve student learning. Solution Tree Press.

Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35-36. Business Source Premier.

Kearns, H., Gardiner, M., & Marshall, K. (2008). Innovation in PhD completion: The hardy shall succeed (and be happy!). Higher Education Research & Development, 27, 77 - 89. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360701658781 

Lawlor, K. B. (2012). Smart goals: How the application of smart goals can contribute to achievement of student learning outcomes. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning:Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL Conference, 39, 259-267. https://absel-ojs-ttu.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/90

Milgram, L., Spector, A., & Treger, M. (1999). Management by Objectives (MBO)-Setting SMART Goals. Managing Smart. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-88415-752-6.50018-7

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Learn problem solving skills: Set SMART Objectives

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