A couple of years ago I was struggling to find a way to lead my team to productivity in ministry. I knew that we needed to be creating goals that we could all work towards and I knew that it was not the personality of those on my staff to be organized and to think ahead of where they were at in the moment. I had overall goals that I wanted to accomplish and we shared them and were working towards those goals. However, they were missing the real value of creating personal goals that would lead them to greater productivity and results in the lives of students that we were working with.

So I called a member of our church up who works with teams and leads several people in a large organization. We went to lunch and I shared my dilemma. He asked all kinds of questions from me trying to figure out what I was wanting and where I was headed with this. He then went on to share with me some of the best advice on goals that I have ever received. It was during this conversation that I was also introduced to the idea of rewarding our team when goals have been met and we have succeeded beyond expectation. An idea that the church has not really done well in my opinion. We work people to death with little notice of thanks not to mention some sort of reward. Anyways, back to the concept of goals and working with a team. The concept that I will share with you may not be new if you have been in the business world, but in the church it is. Here you go:

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals
From Paul J. Meyer’s “Attitude Is Everything.”

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Tangible

Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:
*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”

Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic – To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible, or when you tie an tangible goal to a intangible goal, you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
Intangible goals are your goals for the internal changes required to reach more tangible goals. They are the personality characteristics and the behavior patterns you must develop to pave the way to success in your career or for reaching some other long-term goal. Since intangible goals are vital for improving your effectiveness, give close attention to tangible ways for measuring them.

This is just one of many ways to have your team create goals that can be measured and help them focus and grow in their ministry areas. Click here and go to the resource page and you will find a copy of the letter that is given to each team member and then also a sample of some smart goals.

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