Have you ever heard the phrase “if you can’t measure it, don’t do it”? For many of us this seems unattainable, but the reality is that measuring attainment of goals is not a luxury, but a mission critical requirement.

In a recent post we got started with “Empowering S.M.A.R.T. Goals – Getting Specific”. Checkout this post for background information.

Our second term stresses the need for setting concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of goals.

It’s really quite simple;  if a goal is not measurable it is not possible to know whether a team is making progress toward successful completion of said goal. Measuring progress, and targeted outcomes, helps a team stay on track, reach target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs it on to continued effort required to reach the desired goal.

The first step is to establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal set.

To determine if goals are measurable, ask questions such as……

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when it is accomplished?

For example, a typical goal could be, “increase community visibility and census by spending more on marketing.” But a measureable goal would say, “impact community visibility and census by achieving 50% ROI on marketing. This will be accomplished by measuring dollars spent vs. revenue received in the first six months after resident admission.”

How are your goals going to become more measurable? We challenge you to take a few moments to think about concrete measurements with goals, simplifying each step, improving clarity, and making things happen!