IT Leadership

The classic SMART framework

The SMART framework is a mnemonic acronym that has been used for many years in goal setting and objective determination. Despite its wide use, the framework has drawn a lot of criticism for being overly simplified and rigid. Recently, the acronym’s relevance to the dynamic and unique context of IT leadership has also been questioned. Nonetheless, SMART is a term that most leaders are familiar with, and revamping its framework to fit the IT context could prove to be valuable. In this chapter, we will revisit the classic SMART framework and adapt it to the unique context of IT leadership, with a focus on aligning goals with organizational vision and values.

Revisiting the components

As a reminder, the original SMART framework includes the following components:

• Specific: What exactly do you want to achieve? Be clear about your intentions and write down a well-defined goal.
• Measurable: How will you assess progress? What metrics or benchmarks will you use to quantify or qualify your progress?
• Achievable: Is the goal challenging, yet possible to accomplish, given the resources and circumstances?
• Relevant: How is the goal aligned with broader organizational goals? Why is it significant and timely?
• Time-bound: What is the timeline for completion? When does the goal start and finish?

Adapting for IT leadership

These core components of the SMART framework are intuitive and provide a good foundation for setting goals. However, to make the framework more relevant and reflective of the IT context, we need to deepen and expand each component to incorporate elements that are critical to IT leadership, while also keeping the organizational context in mind. As you’ll notice, each component now has an additional layer of depth that is reflected in the revised acronym, SMART-IT.

Specific – IT-centric

Be specific in framing your goal from an IT perspective. Consider the following when setting goals:

• What specific technologies, tools, or infrastructure are relevant to the goal?
• What are the specific pain points, vulnerabilities, or opportunities you aim to address?
• Can you identify any specific dependencies, such as vendor relationships, team capacity, or software lifecycle phases that may affect the timing or scope of the goal?

Being specific in the IT context means going beyond high-level business objectives and thinking about the tangible technologies and resources that are involved in achieving broader organizational goals.

Measurable – Metrics-driven

Measurability is a key aspect of SMART goals, but in the IT context, it is important to identify metrics that are both quantitative and qualitative. IT can and should be evaluated on both hard metrics (e.g., data throughput, uptime, latency) as well as softer metrics (e.g., user satisfaction, time-to-market for new features, developer productivity).

IT leaders should consider the following when setting measurable goals:
– What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with organizational priorities and reflect IT’s contribution to overall business objectives?

• Are there any industry-specific compliance requirements or best practices that need to be considered in terms of metrics?
• Are there any potential metrics volatility or seasonality that need to be accounted for when setting targets?

IT leaders should also be proactive in educating the business side on the appropriate interpretation of IT metrics, as well as the contextual factors that may influence performance in either direction.

Achievable – Reality check

While IT leaders pride themselves on their problem-solving abilities, it is essential to set achievable goals. Consider the following when assessing the achievability of your goals:

• What are the known constraints such as budget limitations, talent availability, or contractual obligations that could affect the strategy or execution of the goal?
• Are there any potential risks or roadblocks that may affect timing or the success of the goal?
• Is there alignment across the leadership team regarding the achievability of the goals given the current context and resources?

IT leaders should be pragmatic about what is achievable given the available resources, and they should proactively manage expectations, especially when there are capacity constraints or significant dependencies involved.

Relevant – Align with vision and values

Relevance is critical in the IT context, where there are so many potential projects and priorities vying for attention. Consider the following to ensure that your goals are aligned with organizational vision and values:

• How does this goal contribute to the broader strategic objectives of the organization, especially those related to technology and digital transformation?
• How does this goal align with the organization’s vision for customer experience, efficiency, innovation, or cultural evolution?
• Are there aspects of the goal that may conflict with the organization’s core values, and if so, how might you mitigate these conflicts?

IT leaders are in a unique position to advise on the organization’s digital enablement strategy and should be proactive in linking their goals to broader organizational priorities.

Time-bound – Plan for success

Setting time-bound goals is critical in IT, where projects can often exceed estimated timelines. Consider the following when setting time-bound goals:

• What are the key milestones that we should achieve to meet this timeline? Are these milestones achievable given our current capacity and dependencies?

For each milestone, what specific deliverables are required, and what are the quality gates that we need to pass?

• Are there any long-lead items or known delays that may affect this timeline, and if so, how might we mitigate these risks?

Setting aggressive timelines can be motivating, but IT leaders should carefully consider the nuances of their projects and avoid unrealistic timelines that may set the team up for failure.

Putting SMART-IT into practice

Now, let’s walk through an example of applying the SMART-IT framework to a specific scenario:

Scenario:

One of your organizational goals is to improve customer retention by 10% in the next fiscal year. As the IT leader, you need to set goals that are aligned with this objective and support the broader strategic initiative.

Specific – IT-centric:

• Improve data analytics capabilities to enable better customer segmentation and personalised marketing campaigns.

Measurable – Metrics-driven:

• Increase the percentage of IT spend allocated to analytics tools and platforms from 5% to 8% within the next fiscal year.
• Reduce the time required to generate insights from months to weeks by implementing advanced analytics workflows.
• Increase the number of personalized marketing campaigns based on accurate segmentation by 25% within the next quarter.

Achievable – Reality check:

• To achieve the targeted increase in IT spending, you’ll need to secure an additional $X in the upcoming budget cycle. You’ll need to work with the CFO to discuss the viability of this ask and determine if the goal is achievable given the current budget constraints.

Relevant – Align with vision and values:

• This goal directly supports the organizational objective to improve customer retention by providing the technological capabilities to better understand customer needs and deliver targeted experiences.
• The goal also aligns with the organization’s vision for innovation and digital transformation, as it involves investing in new analytics platforms and processes.

Time-bound – Plan for success:

• To begin implementing new analytics workflows by the next fiscal year, initial exploration and selection of new tools and platforms must be completed within the next two quarters.
• To allow enough time for tool selection, implementation, testing, and training, the goal to reduce the time to generate insights from months to weeks will be measured on an 18-month timeline, with milestones at the 6-month and 12-month checkpoints.

Note that in this example, the focus is on framing the goal specifically in the context of IT, setting relevant metrics, considering the achievability of the goal in light of budgetary and temporal constraints, and aligning the goal with the broader organizational vision.

Summary

In this chapter, we reconsidered the classic SMART framework and adapted it to the unique and dynamic context of IT leadership, with a focus on aligning IT goals with organizational vision and values. We expanded the acronym to SMART-IT, to reflect the deeper consideration of specific IT-centric goals, measurable metrics with both quantitative and qualitative considerations, the achievability of goals in light of resource and capacity constraints, the relevance of goals in the context of broader strategic initiatives, and time-bound milestones to plan for success. Applying this refined SMART-IT framework can help IT leaders set goals that are aligned with business objectives and leverage technology to drive organizational success.