Research-based Goal Setting Methods for Employees and Teams

Researchers, psychologists, and business leaders have created a number of models to help teams and individuals achieve goals. Here are a few of the popular ones.

3 min readApr 19, 2020

SMART Goal Setting

Here’s what SMART stands for:

Specific — Each goal must be specific and clearly defined.
Measurable — Each goal must have clearly defined metrics for how it can be measured.
Achievable — Is the goal achievable?
Relevant — Make sure each goal is relevant to you.
Time-Bound — Is the deadline realistic?

OKR Goal Setting

Objectives and key results (OKR) helps organizations define objectives and track the outcome. Using OKRs is different from other goal-setting techniques because of the aim to set very ambitious goals.

Objectives — Objectives define a goal to be achieved.
Key results — Key results are measurable and should be easy to grade with a number (Google uses a scale of 0–1.0). Key results measure progress towards the Objective.
Initiative — Each OKR can also have Initiatives, which describe the work required to drive progress on the Key Results.

GROW Goal Setting

GROW stands for:

Goal — What do you want to do? What is your ultimate aim?
Reality — Where are you now? What are some of the barriers preventing you from achieving your goal?
Options — What could you do? What are the resources available to you? What changes can you make to your own behavior to overcome barriers?
Will — What will you do? How can you start making changes or tapping into available resources to achieve your goal?

CLEAR Goal Setting

Here’s what CLEAR stands for:

Collaborative — The desired goal needs to include a team element that drives everyone to contribute to success.
Limited — There must be a set timeframe, and limited scope, in which to achieve the goal.
Emotional — Goals need to be connected to your core values.
Appreciable — While the end goal can be large, the steps to get there need to be small.
Refinable — The goal needs to adapt to changes.

SPIRO Goal Setting

Pfeiffer and Jones (1972) created the SPIRO model. SPIRO stands for:

Specificity — The goal should be clearly defined and understandable.
Performance — What are the metrics that indicate progress towards the goal?
Involvement — What is your specific involvement in achieving the goal? What resources are needed?
Realism — Ensure the goal is realistic and manageable within the set timeframe and aligned with personal values and lifestyle.
Observability —’ what does achieving the goal look like externally and feel internally?’

Resources

Adams Miller, C (2015). Workbook for Goal-setting and Evidence-based Strategies for Success.
Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. Simon & Schuster; New York.
Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives. Management Review
Fine, A. (2018). What is the GROW Model? InsideOut Development. Retrieved from: https://www.insideoutdev.com/about-us/what-is-the-grow-model/
Kreek, A. (2018). CLEAR Goals Are Better Than SMART Goals. Retrieved from: https://www.kreekspeak.com/clear-goal-setting/
Locke, E.A. & Latham, G.P. (1991). A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance. The Academy of Management Review
Locke, L. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9).
Miner, J.B. (2005). Organizational Behaviour 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership.
Schmoll, F. (2013). Keys to Effective Goal Setting. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/coaching-and-parenting-young-athletes/201311/keys-effective-goal-setting
Visual goal-setting tool for remote teams https://teamsuccess.io/
Nguyen, S. (2018). The G.R.O.W. Model in Business Coaching — Simple, Concise, and Powerful. Retrieved from: https://workplacepsychology.net/2018/03/20/the-grow-model-in-business-coaching-simple-concise-and-powerful/
Pfeiffer, J. W. & Jones, J. E. (1972). The 1972 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators. San Diego: Pfeiffer and Company.