If you’ve ever worked corporate, you’ve probably had to do formal goal-setting at work. Most times, leaders will recommend you make them SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. You’ll write these really unnatural-sounding goals, discuss them with your manager, and then keep them in your HR system until next year. What a great use of time!

Goals are awesome, and I think everyone should have work goals. But personally, I’m not a fan of the SMART method. Today, let’s talk about FAST: an alternative approach from MIT.

🏃‍♀️ Gotta go FAST!

FAST goals are:

• Frequently discussed

• Ambitious

• Specific

• Transparent

💬 Have frequent discussions

Your goals should be talked about frequently. They should be present in your formal reviews, but also in 1:1s and informal conversations.

Why this is important:

• You’re more likely to actually make progress on your goals because they’re top-of-mind.

• You’ll get course correction, feedback, and support to speed up your progress.

• You’ll demonstrate to your manager that you’re growing quickly.

🤩 Make them ambitious

Your goals should be difficult, but not impossible. There’s no point setting goals that are too easy, but it’s also important to be realistic. A good goal will stretch you to grow – that’s the whole point, after all!

Why this is important:

• Achieving goals is an actual demonstration of growth and progress.

• You’ll actually feel accomplished by making progress, instead of just seeing goals as a box-ticking exercise.

☝️ Be specific

This is the same as the SMART model for good reason. Good goals are specific – they’re clear about whether you’ve achieved them or not. (They don’t always have to be a number, but should be objective!)

Why this is important:

• No arguments – you and your manager can clearly tell whether or not you’ve achieved your goal (or milestone).

• High clarity means you have a clearer sense of direction.

🤗 Be as transparent as you can

I always encourage my team to share their goals with everyone they can. It’s important to share your goals with your manager, but it doesn’t need to end there. Share with your work friends, teammates, and anyone you work with regularly.

Why this is important:

• You’ll get better support, as your teammates can cheer you on!

• You’ll be given better opportunities. When others know about your goals, they might make connections and surface chances for you to develop that they might not have thought you’d be interested in.

• There’s more accountability – you’ll be asked by others how you’re going, and you’re more likely to want to follow through with results.

That’s it for this week! If you’re interested in the original source, you can check out this article from MIT. It talks about FAST goals at more of an organisational level.