Be SMART, Be Excellent.

“I will give my best shot this time.”…Sounds familiar?

Why won’t it be!
I have said it thousands of time myself and listened people saying it million times…

(cumulative, of course)
But do we really mean it? Do we even realize what our best shot is? How that could be 
achieved?
I think No. This often comes out to be an impulsive statement rather than a well thought off 

strategy.

The same situation scales up to the level of organizations. Be it a small proprietary or an MNC, it is very important to set realistic goals and vision for the company and well thought off strategy is, inevitably, always required. 

Even this is not enough; we must also understand how to achieve Excellence.

I am going to divide the ‘gyaan’ in two parts...Read ahead with your eyes and mind open!

First and Foremost….

The first part in achieving our goals with excellence is to set the goals. 

Of course, what else could it be? How stupid a suggestion it is!

Wait…I am not finished yet…
It is easier said than done…
Setting up just any random goal will never take you anywhere…It would leave you revolving around the same point losing out on your resources.

For eg:

Mr. Harilal Chobey: “Hey, I just came to know about the life of a film star. I want to be a superstar actor. Let me spend 3 hours in a beauty salon and 2 in a gym each day  for a year, and then nobody would be able to stop me!"
Mr. Champak Prasad: "Wait, Shouldn’t you join some acting school first?"
Mr. Harilal Chobey: "Uhmm…Never thought about that! Is it relevant at all?!"

Here Mr. Harilal set a goal for himself without putting up a lot of thought into it. His goal setting is not just random, but impulsive, irrational and most importantly it lacks the requisite amount of ground work.

Hence, setting up a SMART goal becomes the first and foremost step before we sprint towards our dreams.

Ok, do we have to look for the literal meaning of ‘Smart’ and proceed?
No, wait!
It’s something much more profound.
(Frankly speaking, it’s not a new concept. There has been numerable interpretations and explanations. I am jut presenting my own) 

Yes. This is SMART goal which I was talking about.
The elements above give us a, more or less, checklist of what all parameters we should 
comply with before finalizing our goal and proceeding any further.

Now, here comes the catch!

Often, it happens with us that we make goals, check them for few of the above mentioned

parameters but fail to include all of them. It is very important that our goals reflect (at least) 
all of the above characteristics. 

I personally think that maintaining a balance between ‘ambitious’ and ‘achievable’
is the most difficult one among the mentioned factors. While the goal should be achievable, it 

should be ambitious enough to always keep us on our toes.

Well, that looks like a lot of work. Who, in the whole world, would take up so much of 
headache.

The answer is simple, "Whosoever understands that 'Success' is at stake".

Let’s walk towards Excellence….

Once we are prepared with our goals, the real race begins.
The next motive is to attain excellence on both individual and organizational level.

The formula is very simple (simple ‘to write’.., ‘to follow’ is a different story).

EXCELLENCE = EFFECTIVENESS * EFFICIENCY

 These 3 are commonly called as ‘3 Es’.

Ok, three similar look words to make it look wonderful. But what’s the point. What 
exactly is the difference between Effectiveness and Efficiency? Don’t they mean same thing?

Hang on, I was just about to answer that when you(r thought) interrupted.

Effectiveness is ‘Doing the right thing’ whereas Efficiency is ‘Doing things rightly’.

Efficiency is more related to speed up the process whereas effectiveness is associated with 
providing correct direction to the work in hand.

Still not clear?

Let’s take up an example.

Take the example of two Customer Service reps, the first one is very short with the customers. 

If they start to tell him any unnecessary information, he cuts them off and tells them "leave it, 

that's not important". He quickly resolves their issue but leaves them with a bad taste for the 
company - most will never be repeat customers. He is able to handle 50 customer calls per day. 

The second rep takes time with the customers, shows empathy and concern, reviews the 
situation with the customer at the end of the call. Every customer is satisfied and impressed - 
all will certainly do more business with the company and refer their friends. This rep is able to 
handle 30 customers per day. 

The first rep is very efficient; the second rep is more effective. 

Hence, achieving excellence would include both the elements in balance.

So, both the 'goal setting' and the strive towards excellence were the two things I wanted to
talk about.
I recently learned it. I thought sharing it would be a nice thought.

So, next time, you say 'I'll give it my best shot', Just include a SMART goal setting, coupled 
with 3 Es. I don't see any reason why you would not be able to deliver your best.

Ok, the ‘gyaan’ is over for the time.Hope I was 'effective' and 'efficient' to some extent.

Hope you liked the blog post.

Happy Reading!