SMART or not SMART: Set the wrong goals and see your projects getting lost
It seems so easy to list some goals for a company or a team. We dream of a nice new reality together and just work hard to make it happen, right?
Wrong.
Goal setting must be a process. Not a moment, not a simple reunion or brainstorm. The collective goals represent and shape the present of an enterprise while building an attainable future.
There's a famous framework for goal setting called SMART, standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
- Specific, so you know what you're looking for.
- Measurable, so you can recognize your advances, and your setbacks.
- Achievable, so you don't lose yourself in dreams.
- Relevant, so you can work on rewarding things.
- Time-bound, so you don't get late, or uselessly ahead.
The last one is probably the tricky one. You must have a deadline, but things take their own time, and the pressure to be too quick can bring troublesome consequences. One of the most common is the wasting of resources.
It's just like a fast car asking for more and more combustion every time you hit the pedals. Going fast all the time also wears the car's parts, besides being risky. Go at top speed all the time, and you will not have a car for so long.
Likewise, between crashes and burnouts, a project gets thinner as its ill-planned and wrongly applied goals consume it from the inside.
Now that we've explored the fundamentals of SMART goals, let's see how this powerful framework can be applied specifically to Quality Assurance. Utilizing the SMART criteria for your QA objectives can bring greater clarity and effectiveness to your testing processes. The table below demonstrates the application of each SMART component within QA and provides practical examples for setting your own SMART quality goals.
| SMART Component | Application in QA Processes | Example QA Goal | Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specific | Clearly define the focus of the QA effort. | Increase automated test coverage for the user registration module by 20% by the end of the current quarter. | Ensure the specific module or feature is clearly identified. Define the type of testing involved (e.g., automation). |
| Measurable | Identify quantifiable metrics to track progress. | Reduce the number of critical defects found in production within the first month after release by 15%. | Define the metric (e.g., number of critical defects), the baseline, and the target reduction. |
| Achievable | Set realistic goals considering resources and constraints. | Improve the test execution pass rate for high-priority test cases to 90% within the next sprint. | Consider the current pass rate, the complexity of the test cases, and the available time and resources for fixing failures. |
| Relevant | Align QA goals with broader project or business objectives. | Conduct thorough security vulnerability scanning on all new features to mitigate potential security risks identified by the security team. | Ensure the goal directly supports a key project objective, such as enhancing application security. |
| Time-bound | Establish a clear timeframe for achieving the goal. | Complete all planned performance tests for the checkout process by the end of the week. | Set a specific deadline that is realistic given the scope of work and dependencies. |
Plan SMART goals, keep track of your progress with the help of accessible tools for QA and testing, and see the magic of reality conquer the uncertainty of dreams.
For you, are unstructured goals doomed? Or is there space for improvisation in every company?
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Tags: Goal Setting, Technology Planning