Problems definition with SMART

Problems definition with SMART

by Natalya Bosatskaya

http://ru.gravatar.com/natalyabos




Probably each manager has faced the challenge when people have done a task not as expected.

If you are a happy manager and such problem has never occurred in your work, this presentation will be useless for you. I'd like to get your comments how you achieved the successful results.


In my presentation, I will tell about SMART method of problems definition by Peter Drucker.

The method orients for correct tasks formulation.

There are many expansions of SMART abbreviation. Here, I will describe one of them.


According to this method, a problem must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant (result oriented) time bounded. Let's consider all elements detailed.


Specific. A task must have a well-defined goal.The goal has not to be understood differently.

“Test it” is not a specific task but “Execute MAT on last build” is an understandable and clear task.


Measurable. A task must be measured in concreteunits (percents, money, pages, etc.). You and yourpeople must easy define if the goal has beenachieved or not.

“Test everything” is not a measurable task.“Everything” can mean different test scope for you andyour people. Example of measurable task is “Runthese 50 tests in FF and IE”.


Achievable. A task must be solvable.Impracticable goals demotivate people.

Don't tell “Find all bugs” because it's impossible.


Relevant (or Result oriented).Executor must understand for what he will do this task.

E.g. “write test scenarios”. Tester can create check list(he thinks that these test scenarios will be used byhimself during regression testing) but you are going touse these test scenarios for training needs of othertesters. So, you must tell “write test scenarios for training needs”.


Time bounded. You must point a clear time terms to solve the problem.

E.g. “The task must be done until tomorrow evening”


As you see, there's no complexity.

5 letters are easy to remember good rules forproblems definition.


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Problems definition with SMART

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