This page elaborates on the qualities of good work objectives and outlines the process for writing them. This section assumes you have already referred to our information explaining work objectives, outlining what SMART objectives are and how they will benefit you.
- Action Verbs
- Understanding your faculty/centre's operational plan
- Clarify what the key priorities are
- Draft and Redraft
Action Verbs
One strategy to writing quality objectives is to use action verbs, as they are much easier to measure.
Examples include:
- to write
- to recite
- to identify
- to sort
- to complete
- to present
- to solve
- to compare
- to build
- to produce
- to maintain
- to improve
Understanding your faculty/centre's operational plan
Spend some time reading, thinking and asking questions about your faculty/centre and its operational plan. What are the key work challenges it faces? What processes require improvement? What policies or practices need review? What are the resources and support available?
Clarify what the key priorities are
Find out from your supervisor, what the key work priorities and outcomes to be achieved are for the faculty/centre, taking into consideration your role and how it fits within the work area. Decide on 3-5 key work priorities that relate to your position and then begin drafting specific work objectives, taking into account, what outcomes are to be achieved.
Draft and Redraft
Be prepared to review, redefine and rewrite your work objectives.
Are the objectives you are writing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely? Do they adhere to the SMART principles?
You should also consider what the conditions, acceptable levels of performance and measures of success will be when drafting objectives.
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