Imagine no longer feeling the pressure during client calls, no more awkward silences or uncertainty about what to focus on next. The SMART coaching model can help you overcome these challenges and give your sessions and programs structure. 

And there’s no need to reinvent the wheel! This article will guide you on seamlessly incorporating SMART goals and questions into your existing coaching framework, improving client results, and helping them reach their desired outcomes. 

• Benefits of Smart Coaching
• What is a SMART type of coaching?
• What is an example of a SMART goal for coaching?
• What is an example of a SMART question?
• How to Start Using Smart Coaching

What Does SMART Coaching Mean?

The SMART coaching model uses clear goals following the SMART framework. It is a coaching process that leverages the SMART framework for goal setting. George T. Doran coined the term SMART goals in the early 1980s, and it has since become a popular goal-setting framework in the corporate world. Thanks to its ease of use and the clear goals you get, it has also gained popularity in personal development and coaching. 

But wait, you may think, don’t all goal-setting frameworks create clear and achievable goals? Nope! An example is BHAG, or Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals. These goals are meant to be inspirational and encourage thinking outside the box. But if you set a BHAG goal for your coaching clients, they’d probably be disappointed and feel they didn’t reach their goals. 

Specific

Your SMART goal should be crystal clear. 

An example of a non-specific goal: Feeling better about myself. A specific goal: Looking at myself in the mirror 8 weeks from now with genuine appreciation and without pulling in my stomach.

To nail the specificity part of your SMART goals, look at the 5 Ws: What, who, where, which, and why. For example:

What’s the goal about? 

• Who is responsible for getting it done? 
• Where does the goal fit into your vision? 
• Which resources do you need to succeed? 
• Why is this goal a priority? 

Measurable

When a goal is measurable, it is – you guessed it right – easy to measure. For example: Apply for 10 new jobs before our next coaching session. The opposite, a goal that’s not measurable, would be “looking for jobs.” The measurable part also makes sure that your goal is based on logic over feeling.

Plus, you need to be able to measure a goal to check if you have reached it! Make sure you can track progress somehow, and you’re good to go. 

Achievable

When a goal is achievable (or attainable), you and your client have estimated that they should be able to reach it with the resources and capacities at hand. This aspect sets the SMART coaching model apart from other frameworks that work with goals that aren’t necessarily realistic.

Relevant

Goals won’t have a big impact unless they’re relevant. Relevant goals should help your client move closer to their vision. What was the main challenge they came to you for? Start from there. It’s also a good idea to ask yourself and your client: Is now a good time to achieve this particular goal? Or should you prioritize something else?

Time-Bound

The last letter of the SMART acronym seals the goal by making it time-sensitive. When do you want to achieve the goal? Different time frames require different execution plans. A time-bound goal takes an elusive dream and pulls it into your reality.

Benefits of SMART Coaching

The SMART coaching model has several benefits: clarity, accountability, and motivation. This coaching approach also inspires action. 

1. Clarity and Focus

Growth is complex. Clients could do a thousand different things to realize their dreams. Clients are often painfully aware of this – trying to do everything simultaneously leads to procrastination and overwhelm. A desire for guidance and prioritization could be one of the main reasons they turned to you for coaching. 

With the SMART framework, your clients will leave each coaching session with a clear focus. They’ll know what to prioritize to reach their goals. Plus, the framework helps you stay focused when planning your sessions, distilling the end goal into bite-sized pieces. SMART goals help you and your client get the most out of your time together.

2. Accountability/Personal responsibility

One of the key goals of coaching is empowerment. SMART goals help your clients take radical responsibility for their own life. With clearly defined goals, it’s also easier for you, as the coach, to hold your clients accountable.

3. Motivation

Coaching only works if your clients actually do the work. By setting SMART goals, they have something clear to work toward and stay motivated. No more excuses for not taking action! Since SMART goals are attainable, you’ll hopefully be able to celebrate your client’s wins several times during your time together. 

4. Action 

Limiting beliefs and fears are roadblocks against action. You don’t want to add confusion from vague goals to that! The SMART coaching model provides clear goals to make taking action as easy as possible. 

5. Sense of collaboration

Since the SMART coaching model emphasizes clear and attainable goals, it gives you and your client a shared vision to work toward – and many small wins to celebrate along the way. Thanks to this continuous progress, SMART goals create a positive connection between you and your client and make both of you look forward to your next coaching session! 

6. Knowing what resources and tools you need

There’s an abundance of resources, practices, and tools you can “prescribe” to your clients between coaching sessions. This holds true for all coaching models. The benefit of the SMART coaching model is that the goals help you zero in on which tools to use. 

What is an example of a SMART Goal for coaching?

A goal that passes the SMART criteria is “I will post five times on Instagram within the next week.” Let’s pretend you set this goal with your client and break down why it fits into the SMART coaching model:

• Specific: If the end goal is just to get into a routine or overcome the fear of posting, the above goal would be enough. But if they’re posting to, for example, grow their following, you’d want to add more specificity: What time in the day will they post? What type of posts? For example, you could say, “2 reels and 3 carousel posts”. Takeaway: The level of specificity depends on the end goal.
  
• Measurable: This goal meets the criteria for measurable goals through “five times”. You can even check your client’s Instagram profile to verify their accomplishment.
  
• Achievable: Depending on their situation, posting five times within a week should be achievable. An example of a less achievable goal would be to post 50 times/week. 

• Relevant: To assess whether the goal is relevant, we need to compare it to the end goal. Let’s say your client wants to lose 5 pounds. That would make the Instagram goal pretty irrelevant! However, if they wanted to start an online business marketing via Instagram, the goal would make sense.
  
• Time-bound: “Within the next week” makes this goal time-bound. 

There you have it – a goal that fits the SMART coaching model! Hopefully, it can inspire you to start creating your own SMART goals for your coaching practice. 

Want to complement your SMART coaching model with the best coaching tools we know about? Check out the top 8 coaching tools to help your clients through deep transformations. 

What is an example of a SMART question?

An example of a SMART question is: “What are the top three goals you would like to achieve in the relationship area of your life during our three months together?”

If you want better answers, you need to ask better questions in your coaching sessions. The good news? The SMART framework is not just for goals – it can also be used for asking transformative questions. 

By now, we bet you’re wondering – how do I make a question SMART to up-level my coaching sessions? We’ll take you through the process here:

• Specific: Is my question specific? Does it capture the essence of the problem? Will the answer give me the information I need?
• Measurable: If my client answers the question correctly, can I measure the answer? 
• Action-oriented (Note that for goals, this is replaced by Achievable): Will the answer help us create an action plan?
• Relevant: Is the question relevant to your client’s vision and the problem you’re looking to solve?
• Time-bound: Will the answer help you solve the problem sooner rather than later?

Let’s look at our example question and why it’s SMART:

• Specific: While specificity is always a relative concept, the client is asked about a set number of goals within one area of their life.
• Measurable: “Three goals” are something you can count on. 
• Action-oriented: You can use the answers to create an action plan.
• Relevant: This question is relevant if clients want to improve their relationships.
• Time-bound: “Within three months” sets a time frame. 

As you can see, SMART questions fit into most coaching models. Consider experimenting with these questions to up-level your coaching practice – even if you’re not switching completely to SMART coaching. 

How to Start Using SMART Coaching

Are you tempted to try the SMART coaching model? Here are a few steps to follow:

1. Start with a vision for your time together. How would your client like to feel every day? What would their life look like? This is what will inform your SMART goals. 
2. Set goals together with your client. As with all coaching models, it’s imperative that the client is involved in the process – the goals need to come from them, with your support.
3. Decide how and how often you’ll measure the goals. This will help you check that you’re on track!
4. Break down each goal into simple steps. In each coaching session, decide what steps and actions your clients will take before the next time. 
5. Evaluate whether the goal is achievable. Does the client have the resources, skills, and capacity to reach their goal without too much challenge? (You want their limits pushed – but not too much!)
6. Set deadlines for when the goals should be reached. If it’s a big goal, consider setting partial milestones to assess that you’re on the right path. 
7. Implement regular check-ins. Consider offering regular check-ins between coaching sessions depending on your coaching model. 
8. Celebrate wins. This essential part can easily be forgotten in coaching – and life. Make it a habit to celebrate your client’s wins regularly. There will always be a next goal to chase, and you want to avoid getting stuck in an endless cycle of chasing the next goal and never allowing yourself to savor the fulfillment of reaching goals. So, make it a habit to celebrate each time your client hits a milestone or goal – this holds for all coaching models! 

How to Organize Your Coaching Practice Like a CEO

There you have it – the steps to start using the SMART coaching model with your clients! 

Setting SMART goals with your client takes you one step closer to a thriving coaching practice. As your business flourishes, keeping track of your client interactions is imperative. With scheduling, contract signing, and payment plans, it quickly gets overwhelming if you don’t have a solid system.

Paperbell saves you headaches by assisting you with all of the above. Sign up for a free Paperbell account here. 

Happy coaching!