Setting goals for career growth 

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Setting professional growth goals is a critical step for any technologist aiming to advance their career and enhance their skill set. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, having clear, well-defined goals can guide your efforts and maximise your development. This resource is designed to help you create high-quality growth goals using the SMART framework, ensuring your objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By applying these principles, you can create action plans that drive meaningful progress in your professional journey.

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Let’s dive in and take a look at each in details. 

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Specific

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Specific actions bring clarity and direction, making it easier to focus your efforts. Removing  ambiguity means a more targeted and efficient approach to getting outcomes. Ambiguous goals or actions often lead to confusion and lack of direction, which typically results in little to no progress being made.

❌ Get better at Reliability 

✔️ Improve Time to Recover on critical services by 50%

❌ Get better at public speaking

✔️ Present a talk sharing my knowledge of Reliability to a local Developer Meetup group

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Measurable 

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This can be a tough one. Avoid the temptation to simply say “when it's done”. Doing something once enough for you to achieve your goal?  Think about the outcomes you want to achieve: perhaps you can find a qualitative or quantitative measure.  Measurable goals help track your progress and ensure you are on the right path to achieving your objectives.

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❌ When the workshop is done

✔️ 80% of workshop attendees said they learned more about Security. 

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You could also measure your progress toward your goals, for example, percentage of an online course completed. 

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Achievable 

Think about the Specific, Measurable goal you are drafting. Is it really achievable for you in your current context? Is it within your scope of influence? Can you achieve it with your current stakeholder relationships? Of course, pushing our scope out is how we grow, but see if you can break it down into a smaller, manageable set of outcomes. 

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❌ Increase developer velocity across the whole of Engineering by 200%. 

✔️ Drive adoption of new practices in my team to incrementally improve velocity each sprint. 

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Relevant 

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This is a big one. Ensuring that the skill you want to grow also benefits your company increases the likelihood that you will receive the time and training needed. When your goals align with the company's objectives, your manager is more likely to advocate for you when learning opportunities arise. For example, if you want to improve your public speaking skills, but your company doesn't value this skill, it might be better as a personal goal rather than a professional one that offers mutual benefits.

Relevant goals also ensure that each action you take directly contributes to achieving your overall objective. For instance, if your goal is to become a team lead, developing skills in project management and leadership would be highly relevant. However, focusing on improving your coding skill might not be as relevant to a leadership role.

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❌ Learn RUST Development because it seems cool

✔️ Learn Python to enable building of company’s R&D Machine Learning project

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Time-bound

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When was the last time you completed something that didn't have a due date? Without a clear deadline, tasks can easily be postponed indefinitely. Setting a specific time frame creates a sense of urgency and helps prioritise your efforts to ensure timely completion.

💡 Tip: Break your activities down so they take a maximum of three months, making them more manageable and easier to track.

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❌ Improve my coding skills before next year’s performance review 

✔️ Complete Advanced React course in next 3 months

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Setting growth goals using the SMART framework is an effective way to ensure your objectives are clear, actionable, and achievable. By focusing on being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, you can create a structured plan that drives real progress.

On Kaleida, we take this a step further by guiding you to choose a "growth area" from a curated list of skills, and then setting SMART actions to work toward levelling up in this skill.  Collaborating with your manager to set these growth goals and actions is crucial, as it ensures alignment with your team's objectives and provides valuable support and feedback. This unique approach helps you focus on what matters most and achieve your professional development goals. 

Start using Kaleida today to transform your ambitions into tangible achievements.

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