NUR 706 Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership

Assignment 2: S.M.A.R.T. Professional Goal Setting

The purpose of this S.M.A.R.T. Professional Goal Setting assignment is for you to demonstrate proficiency in crafting appropriate goals that will be used to guide your continued development in the communication and/or leadership arenas. Identifying goals using this framework will enable you to clearly identify and track your progress as an emerging DNP leader.

Objectives (links with course SLOs 2, 3 and 6)

By completing this assignment, you may be examining your abilities to mature patient/family and/or professional relationships; summarizing your assessment of your cultural competence; and/or concluding your teambuilding and collaboration skills within your clinical practice environment.

Directions

Read with understanding and cite three additional articles on SMART goal setting to use to support your comments within the body of this paper. Identify at least one future professional goal that relates to your continued development in the communication and/or leadership areas.

Outline the professional goal and its attainment by developing an essay that will include at least one narrative paragraph for each element of the S.M.A.R.T. acronym. Please differentiate each element of the acronym by providing bold sub-headings and include a thorough description for each letter of the acronym related to your identified goal.

In addition, please include a timeline chart outlining the anticipated time to be spent on each step towards goal acquisition. Detail the initiation of the goal and projected metrics you will use to track incremental progress toward the goal. Please also include the targeted date of goal completion.

Attach a reference page and cite in the body of the paper using APA style.

Please know that all content will be kept strictly confidential. Your writings should be consistent with graduate level expectations. This assignment should not be more than five (5) double-spaced pages. Title page and reference pages are also needed. Please use size 12 font, and Times New Roman or Arial. It is acceptable if you choose to write in the first-person due to the personal nature of this assignment.   Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership Essay Paper

Evaluation

Your assignment will be graded on content and thoroughness of addressing every element in the S.M.A.R.T. goal as outlined above.
Grading Guidelines Meets Expectations Developing Needs Improvement
S-Specific Goal is clearly stated and fully described.
3 points Goal stated but lacks descriptive language. 2 points. Goal either not stated or too general to be measurable. 1 point
M- Measurable Goal can be assessed and evaluated.
3 points Goal can be assessed and evaluated but with lesser degree of clarity. Difficult to measure because of lack of clarity.
2 points Goal lacks structure for assessment and evaluation. Progress or achievement cannot be measured. 1 point
A-Attainable Goal is appropriate and realistically achievable. 3 points Goal is somewhat appropriate but does not provide enough challenge for growth. 2 points Goal is inappropriate for the task. 1 point
R-Relevant Goal is realistic and directly correlates to the task. 3 points Goal is realistic but lacks clarity in relation to the task. More description is needed. 2 points Goal is not realistic and does not relate well to the task. 1 point
T-Timely Goal has a specific timeframe, with well-defined timeline, with clear increments, for achievement. 3 points Goal lacks a beginning or ending; timeline poorly defined, increments unclear. 2 points Goal has no timeframe or timeline; no increments. 1 point
Content of 5 paragraph minimum essay Covers all areas described in the guidelines thoroughly. 10 points No intro or conclusion. Not all areas covered or covered thoroughly. 5 points No essay. 0 points
Overall structure of paper (citations, grammar, logical flow, clarity, structure, spelling, APA format) Focused, with relevant content. Use of proper grammar and spelling. Proper APA style.
5 points Confusing or inconsistent arrangement of content. Some errors in grammar or spelling. Some APA errors. 3 points Unfocused writing, inappropriate sources, many spelling or grammar errors and/or APA style errors. 1 point
Total Possible Points – 30

S.M.A.R.T. Professional Goal Setting

SMART goals in the nursing profession are important to monitor the professional progress and lay down the groundwork for career advancement. Managing the professional path for a DNP requires a solid plan that can be stipulated using SMART goals. SMART goals have been shown to be effective in the nursing profession as they help healthcare professionals to stay focused on their career goals, and at the same time map out the desired professional direction (Ogbeiwi, 2017). Setting out professional goals is among the most important tasks for a DNP because it enhances and moves their career forward. Creating a SMART goal is a systematic strategy that a nurse can improve and better their leadership path (Aghera et al., 2018). Accordingly, this paper will present a professional SMART goal related to my continued development in the communication and/or leadership areas as a future DNP. Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership Essay Paper

SMART is an abbreviation that represents Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Resources, and Timely. This implies that the goal should be specific, how to measure progress, plans to achieve the goal, and the resources that should be used and a precise time frame to attain the goal.  Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership Essay Paper

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SMART Goal

To inspire and motivate using elements transformational leadership style the interprofessional team to improve productivity by 25% in six months as demonstrated by the feedback from the team members

Specific

The goal is very specific and I intend to precisely motivate and inspire the interprofessional team I will be leading and improve their productivity and performance by 25%. The goal is specific and hence easy to define and easy to achieve because it is specific enough to be attained. In order to improve the productivity of the interprofessional team, I intend to use elements of transformational leadership style to improve the team’s productivity. Elements of transformational leadership style include intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, individualized consideration, and inspirational motivation (Lenzen et al., 2018). Intellectual stimulation will include encouraging innovation and creativity among the team members, and also encouraging them to explore new ideas to do things and providing them with opportunities to learn. Individualized consideration involves providing support and encouragement to each individual team member.  I intend to keep communication lines open so that the team members can freely share ideas and also to enable me to provide direct recognition of the distinct contributions of every team member (Lenzen et al., 2018). In addition, I intend to set out a clear vision for the team and inspire motivation among all team members. Finally, I will always act as a role model to the team members in order to earn their respect and ensure that team members emulate and internalize my ideals as their leader.

Measurable

The productivity of the team members will be measured through a feedback satisfaction survey. Increased productivity as measured by a 25% faster completion of the activities and roles of the interprofessional team is the measurability of the goal. According to Aghera et al (2018), the goals should be measurable so that the changes that have occurred can be seen and for a goal to be effective, there should be a mechanism to measure the progress. A feedback satisfaction survey is a metric that will be used to determine if the gal has been met and the progress.

Attainable

The goal of improving productivity by 25% is attainable. This is because the interprofessional team will be provided with the necessary leadership and the necessary resources to support the completion of the team’s activities. In addition, the team will be provided with positive and constructive feedback by checking-up with team members daily to evaluate their progress. According to Ogbeiwi (2017) even though the set goals should be challenging, the goals should be within the reach. The tools and resources necessary to achieve the goal should be available.  The elements of the transformational leadership style will be used to inspire and motivate the team members to make the goal attainable.  Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership Essay Paper

Relevant

The relevance of the set goal is that the team members will be inspired to increase their morale and productivity, and thus complete the team’s activities promptly, and reduce the time the interprofessional team spends unfocused. According to Aghera et al (2018), the goals should be relevant to the project and should be founded on the professional and skills momentum to ensure they are realistic and relevant to the project.

Timelines

The timeline for the goal is to attain a 25% improvement on the time the interprofessional team takes to complete the assigned project and demonstrate the satisfaction of the team members within six months. The timeline for this goal is six months. Ogbeiwi (2016) provides that setting deadlines for the goals ensure that the maximum effect of the goal is achieved. Creating target timelines for goals and milestones provides a better indication of the project’s or activities’ progress. In addition, setting a timeline to achieve a specific goal is a motivator that can help in gauging efforts and assessing if some improvements are necessary to facilitate the achievement of the set goal (Aghera et al., 2018).

Conclusion

Professional goal setting is used to promote performance and productivity. My identified SMART goal is to inspire and motivate using elements transformational leadership style the interprofessional team to improve productivity by 25% in six months as demonstrated by the feedback from the team members. The goal is specific because it is definite enough to be attained. Elements of transformational leadership style will be used to improve the team’s productivity and thus achieve the set goal. On the other hand, the productivity of the team members will be measured through a feedback satisfaction survey and thus this indicates that the goal is measurable. This The interprofessional team will be provided with the necessary leadership and the necessary resources to support the completion of the team’s activities to make the goal attainable. In addition, the set goal is relevant because the team members will be inspired to increase their morale and productivity, and thus this will facilitate the completion of the team’s activities on time. Finally, six months is the set time to see productivity. It is expected that the interprofessional team will attain a 25% improvement on the time within six months.

References

Aghera, A., Emery, M., Bounds, R., Bush, C., Stansfield, R. B., Gillett, B., & Santen, S. A. (2018). A Randomized Trial of SMART Goal Enhanced Debriefing after Simulation to Promote Educational Actions. The western journal of emergency medicine, 19(1), 112–120. doi:10.5811/westjem.2017.11.36524.

Lenzen, S.A., Daniëls, R., van Bokhoven, M.A. et al. (2018). Development of a conversation approach for practice nurses aimed at making shared decisions on goals and action plans with primary care patients. BMC Health Serv Res, 18(891).

Ogbeiwi, O. (2016). Defining goal terms in development and health. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 22(11), 544–550.

Ogbeiwi, O. (2017). Why written objectives need to be really SMART. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 23(7), 324–336.  Communication and Collaboration for Healthcare Leadership Essay Paper