No, I'm not talking about if you are a beginner or have taken courses on genealogy and family history. I'm talking about having S.M.A.R.T. goals, objectives, and tasks when it comes to your research.
What is this S.M.A.R.T. thing I'm talking about? It first came about in the November 1981 issue of Management Review where George T. Doran wrote a paper called "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives". I know we aren't dealing with corporate management when we are doing our own genealogy research but we are often working with goals, objectives, and tasks to help keep us focused.
However, I'm not using Mr. Doran's original definition for S.M.A.R.T. but a variation I was given when I was taking one of my time and project management courses.
How does this apply to our genealogy and family history research? One of the many challenges new genealogy researchers face is that they get so overwhelmed and end up bounce around between people in their tree. Setting goals, objectives and tasks can help a researcher, new or experienced, to stay focused. Yet what do I mean by those terms above?
| Specific | Is the goal, objective, or task I've set out to do answer a specific question? |
| Measurable | Is there a point I can say I’ve answered the question? |
| Achievable | Do I have the knowledge (or can I gain the knowledge) and/or access to the records to answer the question? |
| Relevant | Does it matter to me? |
| Timely | Can I do it in my lifetime? |
For example, here's a task I've recently set out for myself in my own research:
"Over the next two months I want to document those in my master tree that could have appeared in the 1939 Register of England and Wales."
Does this look like a S.M.A.R.T. task? Let's look at it:
| Specific | I think so since I specified exactly what I want to do. |
| Measurable | I can create a spreadsheet out of a list from my Legacy Family Tree software of those people in my tree that may have been alive on September 29, 1939 and may have resided in England and Wales at the time. In addition to recording the details in my database and I can also record in the spreadsheet if I have found the person in the register or not. |
| Achievable | The 1939 Register is available on Ancestry and Findmypast and I have accounts on both sites. This means that the information should be accessible to me and I do have the knowledge on how to search for records on those sites. |
| Relevant | This will fill in gaps in my research and may provide me with additional people for my tree that might connect me with cousins I didn't know I had. |
| Timely | I believe I can achieve this task within the time frame I've specified. |
Other S.M.A.R.T. goals, objectives, and tasks might include:
- finding the first non-First Nations person in your family that came to the Americas
- submitting an application to establish that you are descended from an United Empire Loyalist, or a Mayflower passenger, or someone that contribute to or fought in the United States War of Independence
- confirming or refuting a specific family tale you heard as a child
- identifying your biological parents if you are an adoptee
By using S.M.A.R.T. we can hopefully set ourselves some goals, objectives, and tasks to help keep us from constantly following Alice's White Rabbit down the proverbial hole. Being S.M.A.R.T. helps keep us focused and can guide us in our research journey.
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