E1 · Three requests rewritten
15 minTake three vague requests from your diagnosis (lesson 1) and rewrite each one using SMART.
Done when: all three have a number or a test where an adjective used to be.
Lesson 5 · 15 min
A goal you can measure: the M in SMART
Managers have been delegating with SMART for half a century: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. For an agent, the letter that matters most is the M. Without a measure, it can't check its own work and doesn't know when it's finished. "Improve my website" is not a goal. "The home page opens in under two seconds on a phone" is.
Start the lesson
In this lesson you will
- 1The five letters of SMART
- 2Why the M matters most
- 3Answering a new agent's questions
- 4Check your goal on the page
Goal: turn a vague request into a goal with a measure and a deadline that the agent can check on its own.
01SMART for agents
Tap or click each letter. The M, for measurable, is the one that decides.
Quick test: if you can't say how you'll check it, the agent can't either.
The same method managers use with people. With an agent, the M stops being a detail and becomes the stopping criterion.
02From vague to measurable
Three requests rewritten. Tap or click each one.
1. Website
Vague: "Improve my website."
Measurable: the home page opens in under 2 seconds on a phone, measured three times in a row, by Friday.
How to check
PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev, free), phone profile: three measurements under 2 s.
2. New law
Vague: "Summarize this new law for the clients."
Measurable: up to 10 lines, cites the law number and the date it takes effect, and says who is affected, today by 6 p.m.
How to check
Count the lines and find in the text the law number, the date and who is affected.
3. Announcement
Vague: "Improve the announcement to the parents."
Measurable: fits on one phone screen, gives the start date in the first sentence, and is approved with no request for corrections, by Friday at 4 p.m.
How to check
Open it on a phone, find the date in the first sentence, and approve it or not.
03Templates to copy
Replace the text between < > with your own.
goal.txt
Vague request: <your request the way you would have made it before> Goal: <what, specifically: which page, which task, which document> Measure: <the number or test that tells you it's done and it came out good> Deadline: <by when, and how the agent shows you the result>
Request: the agent asks what's missing
Before starting this task, ask me the questions a new employee would ask to know: - what exactly needs to be done; - how to check that it's finished (a number or a test); - what must not change; - by when and how to show me the result. Only start after I answer. Task: <your request>
Simulation: illustrative example
- The Measure has a number or a test, not an adjective.
- The Deadline says by when and how the result gets to you.
- You can tell, just by looking at what was delivered, whether it passed or not.
- An adjective instead of a number ("fast", "pretty"): the agent decides on its own what that means.
- A measure only you can run: prefer a test the agent runs itself.
04Simulation: a new agent's first day
A simulated conversation for practice. The agent has just arrived and asks questions. Choose the answer you would give.
New agentsimulation · first day on the team
Choose your answer. The comment appears right after, and the conversation follows your choice.
05Check your goal
Paste the vague request and the rewritten version. The page checks the fields, rejects empty ones and loose adjectives, and asks for a Measure with a number or a test and a Deadline with a day, date or time. The OK only checks the format; it doesn't guarantee the measure is a good one: you decide.
goal.txt
06Practice: your sheet's goal
Go back to the sheet from lesson 4 and strengthen the Measure field.
E2 · The goal, checked
10 minWrite your agent's goal.txt and paste it into the checker above.
Done when: the checker answers "OK: goal with all 4 fields filled in" and you wrote, in one sentence, how you check the Measure by looking at a delivery.
E3 · The agent checks itself
15 minHand over the goal and ask it to tell you, when it finishes, how it checked each item of the Measure. If the measure calls for a tool it can't access (in a chat, PageSpeed, for example), you're the one who measures, using the same test.
Done when: the delivery came with a check of each item, and you redid one of the tests and got the same result.
07This lesson in one minute
How to delegate to AI: the SMART goal.
How to delegate to AI: a SMART goal (video in Portuguese) · 46 sVideo page with script →
08Test what you learned
The explanation appears after your answer.
Question 1 of 3
Why is the M the letter that weighs the most for an agent?skill
Correct
Without a measure, it stops when it thinks it looks good. With a number or a test, it checks for itself and you approve without redoing the measurement.Not that one
Without a measure, it stops when it thinks it looks good. With a number or a test, it checks for itself and you approve without redoing the measurement.Review: SMART for agentsQuestion 2 of 3
Which of these is a measurable goal?
Correct
It has the what (one tab per month), the test (total equal to the bank statement) and the deadline (the 5th). The others depend on the opinion of whoever is looking.Not that one
It has the what (one tab per month), the test (total equal to the bank statement) and the deadline (the 5th). The others depend on the opinion of whoever is looking.Review: From vague to measurableQuestion 3 of 3
In the simulation, "you can change everything, as long as it gets fast" went wrong. Why?
Correct
The fastest way might be to remove photos and text. Along with the measure goes the boundary: what doesn't change without your yes.Not that one
The fastest way might be to remove photos and text. Along with the measure goes the boundary: what doesn't change without your yes.Review: Simulation: a new agent's first dayQuiz complete
You got {a} of {n} right. If you get them all right, the lesson is marked as completed.Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you try.
09The lesson in three sentences
SMARTSpecific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound: the same method you'd use to delegate to people.
The M decidesA number or test the agent can run on its own is the stopping criterion.
Measure with a boundaryAlso say what can't change to hit the target.