1. Prioritizing and Planning
Have this slide showing on the screen as participants enter the room.
Time: 1 minute
Session Time: 90 minutes
Before the session, set up three flip chart pages side by side. Label them in this order:
Left: NOW
Middle: HOW
Right: WOW
Flip the charts up so that the words are not visible.
Prioritizing and Planning

2. Session Overview Develop SMART goals
Identify potential avenues for reaching priorities
Welcome participants to the session and briefly review the goals from this slide.
Time: 1 minute
Materials: None

3. Thinking of Your Destination: Be SMART
This slide serves as a transition to writing SMART goals.
Time: 1 minute

4. Goals focus on the results you hope to reach. Setting Goals
A lot of information has been gathered related to this priority up to this point. Now it’s time to begin thinking about what could happen to make progress.
This slide begins focusing on a goal related to the priority and guides participants into writing SMART goals.
Point out that goals focus on the end results – what the participants hope to change within their communities around this priority.
Goals should be SMART to be effective. The next slide explains this in more detail.
Time: 1 minute

5. SMA R T Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time Framed
What do you want to achieve?
Where will you focus your efforts?
Specific
How do you plan to measure progress toward the goal?
How will you know you have arrived at the goal?
Measurable
Do you have the resources to achieve the goal?
Are there barriers that might prevent achieving this goal?
Attainable
Is this important for your community?
Does this matter or bring benefit?
Relevant
When do you want to achieve your goal?
What is the target date for accomplishing the goal?
Time Framed
SMART is an acronym that helps define a solid goal. This slide outlines the characteristics of SMART goals and provides a few guiding thoughts for each. Briefly describe each part.
S means Specific: Knowing what you wants to achieve and where they want to focus their efforts is important. As you develop specific goals, think through exactly what you hope to accomplish. Be clear.
M means Measurable: Develop measures that will allow you to document whether you are moving in the right direction in terms of achieving your goals. Think about the ultimate outcomes you want to achieve and the measures you want to use to document your progress along the way.
A means Attainable: Match your goals to the resources that will be available in your region. Consider goals that align with the assets of your region. These assets are those you identified using the Community Capitals framework.
R means Relevant: Is the goal something that your team is truly committed to tackling and that really matters in the community? Since you may have a variety of goals that you want to pursue related to the region, taking a hard look at the importance and relevance of each specific goal is vital. Consider whether each goal will bring the greatest benefit to the region. In addition, ask yourself as a team, “Are we the right or appropriate group to address this goal or is there another entity in the region that is better equipped to tackle tis goal?”
T means Time Framed: Having timelines for each of your goals is important. In order to keep things on track, build a timeline of when your team goals are to be accomplished.
Adapted from the following source: Heathfield, S. M. (2011). Beyond smart goals. About.com Human Resources. Retrieved from
Handout: SMART Goals
Time: 5 minutes
Adapted from: Heathfield, S.M. (2011)

6. SMART Goal: An Ideal Example
Increase the survival rate of new business
start-ups (less than 5-years-old) from 50% to 60% in the county by Dec. 2020
Specific
Relevant
A SMART goal example is presented on this slide. Share with the participants how the five key elements of a SMART goal are found in this statement.
Time: 2 minutes
Attainable
Time-Framed
Measurable

7. Try It on…
What might be a goal related to this priority that could be achieved in 3-5 years?
How could you write it as a SMART goal?
Share with a neighbor.
Invite participants to walk through these three steps using the SMART Goal handout.
What might be a goal related to this priority that could be achieved in 3-5 years?
How could you write it as a SMART goal?
Share with a neighbor.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: SMART Goal Handout

8. Planning for Success
Reach success on a goal doesn’t happen by accident. Rather it takes thoughtful planning. The next few slides will walk participants through a simple process to examine potential strategies for addressing the priority.
Time: 1 minute

9. Picturing Success: What is the WOW?
If we were successful in pursuing this goal…
what would success look like?
Before the session, set up three flip chart pages side by side. Label them in this order:
Left: NOW
Middle: HOW
Right: WOW
Flip the charts up so that the words are not visible.
So far, participants have explored a number of features related to one of the USDA priorities. This section begins by inviting participants to dream a little. Ask them to imagine they were successful in pursuing this priority they have been exploring. In 3-5 years [or another appropriate time period if opportunities are very short in nature], how will this community be different?
What would success look like? Encourage the participants to be concrete rather than abstract.
For instance:
The unemployment rate will be lower (concrete) VS Our economy will be better (abstract). [Feel free to substitute an example relative to the priority you are leading.]
Flip the right chart page “WOW” down and record some examples.
Distribute the handout “Bridge Building Handout” so participants can follow along with their own ideas.
Time: 10 minutes
Handout: Bridge Building Handout

10. Reality: What is the NOW?
What is the reality of our community now related to this priority?
While the WOW is truly an exciting place, we recognize that we live in a NOW place.
What is the reality of our community now related to this priority? Refer back to the previous breakout on Telling Your Story and data exploration.
Turn down the left hand chart and record some examples on the NOW page.
Invite participants to follow along by adding examples to their own page
Time: 10 minutes

11. Building a Bridge: What is the HOW?
What actions can bridge the gap between the NOW and the WOW?
NOW
WOW
The middle part of this exercise has participants consider what concrete actions are needed to move the community from the NOW to the WOW.
These can include a wide range of things that can touch on several (possibly all) of the community capitals. For instance, there may be:
Infrastructure needs (built)
Training needs (human)
Policy changes (political)
Etc.
Take examples and record on the center chart HOW, again, focusing on the priority for this room. Encourage concrete examples rather than abstract.
If someone states something abstract, ask them what it would look like. For instance if they say “we need better schools,” ask for concrete examples of what is needed. Those might include something like these:
Organize an annual career summit to demonstrate how different school subjects prepare for different jobs
Lead a school clean-up project (built)
Establish business-school apprenticeship partnerships (human, social)
Plant a school garden to teach STEM to elementary students (human)
Also, if someone states something that seems very broad, like “solve the opioid epidemic” encourage them to consider what that might involve. Using that example, participants might say:
Increase drug counseling (human)
Build a half-way house (built)
Develop a local coalition among service providers to provide seamless care (social)
Encourage participants to consider how these tie back to the Community Capitals (assets).
Keep the focus on specific actions that will get from the NOW to the WOW for this priority.
Time: 10 minutes

12. Prioritizing the Options
Given these potential strategies,
What could we do?
Place a beside these.
Given what we could do,
What should we do?
Place a beside these.
The process used so far may have generated a long list of potential strategies (HOW chart). Sometimes, selecting the best place to start can be a challenge. These two guiding questions can be helpful as community groups think through priorities. Using the example you have been developing, explore these two questions with the options placed in the “HOW” chart.
The first question asks, “What could we do” which focuses on what is feasible and may have the greatest support and/or resources. Walk participants back through the list they generated and place a check mark beside the items that the participants believe could be done.
The second question, “What should we do” focuses more on the urgency of the options. Starting with the items the group checked as “could be done,” facilitators walk participants back through a discussion of which of those should be done, meaning they are pressing and could lead the community to a positive win.
Time: 10 minutes

13. Strategies: Key Questions
Which ones will:
Come closest to producing the desired outcomes ?
Appeal most to your target audience?
Make the best uses of resources & assets?
Help overcome key barriers?
Be likely to spur the growth of the priority identified?
These questions can also be helpful in identifying the best starting points for addressing a community priority.
Time: 10 minutes

14. Questions and Discussion
Wrap up with any questions participants may have.