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What would you call something that is a clearly defined, measurable result you intend to achieve by a specific date, expressed in concrete terms (numbers, facts, scales, or expert assessments - see examples below), so that completion and success can be verified?

I think it might be something like:

  • Amount/Volume/Number of planned/scheduled result/output
  • Planned/Target outcome measure
  • Planned achievement metric
  • Planned target outcome
  • Specific planned result
  • Scheduled output numbers

But I'm not sure which of these (if any) sounds right. I'd appreciate feedback on which expressions are natural in English, and why some might not work. If none of them are correct, could you suggest better options? I'm not necessarily looking for an idiom, but if there is one, I'd like to know it.

The original term in Russian is Объём Запланированного Результата (ОЗР). A word-for-word translation could be Volume of Planned Result or Amount of Scheduled Output (though I'm not sure if these make sense in English).

This expression comes from practical psychology. It's similar to the idea of SMART targets, but with a different emphasis. SMART targets is a set phrase in business management, while ОЗР sounds more neutral and is used more generally. It clearly highlights the measurable quantity (volume, amount, number - not sure which English word fits best), and the planning/scheduling aspect.

Examples

In practice, I use ОЗР mostly as a heading:

[ОЗР] for today:

  • Wrote 2 pages of the article by 18:00 (numbers)
  • Completed a set of back exercises by 7:00 (facts)
  • Ended the workday with my mood at least at "the world is good" level (scale)
  • The kids rated my dinner as tasty enough to eat without being forced (expert assessments)

It can also be used in conversation, like:

  • Have you written an [ОЗР] for today?
  • What's in your [ОЗР] for the month?
  • In the [ОЗР] for the year, I put my kids' math performance first.

I'd like to replace [ОЗР] in these examples with a suitable English equivalent.

Update: Some more details and examples

To be honest, I don't really believe that providing more examples will help. But hey, I've already gotten quite an unusual negative reaction, so what do I lose? Let's try it in hope that it works.

What I'm looking for resembles the recently mentioned "to-do list" filled with "SMART targets". The question is: how is it different, and why is it so important for me to distinguish it clearly? For convenience, I'm going to mark the wished-for expression as APR.

APR is my daily reality - I start each morning by writing a list of what I plan to get at the end of the day (not just what to do, but what to achieve). Although it looks like a to-do list, I consciously call it something else to keep the focus on outcomes - for me, it's not just "go there, do this, meet them" but more like "make this amount of whatever-is-meaningful, reach this assessment of that otherwise-unmeasurable feeling, get their signature on this document".

Recently, I started writing my APR in English as a way to immerse myself in thinking in this language. Here's how I reasoned when translating the original expression into what became APR:

  • It's hardly a number or a count, but more like an amount or a scope. I chose amount because to my ear it sounds somewhere in between number and scope.
  • It feels more like planning, projecting or designing, rather than expecting. I chose planning because it sounds closer to my language.
  • It's not exactly a product that comes out of a process, but more like the final consequence of my activity. So maybe it's not an output, but rather a result.

That's how I came up with Amount of Planned Result (APR). Still, I feel uneasy with this expression - it seems wrong, but I can't say why.

Now, let's try some more context to see how it works and differs from a to-do list or agenda, apart from the fact that it helps me focus on results:

  • Writing "watch the movie" in ____ won't work. It might fit in a to-do list, but for ____ it should be something like "summarized the movie's plot in 50 English sentences and posted it on social media" - better in the past tense, as if you were designing a future report.
  • You can mark part of your code with # TODO: ... comment, but in ____ for the next sprint you would write something like "the app passed the QA tests for the new set of features".
  • With an agenda, you set a course of action and tend to follow it in the hope that the result will emerge. With ____, you design the result first and only then think about the steps to achieve it, adjusting them as necessary.
  • Thinking in terms of estimated outcomes projected in your ____ is not the same as following a meeting agenda. You might write "reports from departments A, B, C" in your agenda, while in ____ it's gonna be "updated the estimated release date at the end of the meeting".
  • With ____, steps mean nothing and results mean everything.

After reflecting on the provided answers and comments, I think some alternatives might work better than APR, though I'm still not sure:

  • Result Scope
  • Targeted Results
  • Result Plan
  • Defined Outcomes
  • Outcome Design

Do any of these sound good?

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    In what context would you use this expression? Commented Aug 11 at 6:41
  • @KateBunting For example, as a title for a list of items I plan to make throughout the day, kind of APR (Amount of Planned Results). That said, I’d rather not adopt a poorly formed phrase. Commented Aug 11 at 7:18
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    www.proz.com You can even use the look-up without signing up. Commented Aug 12 at 15:27
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    The question is yours, you can add back the one or two tags which you feel are appropriate (just as long as it's not grammar, which is overused! Commented Aug 15 at 17:43
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    Now you have changed your original question... Commented Aug 16 at 14:45

6 Answers 6

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You will need to decide if you are talking about the thing that you measure (the metric) or the value of the metric you are aiming for (the target). The question in the title suggests it is the value - ie the "target".

I don't find the word "planned" to be particularly idiomatic. I think you should call this a "target", and add adjectives such as "the specific and measurable target". Now I realise that a word that translates to "planned" is in the Russian expression. But remember, you are not writing in Russian, but in English. In English the fact that it is a "target" implies that it is something that you plan to achieve. Including "planned" sounds redundant and ugly, to me. Likewise if your objection to "SMART" is that it is a technique for setting goals, then you are using a Russian tranlation of SMART, rather than understanding it as a native speaker of English.

There is an initialism SMART targets. It is mostly used for personal goals in education and management. If your audience is familiar with this idea, you might use "SMART target". SMART is short for "specific, measurable, achievable (or assignable), relevant (or realistic), time-bound". There are other variants, too many to list here.

You can use a synonym for "target", such as "goal" or "objective". Look at a dictionary to see if there are any relevant differences in meaning.

If you are talking about the thing that you will measure, then "metric" is sufficient. It implies something clearly defined and measurable.

Each day we set SMART targets for ourselves using metrics such as "number of customer issues resolved".

or as a heading

SMART Targets

Metric Success Criteria Timeframe
Math test grade 6/10 average Nov 1st
Punctuality 95% Christmas
Classroom behavior grades <2 poor behaviour grades Autumn teacher's report
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  • My hesitation with this option is that it loses the planning step, which I think is important. What if I used "Planned SMARTs" or perhaps "Scheduled SMARTs"? Commented Aug 14 at 16:57
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    I would disagree. In English "planned" is implied by "target". A "target" (in this context) is something you plan to achieve. So you don't lose the planning step. Similarly "Scheduled" is implied by the "T" of SMART. The "T" means "Timeframe", ie according to a schedule. So you don't lose anything. Note it is "SMART Targets" not "SMARTs" Commented Aug 14 at 19:01
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This is done all the time in corporations, using spreadsheet/PowerPoint type language. Clarity and conciseness are prioritized over perfect grammar.

for example, ELL's agenda for today might look like

planned activities/goals for today:

(1) unsplit at least two split infinitives.

(2) fix at least three dangling modifiers.

(3) 2 p.m. -4 p.m. meeting to continue deliberations on the taxonomic classification of the tomato. meeting minutes will be taken and a final report is targeted for the end-of-the-month.

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+100

There's not really a direct English equivalent, but two phrases often used in English are "projected outcomes" (or projected figures), and "target metrics".

Both of these phrases indicate a quantifiable, expected future observable. However, we don't really use these often to talk about "personal goals" outside of a technical or at least work-related endeavor.

"Volume of Planned Result" is not intelligible in English, and people will not understand what you mean.

You can ask someone for their "personal goals", but you would additionally need to request that they be quantifiable targets or numbers - at least in the US most people do not think about personal goals like this and it might be considered a strange request.

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to-do list is on the borderline of pop-jargon, and would fit in all of your sentences.

Have you written a to-do list for today?

What's on your to-do list for the month?

On my to-do list for the year, I put (improving) my kids' math performance first.

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  • Well, okay. The problem is that I use "to-do list" as well and distinguish it from the one I'm actually looking for. At the moment, I use "Amount of Planned Result", which makes sense to me but apparently not to native speakers. I'd appreciate it if you could take some time to explain what's wrong with my wording and which alternative might actually fit, if any. Commented Aug 22 at 10:44
  • @Vitalizzare I can't explain what is wrong with your phrasing in a meaningful way until I have a better sense of what you want your phrase to express. Your current phrasings are virtually meaningless to me. The combination of words makes no sense. As I wrote above, provide some full sentences (not mere noun phrases or captions) that establish a clear context and leave a blank for the phrase. Commented Aug 22 at 12:32
  • I'm out of ideas for how else I can explain my issue. The more I try, the less my question seems to be appreciated, and I really don't understand what's so wrong with it. To be honest, I'm starting to realize that learning English from native speakers can actually be a bad idea. More and more, it feels like asking a fish to teach me how to swim. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to look at my question. Commented Aug 22 at 13:30
  • @Vitalizzare I am not asking you to explain anything. I am asking you to write some sentences (not mere phrases) that show this phrase in actual use, leaving a blank for the phrase. The sentences should clearly establish a real-world specific context that illuminates things for us. Not something like "Did you get a chance to read Vitaly's ___________". Commented Aug 22 at 13:57
  • @Vitalizzare I will retract the close-vote I left just now if you remedy the situation with some examples where your needed phrase cannot be agenda or to-do list because they would be misleading and not convey the right sense. Commented Aug 22 at 15:36
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Question:

I'm looking for a correct and idiomatic way to call something that is a clearly defined, measurable result you intend to achieve by a specific date, expressed in concrete terms (numbers, facts, scales, or expert assessments) so you can verify completion and success.

something you intend to achieve is expected.

  • expected outcome
  • expected results

We expect to achieve the following results or outcome.

Please note: for a single study or survey, we say outcome, no s.

NOTE: after the question was changed to: The original term in Russian is Объём Запланированного Результата (ОЗР). A word-for-word translation could be Volume of Planned Result or Amount of Scheduled Output

Planned Result = then give the volume
Scheduled Output = then give the amount

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  • Suppose there's no expression that conveys the meaning I need, and I want to coin some new terminology. Am I right that “Volume of Planned Result” or “Amount of Scheduled Output” could work? Commented Aug 22 at 19:03
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EDIT: Now that the OP has revised the question and wants a phrase that could refer to virtually anything that might be done or accomplished, from bowel movements to workouts to chapters in a magnum opus, I retract the answer below.

You can use the abstract noun production as a pre-modifier of "target" or "goal" or "quota" and it would cover a wide variety of situations:

This facility has never met its production targets and upper management wants to know why.

You're expected to assess the profitability of a dozen companies per month and produce a detailed report for each. If you don't meet those production quotas, you won't last long here. This place runs like a sweatshop.

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