OKRs are powerful and smart metric goal-setting frameworks that can be deployed and implemented in numerous ways in your organization. A common misconception is that OKRs should be implemented only at an individual level to boost productivity. They rarely produce any business value if they are set on individual levels. OKRs are all about collaboration and teamwork to achieve the company’s goals and objectives. It overall increases the quality of work.
Choosing precisely what level to set your OKRs is one of the most crucial decisions to make when starting your OKR program. Every OKR level works well for various kinds of OKRs.
Let’s examine the OKR hierarchy and levels in more detail so that you can pick the appropriate levels for your OKR adoption.
What are the different levels in OKRs?
One of the most important decisions, when a new company implements OKRs in their company, is strategically deciding at what level you choose to set your OKRs. The different levels in OKR are:
- Company OKR
- Departmental level OKRs
- Cross-Functional OKRs
- Individual OKRs
Figuring out the right strategy for the different levels of OKRs can help you align and focus on your top priority goals even better. By implementing OKRs at different levels employees and teams are more aware of their objectives and goals to achieve for that quarter. These four distinct groups make up the OKR levels.
As the picture represents, each department has a team and individuals responsible for completing the OKRs following a Tree-like structure.
The 4 OKR Levels in an OKR Hierarchy
1. Company Level OKR:
The company-level OKRs are typically the most important OKR as it determines the direction of the company. At this level, your OKRs should be heavily informed by your long-term strategy for the organization. The leaders and higher authority have the right to set the OKR for the company level. In company-level OKRs, for a long-term strategy, three to four OKRs will be implemented, and following that each will have 4-5 key results for achieving the company’s vision and mission. Setting the Company level OKRs quarterly will help create focus.
For Example: Increase Revenue by 25%
This is the company-level OKR. Fast-forward How will you know you’ve accomplished this goal in a quarter or even a year? We’ll outline key findings that translate this qualitative objective into quantitative terms. For example:
Having 3-4 key results for a company level objectives involves various departments collaborating and working together to achieve. Executives at the company level of the OKR hierarchy will be able to see that the goals they set based on the corporate strategy are communicated clearly to lower OKR levels.
2. Departmental Level OKRs:
Still using the first picture for example lets us discuss the department level of OKR and how it is implemented across various departments.
From the above picture, we can clearly understand that all the departments must align together for achieving the company OKR.
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