OKR’s are a great way to attain the most valorous goals. OKR’s are time-bound and push individuals, teams, and companies to have clear goals in a time-bound and measurable way.
OKR’s require a comprehensive adoption plan to guarantee effectiveness. Cultural change is key alongside commitment and patience.
Objectives are ambitious and sometimes visionary, while Key Results are numeric and have to be measurable.
OKR’s require a wide-ranging adoption plan to warrant success. Planning, commitment, and diligence are crucial to attaining triumph in the likes of Google and other booming organizations that have adopted the OKR methodology.
If businesses are looking at embracing OKR’s they should be aware of their potential pitfalls and also understand how to avoid them.
While the business may jump into implementing the OKR methodology, they may soon return to what they were doing before. This is where cultural and behavioral change matters.
Tracking progress, regular discussions, and reviews are essential to staying in the groove.
The entire success of OKR depends on the executive buy-in. It is a safety net for the teams to believe in the process. When there is an equal contribution from the management team it becomes easier to execute as the resources required are planned and allotted.
Objectives should be realistic. Possibilities of achieving objectives that are being set should be evaluated. The intent is to push and challenge employees and not demotivate them. Setting objectives that are impossible from the outset will only cause frustration. The business will need to collaborate with employees and help them set objectives that are challenging but achievable.
OKR’s should not be treated as tick-in-the-box activities. They are outcomes/ results. Companies often focus on project plans for deliverables and it is critical that the focus moves from tasks/ activities to results & outcomes.
One thing to remember is that – projects can have various tasks, but OKR’s can have various projects. Objectives are measured by key results, but how does one achieve those objectives? Associate key results with projects, which in turn have a lot of tasks that need to be actioned in order to complete those projects (and of course, these projects will help achieve KRs and ultimately objectives).
Using a single work management platform to keep track of goals that individuals need to achieve in order to accomplish planned objectives.
Setting objectives that are only top-down will foil motivation and creativity. Giving employees some level of sovereignty, on the other hand, empowers the employee, encourages creativity, and facilitates growth opportunities.
When too many objectives are set, employees tend to lose focus and become overwhelmed which results in a lack of prioritization of critical objectives that are key for breakthrough performance. Employees may feel disengaged leading to delays and slower execution.
It’s can be a healthier practice for employees to exceed the expectations than to struggle with too many objectives.
Attaching numeric values to key results make objectives measurable. Key results measure the achievement of an objective.
It is very essential that there is a companywide alignment of goals, inclusion & education of employees for the overall success of the OKR methodology. Maintaining transparency and including everyone in updates will ensure teams are aligned and help to anticipate any issues or blockers. Teams should be encouraged to set objectives that align with the overall objectives of the organization.
Setting fewer objectives helps prioritization, focus, and overall outcome. Having a maximum of 5 objectives and 2-3 key measurable & quantifiable results are suggested to make objectives more achievable.
Tracking progress and developing regular OKR reviewing habits help set the pace and achieve the intended result. Since OKR’s are time-bound, timeboxing each objective helps them be met in a reasonable timeframe. It is good to have monthly or quarterly key focus areas.
Key results should be numeric and a measurable way to define achievement. Every objective set can have 2-3 key results to measure success.
Holding reflecting review meetings with the teams at the end of each quarter on what went well and what didn’t will help everyone come together to see the results. This can act as a moment of recognition and also motivate the team.
OKR goal setting, when done properly, has the ability to help organizations yield remarkable results. While the introductory phase may have a few teething issues, they will be easy to detect and fix. Once you develop a cadence with your OKR practice, you’ll begin to see just how powerful this goal-setting methodology is, as well as all of the ways it can help your company grow and improve.
Keep the OKRs aspirational to motivate the team to think out of the box. The peer motivation and the aspiration will make the OKRs a success.
Create very clear and concise OKRs, use plain English. OKRs are to be understood at all levels in the organization, hence it is essential to keep it simple so the purpose is conveyed clearly.
Do not work on any objective that does not have owners. Until and unless the owner is assigned it’s difficult to track or to analyze the overall progress then the entire process becomes generic, not specific.
Communicate OKRs in All-hands meet to ensure and demonstrate the fact that it is an organizational agenda and the team should work on it together.
John Doerr created a change in Google in late 1999. The presentation helped the founders to see the big picture. and institutionalized their “think big” ethos.”
– Eric Schmidt, Google
Google proved to the world the power of OKRs, even after a decade we still see leaps and bounds of benefits. Learning from Google helps organizations to make great decisions and create strategies. Insights from Google help in creating alignment, engagement, and greater results.
Aspiring to achieve the business goal is every organization’s requirement but it very crucial to get the whole organization aligned to what is needed to achieve the goal. The team has to be on board and work together. Datalligence‘s OKR platform brings the team together in the platform and assigns OKRs to individuals and helps them to align themselves to the big picture.