Most of us have heard about OKRs. Some of you might even apply them in whatever form in your organization. Originally pioneered by Andy Grove at Intel and later brought to the world by John Doerr with his remarkable and trailblazing work at Google.
OKRs, short for Objectives and Key Results, is a collaborative and comprehensive goal setting and review system for organizations, teams, and individuals. Across the whole company, utilized with focus and rigor. An “Objective,” in simple terms, is What is to be achieved. They should be both clear and ambitious. “Key Results” define How the entity or team will realize the objectives. They’re supposed to be specific, measurable, and aggressively realistic.
Below is a quick intro and summary of the main aspects of this wonderful management and leadership concept:
- OKRs are the yin and yang of goal setting. They encompass vision and execution
- They’re not a silver bullet but help to develop sound leadership muscles and an empowered workplace
- Objectives are longer-term targets across a longer horizon. They engage and motivate people. Key results are more short-term and are metric-driven. KRs are the levers and actions you pull to achieve the goal. Key results often evolve as the work develops
- Usually, 3-5 quarterly OKRs
- Usually, 3-5 KRs are required to reach a well-framed objective. Each KR should be a challenge in its own right and ambitiously set.
- 3-month cadence is good for OKR setting and review. Sometimes even monthly. Needs to fit the context and culture of the organization though.
- An OKR can be modified or scrapped at any point in its cycle.
- Good practice is to ensure that KRs have both a quantity and quality dimension to ensure hitting the right ambitious target in the right qualitative manner. They are work in process.
- KRs should follow SMART wording. A mix of input and output is helpful.
- Completion of all KRs must result in attainment of the objective. If not, it’s not an OKR.
- Any add-on objectives or KRs (which come up during the cycle) must fit into the established agenda. If adding something, you might drop something else. Reference question: “What matters most?”
Final thought: Like any management approach and concept, one can apply OKRs in a good or bad way. If you practice with discipline and will, you’ll get it right. Eventually. That will be a strong differentiator for your organization and you. Resulting in superior results and high-performing teams.
If you’d like to learn more about enhancing performance and growth by well-defined and challenging goals, then you should read the very insightful book Measure What Matters by John Doerr. I’m sure you’ll love it!
Kind regards,
Check out my below book on how you can develop and coach employees to embrace and maximize a culture of performance, fulfillment, and wellbeing. With, or without OKRs: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Coaching-Culture-Employees-Successfully-ebook/dp/B09LZ24WQW/