How to Set Goals with OKRs?
Hi, I am Döndü from Bestcloudfor.me which is a technology company. I am working as a Lead Product Owner. Here I want to mention how to set goals with OKRs?
Before starting the exact point of how to do it, firstly I want to talk about what it is briefly.
What is OKRs?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is a performance management framework which is designed to encourage companies to set, communicate and monitor broad organizational goals and results. The framework is meant to be transparent and to align business, team and individual objectives in a hierarchical, measurable way.
History of OKRs!
The OKRs originates from MBO which is Management By Objectives (MBO), also known as Management By Planning (MBP), was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his book The Practice of Management in 1954.
We firstly heard the OKRs from Andrew Grove, he used the MBO to develop the Objective and Key Results.
Then, with John Doer first Intel and then Google met the OKR collaborative goal-setting method. Nowadays the huge companies like Linkedin, Netflix, Amazon, Oracle and Twitter use the OKR method to achieve their business goals.
How to Set Goals with OKR for Your Team Align with Company?
As I mentioned above, OKRs consist of two basics which are Objectives and Key Results. While objectives are a statement of a broad goal, usually qualitative in nature, Key Results are a statement that measures achievement of given objectives.
When you define your team’s goal it should be aligned with your company’s objectives.
The companies define an annual goal according to their visions and objectives for growth of their business for next year. For example increase the number of sales, customer satisfaction, range of the products and employee satisfaction. For setting your team’s goals and objectives, the company should inform you about the big picture.
For example as a company goal;
Objective is to increase customer satisfaction on X project by %20, Q2, 2022
Key Result is that, an English employee joined the X project team and survey shows that the customer satisfaction has increased on X project by %20 by Q2, 2022 compared to the previous year.
These Objectives and Key Results should have some features. Generally the SMART technique is used for goal setting. SMART is an acronym to help you set your team goals according to Company’s as follows:
Specific — What exactly are you trying to achieve? Your goal should be specific, increasing customer satisfaction is not a specific goal, it should be increasing customer satisfaction on X project.
Measurable — How will you know when you’ve achieved it? On X project, the survey result shows that the customer satisfaction has increased by %20 by Q2 according to previous year.
Attainable — Is it genuinely possible to achieve it? Is it in your power to accomplish it? Increasing the customer satisfaction on X project depends on the project team qualification. If the customer is global and the team does not speak English very well, it is hard to increase the satisfaction level.
Relevant — Are achievable within a given time frame and set of capabilities? Your goal will be relevant when it’s consistent with, and leads to, an outcome that contributes toward the company’s goal. When the customer satisfaction increases by %15 by Q3 on X project, it is not relevant.
Time — frame — Do you have some kind of deadline? Your goal should be time-bound. Increase customer satisfaction on X project by %20 by Q2.
Also your key results should be:
- Quantifiable : Measurable
- Aggressive : Realistic
- Verifiable : Specific
- Outcomes : Assignable
5 Benefits of Using OKRs!
- Giving a team and individuals goals aligned with Company’s makes the work more meaningful.
- The team and individuals unite, align and motivate around a common goal.
- The team and individuals are empowered by being involved in the process of defining the objectives which are then monitored and shared with everyone.
- It enables teams and individuals a transparent and efficient monitoring of objectives over a specific period of time, usually a quarter.
- It turns the vision and the mission of the company into a correct action.
Thanks for reading, I hope it will be useful for you.
