What is OKR?

Created by Support L2, Modified on Mon, 12 Feb, 2024 at 3:09 PM by Support L2

- OKRs: OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is a management tool that allows collaborative goal-setting for employees, with close alignment to the organization goals. The keys to success with OKRs are transparency and alignment. Right
- from the CEO to managers and colleagues, an employee can view anyone's OKRs in the system. This undisguised transparency fosters openness and removes conflicts and redundancies with work. OKRs are also aligned vertically and horizontally, allowing employees to see how their work connects with the organization overall strategic goals.
- Objectives: Objectives are goals you want achieved. They are meaningful, specific, action-oriented and aspirational. Objectives are added at the Organization, Teams and Individual levels.
- Key Results: Key Results are tasks or actions that help you reach your Objectives. They are measurable, time-bound, aggressive, yet realistic. When all Key Results are met, the Objective is necessarily achieved. For best results, Teams and individuals should be aligned well in a hierarchy. Key Results at one level become Objectives of the next level.
- Check-ins: Check-ins are updates you make to share progress on your OKRs. When you update progress on a Key Result, it automatically updates the status of the parent objective(s) as appropriate.
- Are OKRs a good fit for me? In most cases, the answer is a resounding "Yes". OKRs are beneficial for any organization that cares about operational excellence and bringing alignment to their goal-setting process. If you are a small team, the tool helps employees work towards the focused goals with agility. If you are a large organization, it is even more important that all teams align with the common goals of the organization.
- How to write quality OKRs? The process of goal-setting with OKRs is flexible and adjustable along the way. However, a few best practices go a long way in ensuring that teams have a set of unambiguous and focused set of goals to work towards.
1) Start by defining Objectives at the organization level. These are the top strategic goals that require collaboration and link various departments and teams within the organization.
2) Stick to three to five Objectives at every level. Too many Objectives distract us from attaining the ones that matter.
3) Objectives must be actionable, yet aspirational. They are stretch goals that should make you feel slightly uncomfortable.
4) Every Objective should have three to five Key Results. Together, the Key Results must help realize the Objective.
5) Every Key Result should be measurable.
6) Alignment is a key aspect of the OKR process. This means Key Results of a teams Objectives may become Objectives of some of the team members. Similarly, Key Results of the CEO may become Objectives of the VPs of various teams.
7) Allow teams and individuals to create about 40% of their OKRs. A healthy mix of top-down and bottom-up OKRs at ever level improves employee engagement and encourages innovation.