OKR – Fueling Growth and Progress

The OKR goal setting framework was made popular by companies like Google and LinkedIn. It’s a lightweight goal-setting methodology that helps teams and organizations take valuable slices out of their strategy, one quarter at a time.

The objective portion of an OKR describes ambitious, aspirational goals and the key result portion outlines measurable outcomes. Then, initiatives describe the actions that will help achieve those measurable outcomes.

Identify Key Results

The first step in an OKR is to identify the objective, which should be clear, challenging, inspiring and time-bound. Then the next step is to define the Key Results. These can be quantifiable or qualitative and should align with the objective. Finally, the last step is to define the Initiatives or actions that will help move the needle on your key results.

While many companies use ad-hoc tools or spreadsheets to track their goals, an increasing number of businesses are utilizing specialized goal-tracking software that makes OKR more manageable for teams. Whatever tool you choose to use, it is important that all levels of the organization have regular meetings to review their objectives, key results and initiatives.

This helps to keep everyone on track and allows for a healthy discussion of issues that may arise. In addition, it ensures that everyone is aligned with and focused on the larger organizational goals and mission.

Create a Plan of Action

Identifying measurable OKRs is a crucial first step to success. However, you’ll need to go further to define and articulate a clear plan of action that will help achieve those goals.

Your key results will need to be both ambitious and realistic in order to motivate your team to push beyond the status quo. This is where a goal-setting tool like Viva can help.

Using OKR, you can set objectives that align with the larger vision of your company while also motivating each individual to contribute their unique strengths and skills. Then, you can use weekly OKR check-ins to ensure that everyone involved understands their role in achieving these goals, and can share learnings to inform future priorities. Ultimately, this enables teams to reach remarkable outcomes by providing purpose and engagement in work that matters. It is important to note that OKRs typically begin with senior leadership and are cascaded down the organization. However, this can vary based on the characteristics and culture of your company.

Track Your Progress

ASTD found that you’re 95% more likely to successfully reach your objectives and key results when you establish a cadence of ongoing, ongoing check-ins with your team or accountability partner. That means keeping the objectives clear, concise and action-oriented. And, it also means keeping the key results measurable, verifiable, time-bound and specific to help you stay on track with your progress.

Identifying initiatives—a core set of activities and actions that will drive the outcomes defined by your key results—will allow you to measure how close you are to your OKR goal, while also providing you with learnings you can apply to future OKRs. To get the most out of your OKRs, make sure to highlight your progress at your weekly OKR check-ins or team meetings so that everyone is aware of what’s working well and where you may need to take some additional steps to achieve your goals. Then, you can continue to build on your success and drive toward your ambitious goals.

Share Your Results

Developing an OKR culture requires commitment and consistency from leadership. They need to walk the talk and act as a role model for others. They should also use the right tools to brainstorm, monitor progress, and track results. These can include everything from whiteboards and goal libraries to continuous performance management solutions and project management apps.

The biggest benefit of OKR is that it shifts focus from output to outcomes and creates accountability, transparency, and alignment across teams. It also provides a structure for ensuring that the work of each individual team ladders up to the company’s top-level objectives.

It takes time to get comfortable with the OKR process, so be patient and don’t give up if it doesn’t immediately seem to be working. In the beginning, try implementing the framework for one department or small group of people to test out how it works before rolling it out more broadly. Then, once you’ve had some success, roll it out to other groups of employees and your entire organization.