Transcription
OKRs: A PrimerHow to Use Objectives and Key Results as a Senior Leaderby Bill Zipp
What AreOKRsAnyway?Objectives and key results, known as OKRs, is a flexiblegoal setting system that brings greater focus, alignment,and execution to individuals and organizations.Usually created on a quarterly basis, OKRs can stand alone,guiding the activities of an individual contributor, or theycan cascade from company-wide or division-wide OKRs, setannually and/or quarterly.OKRs do not determine an organization’s mission, vision, orstrategy, but act as a highly targeted tool to help yourorganization and its people, from senior leaders tofrontline employees, fulfill its mission, vision, and strategy. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
What Arethe Benefitsof OKRs?1. FOCUS: We all have too much to do. Way too much todo! OKRs ask, “What are the most important things ofthe most important things?” and make us set our toppriorities each quarter from the answer to that question.2. ALIGNMENT: While great for guiding individualcontributors, the real genius of OKRs is getting everyonein an organization on the same page, rowing in the samedirection, singing from the same hymnal (insert yourfavorite management metaphor here).3. EXECUTION: The measurement required to create keyresults for OKRs challenge us to think and act in veryspecific ways about the outcomes needed for success. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
Creating Your OKRsOBJECTIVEAn aspirational, qualitative statement ofwhat you want to achieve in a given timeperiod, written with compelling andinspiring words and phrases.EXAMPLE:Explode out of the starting gate in thefirst quarter of our sales year, settingus up to rock our revenue goals likenever before. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
Creating Your OKRsKEY RESULTSMeasurable, quantitative statements ofhow you plan to fulfill your declaredobjective with specific targets that areambitious yet achievable.Key results can be stated as a number, adollar amount, a percentage, a time, ora multiplier that needs to increase ordecrease over a set month, quarter, oryear to achieve the business outcomeyou seek. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.EXAMPLEExplode out of the starting gate in the firstquarter of our sales year, setting us up to rockour revenue goals like never before by Populating our sales funnel with 3xs thequalified prospects needed for the year Reducing customer turnover by 50% ormore by proactively contacting keyaccounts and addressing any concerns Having 2.5 million of new businessunder consideration by end of thequarter
Tracking Your OKRsEVERY WEEKUnlike strategic plans that get put into afile folder never again to see the light ofday, OKRs are an active management tool,helping people win at work.Quickly check-in each week about: Past progress on OKR completion Future plans for OKR execution Present problems that may begetting in the way and how you canhelp with them 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
Tracking Your OKRsEVERY QUARTEREnd the quarter by reviewing your OKRsand scoring them, from 1 (a complete andtotal failure) to 10 (a raging success).Take the time to reflect on why youscored each the way you did, incorporatelessons learned, and create another set ofOKRs for the coming quarter.An average score of 7 indicates that yourOKRs are challenging enough to stretchyou to be your best. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
OKRCriticalSuccessFactors1. VISIBILITY: OKR’s should not be created in a vacuum.Everyone should know what everyone’s OKRs are, fromsenior leaders to frontline employees, and be able tosee them at any time.2. HONESTY: The process must not be rigged. If an OKR ismissed, it’s missed. No hiding, no shaming. In fact, ifyou’re hitting all your OKRs, you’re probably notstretching yourself enough as a company.3. FOLLOW-THROUGH: OKR’s should not be yourmanagement team’s latest gimmick. Commit to theprocess, creating OKR’s annually and quarterly,reviewing them consistently every week. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
Circles within Circles within CirclesAn organization that’s fully aligned with their OKRs islike circles within circles. The outer circle being itsmission and vison and the inner circles beingorganizational OKRs for the year, within which aredepartmental and individual OKRs for each quarter.Getting to this degree of alignment takes time andpractice. It’s a rigorous, iterative process andrequires a commitment to master the OKR processcompletely. The end result, however, is unparalleledbusiness success. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
Execution is a systematic process of rigorouslydiscussing what’s and how’s, questioning,tenaciously following through, and ensuringaccountability.Larry Bossidy and Ram CharanExecution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
FrequentlyAskedQuestions1. Do we have to set OKRs every quarter? The mostcommon way of using OKRs is quarterly, but it’s aflexible system and some companies create them everymonth and others once a year. Do what works for you.2. Does everyone in our organization need to use OKRs?The best way to implement this system is companywide, but you don’t need to wait for full adoption touse them. Get started in your sphere of influence andthen let OKRs spread like the flu to everyone else.3. How many OKRs should we have? Only set two orthree OKRs each quarter. The genius of this system isfocusing on a vital few priorities and getting them doneno matter what. 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.
FrequentlyAskedQuestions,continued 2018 Leadership Link, Inc. Used by permission.4. If I only have three OKRs, what about my other work?OKRs are not the only things you do in a quarter, butthey are the most important things. Yes, you haveother work to do, but OKRs are the big rocks to focuson first, perhaps, even, letting other stuff go. Seriously!5. We used this system once, and it failed miserably.What’s the point? Like learning a new golf swing, yourfirst attempts at using OKRs may not be very successful.Persevere. The best companies in the world use thissystem to drive results and have learned from theirfailures on how to adapt it to their context.
For Further ReadingMeasure What MattersThe father of OKRs reveals his secrets to this system and shares compelling storiesof its implementation, from the early days of Google to Bono’s ONE Campaign.Objectives and Key ResultsTwo organizational consultants explore the details of using OKRs within thecorporate context, giving extensive examples and practical illustrations.Radical FocusTechnology expert, Christina Wodtke, uses an easy to readbusiness fable to illustrate the in’s and out’s of using OKRsin a rapidly growing start-up company.
ABOUT BILL ZIPPBill Zipp equips busy sales leaders—CEO’s, heads of sales, andfrontline managers—to motivate and mobilize salespeople toreach their goals and multiply that success repeatedly.He brings over 20 years of experience in sales leadership andconsulting to accelerate sales in high-growth companies andagile start-ups, as well as established businesses that have hit asales growth plateau.P. 541.760.2625E. bill@billzipp.com
If an OKR is missed, it’s missed. No hiding, no shaming. In fact, if you’re hitting all your OKRs, you’re probably not stretching yourself enough as a company. 3.FOLLOW-THROUGH: OKR’s should not be your management team’s latest gimmick. Commit to the process, creating OKR’s annual
