The Difference: OKRs vs KPIs

What they don’t tell you when you’re in school about being an adult is how many acronyms you’ll have to learn. That’s especially true in the tech/product worlds! BI, USP, FDD, GTM, JTBD, MVE, MVP, ROI, NPS, UX, UI, VOC…(If you’re already lost, don’t panic! Here’s a Product glossary to break it down.)

Today, we’re going to just focus on two of these acronyms: OKRs and KPIs. OKRs and KPIs are two different systems for setting goals and measuring results. Sometimes they can seem pretty similar, that pesky K really trips people up!

I’ll go into what they are, the benefits of each, and how to implement them. This should give you a clearer understanding, and the confidence to move forward as a goal-setting, success measuring hero!

So let’s dive in.

What are OKRs?

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. Essentially, the OKR system sets targets and provides a means of measuring results.

They are usually set by C-level executives for the whole company to follow, keeping everyone on the same path.

Used by Google, Spotify, Airbnb, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the OKR system has been tried and tested by the best!

How do I set OKRs?

John Doerr is the famed venture capitalist originally brought OKRs to Google. You can hear the man himself talking about them at TED:

A common way to structure an OKR is to use Doerr’s formula:

Your OKRs should always have some kind of metric, otherwise, they aren’t achievable. As Felipe Castro says, “Measurement is what makes a goal a goal. Without it…all you have is a desire.”

Experts recommend between 2-5 KRs for every O. Any more than 5 will be too complicated and hard to remember.

Your metrics should both complement and countermeasure each other. If you measure Customer Acquisition without also measuring Customer Retention, you'll create a product that only cares about gaining new customers, and not about keeping them happy.

There’s also plenty of room for creativity. The best OKRs are snappy, memorable and inspiring.

Google famously sets its OKRs too high for their teams to reach. The logic behind this is that even though they don’t expect their teams to reach their lofty targets, they’ll push harder and achieve more. When talking about OKRs some experts quote Oscar Wilde; “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

It’s important to note here that OKRs uniquely are not tied to employee benefits/compensation. Because the goals are by default too ambitious, employees shouldn’t miss out on annual bonuses for not meeting them.

Are there different types of OKRs?

Yes, absolutely! The OKR system is all about being agile, and making them work for you.

Teams can differentiate between aspirational and committed OKRs. Aspirational means knowing that you won’t hit all the KRs, but you’ll do really well trying! Committed OKRs are more fixed – these are the targets you’re expected to meet.

There’s also a difference between Strategic and Tactical OKRs. Sometimes teams need to work at different rhythms and the OKR system adapts to them by adopting a nested model. A Strategic OKR focuses on the bigger picture for the company, usually set annually by c-suite executives, whilst Tactical OKRs are more low-level for the teams working on individual products.

Why do companies love OKRs?

• They’re agile: Setting goals every quarter instead of every year allows companies to adapt quickly, and gives them an opportunity to re-evaluate.
• They provide clarity and cohesion: OKRs are visible to everyone at every level in the company, which provides transparency within the organization and makes sure everyone knows what direction the company is heading in.
• They’re easy to understand: OKRs use snappy vocab because easy, colloquial language keeps things simple. They avoid jargon so anyone can understand what they mean.
• They’re inspiring and ambitious: OKRs help to encourage and inspire teams to be their best. Sometimes referred to as ‘stretch goals’, Google expects their teams to reach 70% of their objectives.
• They’re bottom-down AND top-up: Individuals get involved with goal-setting, as around 50-60% of a company’s OKRs are set by teams. This gets everyone more involved in the process and helps create a better understanding of the overall company strategy.

What are some common OKR mistakes?

• Not differentiating between committed and aspirational OKRs. Teams need to know what’s expected of them – especially if you’ve tied rewards to committed OKRs!
• Not being ambitious enough. Even committed OKRs should make your team stretch just a bit to move the company and product forward. And the whole point of aspirational OKRs is to ‘shoot for the moon’. By not doing that you miss out on what people can achieve when they’re pushed and inspired.
• Not setting enough, or setting useless KRs. Your KRs really do define the success of your Os.

To see some examples of what great OKRs look like, check out these Product Management OKRs from okrexamples.co.?

What are KPIs?

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. The focus of a KPI is to measure success rather than set the goals themselves.

KPIs are a very common way of measuring how a company is growing as a whole, as well as keeping individual teams accountable.

How do I define KPIs?

Defining KPIs isn’t easy, as there are lots of factors to take into account. When you start the process, you should think of:

• Your target outcome and why it’s important
• Who is responsible for the outcome
• How you’ll achieve it
• How often you’ll re-evaluate the goal and your progress

The best KPIs are the ones that focus on outcomes and not business activities. To put it very simply, it doesn’t matter how many hours a person works if they don’t actually do anything productive. Measure how they do, not what they do.

Your KPIs should be set the same way. Focus on what you want to achieve at the end rather than what you want to do along the way.

Some common KPIs for Product Managers include:

• Churn rate
• Net Promoter Score
• Session duration
• Customer Acquisition Cost
• Customer Lifetime Value
• Daily Active User/Monthly Active User
• Bounce Rate
• Customer Satisfaction Score
• Monthly Recurring Revenue

What are some common KPI mistakes?

• Focusing on activities instead of results. If you focus on the number of revisions your developers make to a feature rather than how your users respond to it, you’re doing it wrong. The goal is to make users happy, not to show off how prolific your tech team is.
• Choosing vanity metrics over sanity metrics. App downloads are a great metric, but if you don’t also look at bounce rate and retention, then they’re pure vanity.
• Not choosing enough KPIs. One type of data can’t possibly hold all the answers. If you’re only getting half the picture, your decisions are only half-informed.

OKRs vs KPIs: What’s the Difference?

They’re both management tools that are designed to set goals and make sure growth is measurable, but they go about it in very different ways.

KPIs focus mostly on the outcome, whereas OKRs are also concerned with the process. OKRs speak to the larger vision, the big picture of what the company or team is trying to achieve, whereas KPIs aim to scale or improve a certain project.

KPIs are also more specific, and might be something like “increase market share by 10%” or “improve user retention by 15%.” An OKR is more general, only going into specifics with the KRs, for example:

O: Give our users a great customer service experience

KR: Reduce time between CS responses by X%

KR: Improve ratio of 5 star reviews in app store to X:Y

The secret to OKRs and KPIs…you need both!

You need to be able to set realistic targets and hold your teams accountable, and you also need to be able to inspire and push for more ambitious results.

If you’re looking to improve the overall direction of your startup, OKRs are probably the better choice. If you need to improve the performance of a feature, plan, or product, look at your KPIs.