Dos and Don’ts about OKRs: Tracking and Discussing OKRs Efficiently

Setting goals and objectives is foundational for organizational success, and the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework has emerged as a key tool to streamline this process.

Start the OKR process by collaboratively defining your objectives, ensuring they are:

• Aspirational: Craft objectives that inspire and challenge your team towards excellence.
• Memorable: Keep objectives simple, short, and enjoyable for easy recall.
• Qualitative: Avoid specific numbers.
• Fit your culture: Informal and fun objectives are acceptable if aligned with your organization.
• Flexible: Regularly review and adapt to changes.

Transition to the key results section, ensuring key results are:

• Quantitative: Each key result should be measurable for success assessment.
• Value-Based: Focus on measuring results rather than tracking tasks or deliverables.
• Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound: Break down key results into smaller, achievable projects for quarterly progress.

Another way to think about this is by following the SMART goals formula. SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

Adopt the formula:

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“I will (objective) as measured by (set of key results).” This provides clarity and aligns actions with measurable outcomes. When facing challenges, convert tasks into key results using the format: “If we are successful with [what], we will have more ___ and/or less ___.”

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Example OKRs for a New Startup Selling Dog Food

Objective 1: Launch the Product Successfully

• Key Result 1: Design and produce packaging materials by the end of Q2.
• Key Result 2: Achieve regulatory approval and certifications by the end of Q3.
• Key Result 3: Launch the product with an initial inventory of 10,000 units by Q4.

Objective 2: Build Brand Awareness

• Key Result 1: Gain 5,000 followers across all social media platforms by the end of Q2.
• Key Result 2: Partner with 5 influencers or pet bloggers to promote the product by Q4.

Objective 3: Achieve First-Year Sales Targets

• Key Result 1: Generate $100,000 in revenue by the end of the first year.
• Key Result 2: Acquire 1,000 paying customers by the end of the first year.
• Key Result 3: Maintain a customer retention rate of at least 70% over the year.

Objective 4: Establish Efficient Operations

• Key Result 1: Implement an inventory management system by the end of Q2.
• Key Result 3: Achieve an order fulfillment time of less than 48 hours for 90% of orders by Q3.

Measuring progress over time.

Encouraging Team Collaboration and Engagement

Sometimes organizations get blocked by uncertainty about how to monitor progress, how often to update metrics, and when to discuss results. The frequency and method for doing this depend on your resources and how you will use the information. If your team looks at the results but doesn’t take immediate action, that meeting may not be necessary. If your team is small, you might want to avoid frequent meetings and focus more on getting things done.

For example, at our company, we meet four times a year. We first define the OKRs (usually through several meetings or a long workshop). Then we meet every three months, and each department updates the results for their own area.

During these meetings, we ask the following questions:

• What is moving in the right direction, and what should we continue doing?
• Have we achieved any goals in the last three months? If so, how do we celebrate this with the team? Who have been key players, and who deserves our gratitude?
• What could be challenging to achieve given the progress made so far? What are the challenges? What needs to stop or change? What can we do differently? What needs to be true for this to move forward?

We take notes on what went well, what was achieved, and what needs to change or stop. This helps us evaluate if those changes have had a positive impact on the results. We also track our notes and progress so that if something continuously seems challenging, we tackle it as a team to identify blockers or assess if the objective was realistic.

We do this using a feature inside recurring sessions at Nova. You can check this video to learn more about the details.

Watch this vide: https://youtu.be/jvBjTMzcgvo

Don’ts:

• Don’t create a report that automatically updates without discussing in-depth what can be done differently to make progress in areas that seem stuck. Use this time to celebrate wins and support teams that are moving in the right direction.
• Don’t assume that someone owns the responsibility. Clearly define who owns it and how it should be used.
• If the data source is not perfect, don’t focus so much on exact numbers that your team gets distracted from making progress.
• Don’t lead these conversations freely. All OKR meetings should be well-prepared to keep the conversation on track.
• Don’t wait for an OKR meeting to share wins, challenges, or blockers regarding an objective. Bring these issues to your manager or leadership team immediately.

Dos:

• Define clearly how often you will check progress. Maybe every three months, you update and have a quick discussion about what needs to continue (what’s working well), what needs to improve or change, and what needs to stop.
• Make each department accountable for bringing up issues. If an objective seems blocked or unachievable, they should communicate that, along with any wins or achievements.

I would love to hear from you if you try any of these tips and if they help you in any way. If you found this post helpful, please share it with your team or like it.

Resources:

• The Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting: Templates and Examples.
• Optimizing Your Success with OKRs: A Comprehensive Guide
• Nova (all tools and templates)