How to set better goals for 2024 with OKRs

With a new framework, we are creating a more results-oriented and data-driven management style, rather than an output-focused, command-and-control approach.

Here are 4 reasons why OKR framework is your “go-to” goal management solution:

1. Stay focused on what’s important

By connecting Company and Team Objectives, employees are more in-tune with where priorities lie. Aligning daily tasks with strategic goals helps everyone understand how a team’s daily activities satisfy the company vision.

All the team members understand how their Key Results contribute to the Company Objective, which makes it easier for that Key Result to remain top of mind during the quarter.

2. Connect and align across the organization

It is not enough to write down a company’s goals and teams’ OKRs in a shared digital workspace and expect everyone to be on the same page. The framework assumes proper alignment with it’s hybrid approach: top-down and bottom-up.?

Top-down

Leadership should explain and clarify the company-level direction so that the teams have enough input to write their OKRs for a quarter.

Bottom-up

Once teams have drafted their OKRs, they may decide to present them to the rest of the company and answer questions that might come up.

Before finalizing the OKRs for a quarter, teams also figure out dependencies with each other. This helps companies move forward toward a more connected culture with collaborative efforts.

3. Track for accountability and transparency

Company OKRs are improvement goals, and achieving some of them will require collaboration from teams in different functional areas.

Each team works towards their own OKRs as a group, and get together on a weekly basis for a quick team check-in meeting to make sure their staying on track – this could be apart of your regular team meetings.

Apart from the regular progress update and staying in sync, the point of these meetings is to ensure regular exchange of information that will improve mutual understanding, and build trust.?

4. Drive improvement with actionable goals

You can choose how bold your goals would be: committed goals or aspirational ones.

Committed goals

Those your team knows how to achieve so they fully commit to attaining 100% on the progress bar.

Aspirational goals

May not be achieved 100% but they are important for growth and ongoing improvement.

Quarterly Objectives on the company level should be broad enough so that several functional teams can approach them from their different angles, but also specific enough so that there is a common direction.?

Three months is enough time for a team to deliver valuable outcomes. During this time, they will learn what works best and adjust their focus areas for the next quarterly cycle.

On a quarterly cycle, teams have four chances per year to respond to real world changes. Unlike with annual reviews where teams realize they’ve been on the wrong path for a year.

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OKRs vs KPIs

There are some differences between OKRs & KPIs

KPIs

KPI? stands for Key Performance Indicators. KPIs are a unit of measure that companies use to track business metrics that?reflect performance.

OKRs

OKR ?stands for Objectives and Key Results – it’s a goal management methodology that encourages businesses to define improvement areas and?drive changes.

KPIs don’t tell you what needs to be changed or improved to drive the growth of your business metrics whereas OKRs help you clearly see how your business metrics relate to your daily work.

That isn’t to say your company can’t use KPIs. In fact, many companies use KPIs and OKRs together. OKRs are set alongside KPIs to help measure the impact of your performance metrics.

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Getting Started with OKRs

Step 1. Decide

Your leadership team should understand that the OKR methodology is more than a goal-setting process.

The shift toward agile goals may be challenging and time-consuming since it requires changes in culture and performance management, as 59% of professionals have reported.

Having annual measurable goals on the company level is important, but breaking the goals down into smaller focus areas each quarter keeps them agile.

Step 2. Implement

Once you’ve decided to take the leap into OKRs, consider who will be the first to help you implement the methodology successfully.

Some strategies we recommend for first time roll-out are:

Pilot team (OKR champions)

Team leaders only

Everyone

Step 3.?Set OKRs

Once the Company level Objective is agreed on and communicated – functional teams and/or departments will write their team-specific Objectives?and?Key Results and link them to the company Objective.

Having a clear outcome-driven focus for the whole team helps individuals prioritize day-to-day activities and understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

Assuming teams are writing good outcome-focused Objectives and Key Results, they would never need (or be able to deliver on) more than 3 Objectives per quarter.

Step 4. Track OKRs?and set Initiatives

As the quarter moves on, individuals should be keeping track and measuring Key Results progress each week with their team through discussions and weekly check-ins.

Now that you’ve set your OKRs and understand how you’ll measure their success – set Initiatives to help you with the execution. What are the actionable long-term projects you can work on during the quarter that will help your Key Results move forward!

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