When you started your company, you likely had a clear vision of where you wanted to take it in the next year, five years, etc. As your business started taking shape, you moved from doing most things yourself to employing individuals to take on different roles. And, just like that, you had a team.
Now, things were going on fine when you handled most tasks. But with the company growing and you hiring people to help push the company forward, making sure everyone has aligned a challenge.
You need a system that allows your employees to understand your goals and their part in them to work towards achieving the overall vision.
For this, you need the best goal-setting framework – An OKR strategy, otherwise known as Objectives and Key Results.
What Is An OKR Strategy
OKR can be defined as a goal setting, management, and tracking system used by small and large teams to achieve an overall mission. The framework involves frequent check-ins, collaboration, problem-solving, and learning and adjusting.
While OKRs are simple, they are potent tools that startups can implement up to giant corporations.
An OKR strategy comprises two parts. One is the Objectives, which refers to quality, clearly defined, and inspiring short-term goals for a team or person. Then there are Key Results that quantify the objectives into measurable criteria, on a scale or using numbers to determine success.
OKRs were first introduced by Andrew Grove in the 1970s and popularized by John Doerr in the late 90s. And ever since, they have been implemented by big names like Intel, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Twitter, Spotify, and hundreds of other companies.
How to Come Up with the Right Objectives and Key Results for Your Company
Want to make your business more successful with OKRs? Here are three essential tips to remember when creating OKRs that will work:
1. Make Your Objectives Precise and Motivational
The first thing to remember is that objectives should be concise and understandable. You do not want to write a whole page describing one goal. One sentence is enough. And to make them memorable and inspiring, use energizing and positive words.
Objective example: Increase customer satisfaction.
2. Create a Few Key Results for Each Objective
For every objective, create three to five key results. These results should describe what you want to achieve at the end of the defined period, three months.
Key results examples:
- Increase customer loyalty to 90%
- Get feedback from 30 clients every month
- Improve the customer satisfaction rate to 80%
3. Create a Few Ambitious OKRs at a Time
Too many OKRs can confuse your team or have them feel like they are under too much pressure. Since they are meant to be short-term, focus on creating a few ambitious ones at a time. This way, you can track, refine and see results.
Improve Performance and Grow Your Business with OKRs
OKR is a proven model that innovative and agile teams use to drive fast growth. And it is a relatively simple system to implement. Just be transparent with everyone involved to create motivation, trust, and accountability.
