OKR Implementation Planning

Perhaps the most important thing to ensure you have from the outset is commitment to using OKRs to set goals from quarter to quarter. There should not be any questions as to whether OKRs work. They do. We need to get them to work for you. The plan we want to help you create is one that gets OKRs to work for you in the shortest time possible. This means we need key stakeholders to be aligned. Typically stakeholders include:

Executive sponsor 
The person who has the authority to make decisions on budget and resources, and if necessary resolve any issues or conflicts.

Project coordinator
By treating this as a project we are accepting that rolling out OKRs requires a level of coordination.

HR Lead
OKR management and KPIs are part of the wider Performance Management picture and there may be specific HR policies and approaches to be adapted.

OKR Lead
We are advocates of up-skilling internal leads or champions to be both expert in OKRs and management solutions like ZOKRI so that existing and new employees have a go-to expert close by at all times. 

OKR Team Lead
The person in each department or team that will own the OKR cycle and provide any necessary nudges and encouragement. 

Plan for correct, consistent and scalable OKR usage

You will want to use OKRs correctly and also adapt them to ‘your way’ of using them. There are aways subtle differences between companies and teams. You will need to find your way.

When coaching and on-boarding we have questions that we work through with customers to help, here’s a sample:

• How many levels down do you go with OKRs?
• How do you approach measurement and OKR grading?
• How will you set and manage your OKR cycles?
• How do you propose to track OKRs?
• How will you run OKR meetings?
• How will you roll-out OKRs smoothly across the company?
• How you ensure new starters learn OKRs easily and quickly?
• If OKR are being used to deliver strategy, is everyone is doing strategic work every quarter?
• Some teams and roles are naturally more BAU than not and follow existing ‘working’ processes, do they have OKRs?

We have a team that can help you work through all of this and also get you up and running in ZOKRI if required.