Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) A Framework To Execute Strategy & Optimize Growth
OKRs are more than just another goal-setting framework. They’re a transformative approach to driving progress and innovation. Born in the halls of tech giants like Intel and Google, OKRs have now spread across industries, igniting a revolution in how we think about and achieve our most ambitious goals.
Written by Matt Roberts | Co-Founder of ZOKRI
- 20 minute read
At their core, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are simply goals. They describe a future state that is desirable for you to achieve. When you set OKRs, you say, “This is where we want to be, and this is how we’ll know we’ve gotten there.”
By setting OKRs, you create a roadmap to achieve great things together. You are not just hoping for a better future but actively building it.
What is an OKR?
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It's a goal-setting framework where Objectives define what you want to achieve, and Key Results are the measurable outcomes that indicate success.
Intel and Google first used OKR. The framework has now has overtaken methods like SMART goals in popularity.
The Objective is a short statement describing the goal you want to achieve in usually a quarter (90 days) or a year, and Key Results (usually 1 to 3) describe how you will measure the Objective's success. The basic idea is that you must achieve all of the Key Results to achieve your Objective.
There are many ways companies choose to use OKRs. We will show you the one that is most likely to produce the changes in performance and behaviour you are seeking.
How are OKRs different from traditional goal-setting methods?
OKRs focus on outcomes rather than tasks, promote organizational alignment, and provide a framework for regular check-ins and adaptations.
As such they are different from traditional goal-setting approaches in several key ways:
- Outcomes vs. Tasks: OKRs focus on desired outcomes rather than specific tasks or activities. They separate the "what" (Objectives) from the "how" (Activities/Experiments).
- Success & Learning Focused: We go to great lengths to ensure OKRs are set up for success, yet "100% goal achievement is not likely or expected. This means you can be ambitious, take calculated risks and focus on learning.
- Transparency: OKRs promote organizational transparency.
- Not for Performance Evaluation: Unlike traditional goals, OKRs are not typically used for individual performance assessment but may be referenced by some as part of a more significant performance picture.
- Focus on the "Wildly Important": OKRs encourage focusing on a few critical objectives rather than trying to do everything.
- Regular Check-ins: OKRs involve weekly check-ins to discuss progress, challenges, and next steps, which may not be as frequent with traditional goals.
- Separation from BAU: OKRs are separate from Business-as-Usual (BAU) activities, focusing on transformative change rather than routine operations.
- Learning Orientation: OKRs emphasise learning and adaptation. For example, Retrospectives tcapture learnings at the end of each OKR cycle.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: OKR are often the goals that guide "Strategic Cross-functional teams" - teams formed from individuals from other teams and departments.
This approach to goal-setting is designed to drive focus, alignment, and ambitious thinking while maintaining flexibility and promoting learning. It's a more dynamic and collaborative than many traditional goal-setting methods.
How do OKRs drive business growth?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) drive business growth in several powerful ways:
- Breaking the "Business as Usual" Trap: Without OKRs, it's easy to fall into the comfort of routine. You might find your team stuck in a cycle of maintaining rather than growing. OKRs force you to articulate ambitious goals, pushing you out of that comfort zone and into the realm of true growth.
- Eliminating the "Shiny Object Syndrome": In a world of constant innovation and trends, it's tempting to chase every new idea. OKRs act as a filter, helping you discern which opportunities align with your core objectives and which are just distractions. This focus can prevent resource drain on non-essential initiatives.
- Bridging the Strategy-Execution Gap: Many businesses struggle to turn high-level strategy into day-to-day action. OKRs serve as a bridge, translating lofty visions into concrete, measurable steps. Without this bridge, your brilliant strategy might never materialize into actual growth.
- Cultivating a Growth Mindset: The process of setting, pursuing, and reflecting on OKRs inherently fosters a growth mindset across your organization. Instead of seeing challenges as roadblocks, your team starts viewing them as opportunities to learn and improve.
- Preventing Siloed Success: In the absence of OKRs, you might see individual departments or teams achieving their goals, but the company as a whole stagnating. OKRs ensure that success in one area translates to overall business growth by aligning everyone's efforts.
- Turning Failures into Fuel: Without a structured goal-setting framework like OKRs, failures can be demoralizing. OKRs reframe "failures" as valuable data points, fueling your next iteration and driving continuous improvement.
- Unlocking Hidden Potential: OKRs can reveal capabilities within your team that you didn't know existed. By setting ambitious goals, you might discover that your team is capable of far more than you (or they) ever imagined, unlocking new avenues for growth.
- Creating a Common Language of Progress: In a business without OKRs, different teams might measure success in wildly different ways. OKRs provide a unified language of progress, making it easier to collaborate across departments and drive collective growth.
- Preventing Analysis Paralysis: Without clear objectives, businesses can get stuck in endless planning and analysis. OKRs provide a framework for action, pushing you to make decisions and move forward, even in uncertain conditions.
- Fostering Intrapreneurship: OKRs can turn every employee into an "intrapreneur," someone who takes ownership of driving growth from within. This distributed approach to growth can lead to innovations and improvements across all levels of the organization.
Imagine trying to achieve significant business growth without these elements in place. It would be like trying to build a skyscraper without a blueprint or proper tools. Sure, you might make some progress, but it would be inefficient, unpredictable, and potentially chaotic.
OKRs provide the structure, focus, and alignment needed to turn growth from a hope into a systematic, achievable process. They transform growth from something that happens to you into something you actively create and steer.
So, the next time you think about how OKRs drive business growth, don't just think about the framework itself. Think about the chaos, missed opportunities, and unrealized potential you're avoiding by using them. In the end, OKRs don't just drive growth – they make intentional, sustainable growth possible in a way that few other business practices can match.
What does it mean to think of OKRs as "bets"?
A bet, in the context of OKRs, is a commitment of our most valuable resources—time, attention, focus, energy, and money—towards achieving a specific, high-impact objective. It's a calculated risk that acknowledges the uncertainty inherent in pursuing ambitious goals while providing a framework to manage that uncertainty.
Unlike traditional gambling, where outcomes are left to chance, these bets are carefully crafted hypotheses about what will drive the most significant impact, backed by data and insight.
So OKRs represent a deliberate choice to prioritize certain initiatives over others, focusing on the wildly important rather than trying to do everything. By framing OKRs as bets, the intention is to create a sense of urgency, encourage bold thinking, and foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.
The most significant rewards come not from playing it safe but from making fewer, bigger bets on the opportunities that truly matter.
How do OKRs promote organizational alignment?
We get to see firsthand that OKRs are a fantastic framework for promoting organizational alignment, and here is why.
Imagine your organisation as a rowing team. To win the race, everyone needs to row in the same direction, at the same rhythm, with a shared understanding of where they're headed. That's exactly what OKRs do for your company.
Here's how OKRs promote organizational alignment:
- Aligned goals: OKRs typically start at the top with strategic company-wide objectives. These compay OKRs are then aligned with via team OKRs, often cross-functional in nature. This creates a clear line of sight from the vision to the strategy and the goals that will deliver on both.
- Transparency: OKRs are usually visible to everyone in the organization. This transparency allows all employees to see how their work contributes to the bigger picture, fostering a sense of purpose and connection.
- Cross-functional skills and perspectives: When different departments contribute and collaborate on OKRs, new skills and perspectives create better outcomes.
- Regular check-ins: The OKR process involves frequent (usually weekly) check-ins. These create a rhythm of communication and alignment, ensuring everyone stays on the same page as priorities evolve.
- Shared language: OKRs provide a common framework and vocabulary for discussing goals and progress. This shared language makes it easier for everyone to understand and align with the company's direction.
- Focus on outcomes: By emphasizing key results rather than just activities, OKRs help align everyone around what really matters – the outcomes that drive the business forward.
Remember, implementing OKRs isn't just about setting goals – it's about creating a culture of alignment and shared purpose.
When done right, you'll see increased collaboration, better resource allocation, and a more engaged workforce all pulling in the same direction.
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How many OKRs should a team have?
What's the typical timeframe for OKRs?
The OKR Journey: From Discovery to Mastery
Every organization’s journey with OKRs follows a similar path of discovery, learning, and mastery. Here’s how the story typically unfolds…
OKRs: The Art Of Strategic Alignment
Let me share something that took me years of implementing OKRs to truly understand: they aren’t really about goal setting at all. OKRs are about executing your strategy using carefully chosen, wildly important objectives that have defined outcomes and a plan to achieve them. Because they are ‘wildly important objectives’, you will have resourced the teams working on them for success.
When I see organizations struggling with OKRs, it’s almost always because they’re treating them like a sophisticated to-do list instead of what they really are – a framework for strategic change via empowered teams.
Consider Amazon’s shift from bookstore to ‘everything store’, or Microsoft’s transformation from desktop software to cloud services. These weren’t just ambitious goals – they were fundamental reinventions that required every team, from engineering to sales, to rethink how they worked. That’s what OKRs were designed for.
The power of OKRs lies in their ability to bridge the gap between audacious vision, a well crafted and articulated strategy, and daily work. When Google set out to “organize the world’s information,” they broke this down into quarterly objectives that pushed every team to think bigger while keeping them grounded in measurable results. It’s this balance that makes OKRs unique – they combine the inspiration of big vision with the discipline of concrete measurement.
But here’s what most OKR guides won’t tell you: the magic isn’t in the format, it’s in the conversations they force you to have. When a team sits down to set OKRs, they’re really answering fundamental questions:
- What does meaningful strategic progress look like?
- How do we put out the right people on these transformational goals?
- How do we give them the best chance of succeeding?
I’ve watched startups use OKRs to pivot from failing business models to thriving ones, and seen Fortune 500 companies use them to stay relevant in rapidly changing markets. The successful ones all share one trait: they understand that OKRs aren’t about tracking what you’re already doing – they’re about defining what you need to become.
In the following sections, we’ll explore how to craft OKRs that drive real transformation, avoid the common pitfalls that lead to “checkbox OKRs,” and build the rhythm of execution that turns ambitious objectives into measurable results. Whether you’re leading a small team or a large organization, you’ll learn how to use OKRs to bridge the gap between today’s reality and tomorrow’s possibilities.
Let’s turn your organization’s potential for change into a systematic approach for achievement.
Beyond "Measure What Matters": The Patterns That Actually Drive OKR Success
Many of the people that find us have finished “Measure What Matters”? If you’re like most leaders, you’re energized by the potential of OKRs but grappling with a crucial question: How do you turn these inspiring case studies into practical reality for your organization?
Here’s what John Doerr’s book does brilliantly: It shows you the transformative power of OKRs through the lens of tech giants like Google and Intel. But there’s a gap between inspiration and implementation that the book doesn’t address.
After guiding hundreds of companies through successful OKR implementations, we’ve identified the critical patterns that determine success or failure. These aren’t covered in any book, but they make all the difference between OKRs becoming either a game-changing operating system or another failed management initiative.
The Five Critical Patterns Every Leader Should Know
The Strategy-OKR Connection
While “Measure What Matters” shows how Google set ambitious goals, it doesn’t reveal a common pitfall: Teams enthusiastically creating OKRs without clear strategic alignment. Your first win comes from ensuring every OKR draws a straight line to your strategy. Otherwise, you’re misaligned from the get-go.
The Hidden Measurement Capability Challenge
The book showcases organizations with sophisticated measurement capabilities. But most teams lack the data, skills, or bandwidth to measure what truly matters using tools like KPI tress. They default to tracking projects because that’s what they know how to measure. Success requires building these capabilities first.
Long and slow learning loops
One of the most dangerous patterns we see in OKR implementations has nothing to do with how you write objectives or track results. It’s about the size of your learning loops. Here’s what typically happens: A team sets an ambitious quarterly OKR. They dive into a massive project, heads down for weeks. No real evidence of progress emerges until month two or three. By then, if they’re off track, it’s too late to course correct. We call these “Big Bang OKRs” – and they’re a recipe for failure.
The Focus Paradox
While the book shows how OKRs drive focus, it doesn’t reveal a counterintuitive truth: Most teams fail with OKRs not because they do too little, but because they try to do too much. Success comes from dramatic prioritization – often reducing workload by 40% or more to achieve better results.
The Performance Review Trap
“Measure What Matters” touches on separating OKRs from performance reviews, but doesn’t show how crucial this is. When OKRs become tied tightly to performance management, innovation dies and sandbagging begins. Keep them separate to maintain their power as a learning and direction-setting tool.
The Power of Words: What Intel’s “Operation Crush” Teaches Us About OKR Language
Remember that electrifying moment in “Measure What Matters” when John Doerr describes Intel’s “Operation Crush”? This wasn’t just another corporate initiative – it was a battle cry that mobilized an entire company to take on Motorola and win.
Andy Grove didn’t say “Increase market share through strategic competitive initiatives.” He launched “Operation Crush” – a name that embodied Intel’s determination to crush their competition and dominate the market.
The Lost Art of Energizing Language
Since guiding hundreds of companies through OKR implementations, we’ve noticed something striking: While everyone reads about Operation Crush with excitement, few dare to be that bold with their own OKRs. Instead, we see objectives like.
- “Improve market position through systematic competitive analysis”
- “Enhance product adoption metrics via customer engagement”
- “Optimize operational efficiency across key verticals”
These aren’t objectives – they’re corporate sedatives.
The Operation Crush Effect
What made Operation Crush different? The language.Â
- Created instant emotional connection
- Painted a clear picture of victory
- Rallied everyone behind a common mission
- Made the goal feel urgent and vital
Every word was chosen to spark action and energy. You couldn’t be neutral about Operation Crush – you were either in or out.
Moving from Inspiration to Implementation
The genius of “Measure What Matters” is showing you what’s possible. The next step is turning that possibility into reality while avoiding predictable pitfalls.
A Letter About OKRs From My Future Self
Dear Matt,
It's me – well, you – writing from 10 years in the future. I know you're just starting to explore this thing called OKRs. You've read about Google using them, heard about their success at Intel, and you're thinking this might be the framework to help drive better execution.
I'm smiling as I write this because I remember the mix of excitement and uncertainty you're feeling right now. You want to believe this could be transformative, but you're also wondering if it's just another management fad. Let me tell you – it's going to be quite a journey, but not the one you're expecting.
First, let me save you from the biggest mistake you're about to make. I know you're tempted to roll this out across the entire organization, cascading goals down through every level. Stop. Just stop right there. That path leads to a bureaucratic maze that will drain everyone's energy and accomplish very little.
Instead, think smaller but deeper. OKRs aren't for everything – they're for the few things that could truly change the game. Those strategic initiatives that make your pulse quicken when you think about their potential impact. Pick these. That's it. These aren't your only goals – they're your "wildly important" bets.
Here's something that took us years to figure out: When we say something is strategically important, we need to resource it like we mean it. Those cross-functional teams you keep trying to coordinate through part-time commitments and endless email chains? That doesn't work. You need to match the team structure and set-up to the OKR and sometimes this means dedicated teams for strategic OKRs. Yes, it feels expensive. Yes, it feels risky. Do it anyway.
Remember how we used to pull target numbers out of thin air? "Last year plus 20%" was practically our mantra. Stop that too. We need to build what I now call "metric maturity." Start mapping your KPI trees – understand how different metrics connect, which ones truly lead to others. This takes time, but it's foundational.
Let me tell you about the breakthrough moment that's coming. It happens when you stop obsessing about hitting targets and start focusing on confidence and learning. Every week, your OKR teams will share their confidence levels, backed by evidence. High confidence isn't about optimism; it's about proof. Low confidence isn't failure; it's an invitation to experiment and learn.
You're going to love what this does to your weekly check-ins. They'll transform from those mind-numbing status updates into energizing discussions about experiments, surprises, and new possibilities. But – and this is crucial – you need to create psychological safety first. Your teams need to know it's okay to say "we were wrong" or "this isn't working."
Oh, and that confusion you're going to have about how to handle business-as-usual with OKRs? Save yourself the headache. BAU needs its own approach – use KPI scorecards for that. Save OKRs for true strategic initiatives. This distinction will be a game-changer.
Here's what I wish someone had told us: This journey isn't really about goals or metrics or even execution. It's about transforming how our organization learns and adapts. It's about creating an environment where strategy isn't just a document but a living, breathing thing that teams engage with every day.
You're going to make mistakes. Teams will struggle. There will be moments when you wonder if it's worth the effort. Keep going. The breakthrough comes when you stop trying to perfect the framework and start focusing on the mindset and behavioural shifts it enables.
One more thing – and this might be the most important: Your role in this is bigger than you think. Not as a taskmaster or goal-setter, but as the chief experimenter. Model curiosity. Celebrate learning. Show genuine interest in the stories behind the numbers. The beliefs and how they can be tested.
Trust me on this – when it clicks, it's going to transform not just how we execute strategy, but how it feels to come to work every day. The energy changes. The conversations deepen. Success becomes not just about hitting numbers but about growing and learning together.
You're at the start of something bigger than you realize. No, you won't get it perfect. Yes, it will take longer than you hope. But it's going to be worth it.
Keep learning. Keep adapting. And most importantly, keep believing in the possibility of what your organization can become.
See you in 10 years,
Future Matt
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P.S. Start building those KPI trees sooner rather than later. Trust me on this one.
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Avoiding Pitfalls
The 9 incorrect assumptions our OKR implementation team has to debunk and solve to leverage to full power of OKRs for transformational change.
The Strategy-OKR Connection
Common Assumption: “If we have a clear strategy, creating OKRs is straightforward.”
- Strategy often lacks executable clarity
- Teams interpret strategy differently
- Metrics models are usually missing
- Leading indicators are rarely identified
- Strategy interpretation audits
- Metrics model development
- Leading indicator identification
- Cross-functional alignment sessions
The Time Investment Reality
Common Assumption: “Teams can handle OKRs alongside BAU”
- OKR quality directly correlates with dedicated time
- Usually, 80%+ time commitment is needed for key roles
- Early weeks are critical for team formation
- Cross-functional coordination requires protected time
- Resource for success
- Delegate, pause and stop less important work
- Don’t assume you need an OKR
The Cross-Functional Dynamic
Common Assumption: “Cross-functional teams will naturally collaborate well”
- Matrix conflicts need active management
- Resource negotiation is ongoing
- Decision rights must be explicit
- Social equity is critical for success
- Clear decision matrices
- Resource commitment agreements
- Conflict resolution protocols
- Team formation workshops
The Critical Role of Time Zero
Common Assumption: “Teams will hit the ground running”
- Leaders may not be able to lead
- Biases support poor decisions
- Teams often take time to gel and become productive
- It’s often not clear what is needed or how to behave
- Team formation process
- Leadership preparation program
- Resource Protection
The Quality Acceleration Curve
Common Assumption: “OKR quality will naturally improve over time”
- Without intervention, bad habits become embedded
- Early quality issues multiply across teams
- Recovery gets exponentially harder
- Cultural resistance grows with poor examples
- Week 1-2: Intensive review and feedback
- Week 3-4: Pattern recognition and correction
- Week 5-6: Best practice reinforcement
- Week 7-8: Independence with guardrails
The Metrics Evolution
Common Assumption: “We know what to measure”
- Initial metrics are often activity-based
- Leading indicators take time to identify
- Measurement capability often lags
- Data quality issues emerge late
- Metrics maturity assessment
- Measurement capability building
- Create a living data model
- Progressive metric evolution
The Review Rhythm Reality
Common Assumption: “Monthly reviews are sufficient”
- Weekly momentum is critical
- Check-in quality matters more than frequency
- Different horizons need different focuses
- The review format must evolve with maturity
- Weekly: Progress and blockers
- Monthly: Pattern recognition
- Quarterly: Strategic alignment
- Annually: Framework evolution
The Tool Trap
Common Assumption: “The right tool will solve our problems”
- Process maturity must precede tool sophistication
- Tool flexibility beats feature-richness
- Integration needs to evolve rapidly
- User experience drives adoption
- Start simple, evolve as needed
- Focus on core workflows
- Build integration gradually
Cultural Integration
Common Assumption: “OKRs will adapt to our culture”
- Cultural habits resist process change
- Existing incentives fight new behaviors
- Hidden values impact adoption
- Legacy systems pull back
- Cultural pattern mapping
- Value alignment analysis
- Incentive structure review
- System interaction assessment
Adoption Hides Process Rejection
Common Assumption: “If it’s called an OKR, it’s in a tool or document, and it’s being updated, all is well”
- High tool usage metrics
- Regular status updates
- Complete documentation
- Meeting attendance
- Process compliance checklists
- OKRs treated as task lists
- No strategic thinking applied
- Missing outcome focus
- Shallow goal setting
- Old behaviors persist
- Analyze quality of OKRs
- Monitor strategic discussions
- Check alignment with strategy
- Assess review meeting quality
- Evaluate decision processes
OKRs: Aligning Ambition - Accelerating Achievement Across All Areas
Creating OKRs
How do I write a good Objective?
Write An Objective
- A clearly defined statement of what you aim to achieve.
- Encapsulates both ambition and direction.
- It should be concise yet inspiring.
- Specific enough to provide clear guidance yet broad enough to encourage innovative approaches.
Support your objective with a longer written narrative that explains your belief or hypothesis, aka experiment.
- Describe why we are choosing this objective for the next period
- Explain how the objective connects to the strategy and/or and another OKR
- State the hypothesis that this objective represents
- What are the beliefs?
- What are the guardrails - the non-negotiable boundaries within which you must operate to prevent derailment. E.g. "Must comply with data privacy regulations."
- Where do you have room to manoeuvre and experiment to navigate complex challenges? E.g. "Open to adjusting feature set based on user feedback."
What makes a good Key Result?
Writing Key ResultsÂ
- Key Results are how you will know you are progressing towards your objective.
- Can be influenced by a team of people
- Change frequently enough to be tracked week-to-week
- Can be moved during the OKR cycle
- Explain how each Key Result connects to the objective and why we have chosen it.
- Explain the hypothesis that underpins each Key Result.
- What would represent a significant success?
- What would represent a failure?
- What might make us pivot?
Key Results With A Metric
The most common and our preferred Key Result formula is:
[Increase / Decrease] [Metric Name] from X to Y
X = Starting Value
Y = Target Value - the value you think can be hit
Setting Ambitious Targets
Sometimes raise the bar and set hard-to-reach targets because it helps us imagine how we might create a step change in performance. It often sparks new approaches to challenges and innovations, and we learn more.
Because of this, we need to be clear about where we’ve stretched ourselves, and 100% goal achievement is not likely or expected.
As part of this mindset we recognise that success can also be measured by how much we have learned, how we worked together, and our effort. The actual level of each OKR success will be determined at the end of the period in a meeting we call a retrospective.
Use the label aspiration to denote ambition and a stretch target.
E.g. Increase [metric] from X to Y (aspirational)
Baseline Key Results
Another approach when you know the measure but can’t set a target because you haven’t measured it yet is to name your measure or metric and put [BASELINE] and ZERO as values.
E.g. Increase [metric] (baseline)
How many Key Results should an Objective have?
What is a Discovery Key Result?
A Discovery Key Result is a term we coined. We created it because over many years of training teams, we have discovered it to be an essential concept in some implementations, especially when dealing with uncertainty or exploring new areas.
Here's an explanation of Discovery Key Results:
A Discovery Key Result is a specialized type of Key Result designed to uncover critical information or insights necessary for making informed strategic decisions. Unlike traditional Key Results that measure specific, quantifiable outcomes, Discovery KRs focus on the process of learning and exploration.
Key characteristics of Discovery Key Results include:
- Exploratory Nature: They venture into the unknown, seeking answers to crucial questions that will shape future strategy.
- Qualitative Focus: While they may involve gathering quantitative data, the primary outcome is often qualitative insights.
- Customer and Value-Centric: They typically revolve around understanding customer needs, preferences, or behaviors, or exploring new avenues for value creation.
- Prerequisite to Traditional OKRs: Discovery KRs often pave the way for more traditional, measurable OKRs by providing the foundational knowledge needed to set informed goals.
- Time-Bound: Like all OKRs, Discovery KRs should have a clear timeframe for completion.
You might use Discovery Key Results when:
- There's a significant knowledge gap preventing effective strategic planning.
- You're entering new markets or launching new products/services.
- Facing rapidly changing market conditions or customer behavior.
- Exploring potential pivots or significant strategic shifts.
The value of a Discovery Key Result lies in the knowledge gained rather than a specific metric achieved. They acknowledge that in some scenarios, learning and exploration are the most valuable outcomes.
How ambitious should OKRs be?
OKR Process
What's the process for creating OKRs?
The OKR Process That Works
Our 10-step OKR creation process involves:
- Gathering candidate ideas
- Reading and reviewing ideas across teams
- Holding workshops to shortlist OKRs
- Identify OKR team
- Adding draft OKRs to your OKR Management System
- Teams delegate conflicting work to create capacity
- Follow team forming playbook*
- Refine OKR and add Activities/Experiments
- Launching the OKRs
- Get into execution and reporting rhythm
Why Team Formation Makes or Breaks Your OKRs
Here's a truth we've learned from working with hundreds of companies: the best-written OKRs can fall flat without a well-formed team behind them. Think about it - you're asking people who might not usually work together to achieve ambitious goals in 90 days. That's like building a high-performance race car while the race is already running!
The Real Cost of Skipping Team Formation
When teams jump straight into execution, we see the same stories play out:
- Weeks lost to misaligned working styles
- Confusion over who's responsible for what
- Missed opportunities due to poor communication
- Frustrated team members working at cross-purposes
- Great ideas that never get proper consideration
The Smart Way to Form OKR Teams
The most successful organizations treat team formation as a critical phase of their OKR cycle. They know that a small investment in getting teams right pays massive dividends in execution speed and goal achievement.
What Great Team Formation Looks Like
- Clear Roles from Day One
- Everyone knows their part in the story
- Leaders are prepped and ready to guide
- Decision-making processes are crystal clear
Strong Social Foundations
- Team members build real connections
- Trust develops through shared understanding
- Communication flows naturally and openly
Rapid Acceleration
- Teams hit the ground running
- Early obstacles are anticipated and avoided
- Progress starts flowing from week one
The Business Impact
Companies that nail team formation see:
- 2-3x faster progress in the first month
- Higher goal achievement rates
- Better cross-functional collaboration
- Increased employee satisfaction
- More innovative solutions
Making It Work in Your Organization
Great team formation doesn't happen by accident. It needs:
- Dedicated time for team alignment
- Leadership support and involvement
- Clear processes and expectations
- Tools and frameworks that support collaboration
Where ZOKRI Comes In
We've built team formation right into our OKR platform because we know it's not just nice-to-have – it's essential. Our tools and templates help you:
- Structure effective team kickoffs
- Clarify roles and responsibilities
- Track team health and alignment
- Support ongoing collaboration
- Measure and improve team performance
Ready to Transform Your OKR Success?
Don't let poor team formation hold your OKRs back. Whether you're just starting with OKRs or looking to improve your existing process, making team formation a priority will dramatically increase your chances of success.
How often should we review OKRs?
We frequently get to meet teams that set OKRs – your strategic game plan for success – and then only revisit and talk about them monthly or quarterly.
If these goals truly represent our path to "winning" in our market, shouldn't they be constantly at the forefront of our minds and conversations?
Consider this: Your OKRs embody your most critical objectives, the ones deemed essential for executing your strategy. They're not just any goals; they're the goals you've decided are vital enough to dedicate significant resources to. In essence, they're the key to your organization's future success.
Moreover, think about the message infrequent OKR reviews send to your team. If you only discuss these supposedly "wildly important" goals once a month or once a quarter, what does that say about their true priority? How can you expect your team to remain focused and motivated on these objectives if they're not part of regular conversations?
Frequent OKR reviews aren't just about tracking progress; they're about maintaining alignment, fostering accountability, and creating opportunities for rapid course correction. They're chances to celebrate small wins, address emerging challenges, share learnings and keep the entire organization rowing in the same direction.
Imagine the alternative: You've set ambitious OKRs, but you only review them quarterly. Three months pass, and you realize you've veered off course. You've lost a quarter of your year – a quarter you can't get back.Â
So, how often should we review OKRs? The answer, upon reflection, becomes clear: as often as necessary to ensure they remain at the forefront of your organization's focus and efforts.Â
For most organizations, this means weekly check-ins at the team level. It means OKRs being a standing agenda item in leadership meetings. It means creating a rhythm where progress, confidence levels, priorities, and issues related to OKRs are discussed regularly and openly.
Remember, your OKRs represent your strategy in action. If you're not talking about them frequently, you're not really focusing on your strategy. And in a world where strategic execution is often the difference between thriving and merely surviving, can you afford not to have your OKRs at the center of your ongoing dialogue?
Ultimately, the frequency of OKR reviews should reflect their importance to your organization's success. If they truly are your roadmap to winning in your market, they deserve your constant attention, not just a quarterly glance.
What should be included in an OKR check-in?
An effective OKR check-in is crucial for maintaining momentum and ensuring your team stays aligned with your strategic goals. Here's what should be included in an OKR check-in:
- Key Result Updates: Team members should update their Key Results before the meeting to save time.
- Confidence Levels: Assess confidence in achieving each Key Result using a High/Medium/Low scale. It's important to discuss the evidence behind these confidence levels, not just gut feelings.
- Key Learnings: Share insights gained since the last check-in.
- Issues and Challenges: Identify and discuss any roadblocks or challenges faced.
- Planning: Determine specific activities or initiatives for the coming week to improve confidence or make progress.
- Resource Check: Ensure everyone has what they need to contribute effectively in the coming week.
- Future Preparation: Discuss any necessary groundwork for upcoming tasks or milestones.
- Action Items: Summarize actions and assign owners before concluding.
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However, it's crucial to understand that knowing what to include in a check-in is just the beginning. The real key to successful OKR implementation lies in how these check-ins are conducted and the skills of the OKR lead facilitating them.
This is where proper training and mentoring become invaluable. At ZOKRI, we recognize that creating great, strategically aligned OKRs is just the first step. The real challenge often lies in the execution, particularly in those early quarters when the OKR process is still new to your team.
That's why our training goes beyond just teaching you how to set OKRs. We provide comprehensive support to OKR leads, equipping them with the skills and confidence to run high-impact check-ins. Our goal is to ensure these meetings have a high return on time invested (ROTI) for all participants.
We work closely with OKR leads during the initial quarters, providing guidance and mentoring on how to:
- Facilitate productive discussions
- Ask probing questions to uncover real insights
- Manage time effectively during check-ins
- Address challenges and roadblocks constructively
- Foster a culture of accountability and collaboration
By supporting you through these early stages, we ensure that what starts as a new process quickly becomes second nature. Our hands-on approach helps embed OKRs into your organization's DNA, turning them from a management tool into a driving force for your business strategy.
Remember, effective OKR check-ins are more than just status updates. They're dynamic, forward-looking sessions that keep your team aligned, motivated, and focused on what truly matters. With the right training and support, your OKR leads can transform these check-ins into powerful engines of strategic execution and business growth.
At ZOKRI, we're committed to not just teaching you about OKRs, but to partnering with you to ensure your OKR implementation drives real, sustainable results for your organization. Because when it comes to OKRs, success isn't just about knowing what to do – it's about mastering how to do it.
How do we grade OKRs at the end of a cycle?
Can OKRs be changed mid-cycle?
Types of OKRs
What are Strategic Cross-functional OKRs?
Strategic Cross-functional OKRs are a specific type of OKR that plays a crucial role in executing an organization's strategy. Here are the key characteristics and aspects of Strategic Cross-functional OKRs:
- Strategic Focus: These OKRs are directly tied to progressing the company's overall strategy. They represent the few critical objectives that are deemed essential for strategic execution.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: As the name suggests, these OKRs require collaboration across multiple teams or departments. They're not confined to a single team's efforts.
- Dedicated Resourcing: Strategic Cross-functional OKRs are typically resourced by dedicated or near-dedicated cross-functional teams. This ensures they receive the focus and effort required for success.
- Time-bound: Like other OKRs, they are typically set on a quarterly basis, although they may sometimes extend beyond a single quarter if the strategic initiative requires it.
- Transformative Nature: These OKRs drive innovation and significant improvement. They're not about maintaining the status quo but about creating step-changes in performance.
- Limited in Number: Given their importance and the resources they require, organizations typically focus on just a few Strategic Cross-functional OKRs at a time.
- Distinct from BAU: These OKRs are not used for tracking routine operations. They're about driving transformative change rather than optimizing business-as-usual activities.
- High Priority: Because of their strategic importance, these OKRs often take precedence over other goals and receive significant attention from leadership.
- Alignment: They help ensure that different parts of the organization are working together towards common, strategically crucial goals.
By focusing on these Strategic Cross-functional OKRs, organizations can make significant progress on their most important strategic initiatives, fostering collaboration across the company and driving transformative change.
The key to success with these OKRs is ensuring they're truly cross-functional, well-resourced, and aligned with the company's overall strategic direction. They represent the "big bets" that the organization is making to move the needle on its most critical objectives.
What are BAU Optimization OKRs?
How do Strategic Cross-functional OKRs differ from BAU Optimization OKRs?
Can we have both types of OKRs simultaneously?
Aligning OKRs With Strategy
How can we ensure our OKRs align with company strategy?
Aligning OKRs with company strategy is crucial for effective goal-setting and execution. Based on the knowledge from the handbook, here's how you can ensure your OKRs align with company strategy:
- Start with the Company Strategy: OKRs should be set in the context of your overall company strategy. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the company's strategic objectives before setting OKRs.
- Use the Strategy as a Reference Point: When creating OKRs, always refer back to the company strategy. This helps ensure that each objective contributes to the broader strategic goals.
- Explain the Connection: In the OKR narrative, explicitly explain how each objective connects to the overall strategy. This helps everyone understand the strategic relevance of their work.
- Focus on the "Wildly Important": Limit OKRs to the most critical objectives. These should be the goals that are key to progressing your strategy.
- Create Strategic Cross-functional OKRs: These OKRs are specifically designed to execute key strategic initiatives. They involve collaboration across teams and are resourced for success.
- Use an OKR Creation Process: We use a 5-step OKR creation process that includes reviewing ideas across teams and holding workshops. This process ensures strategic alignment.
- Involve Leadership: The Executive Sponsor role helps keep OKRs connected to the bigger picture. Ensure leadership is involved in the OKR setting process.
- Regular Review: During quarterly planning sessions, review the alignment of OKRs with strategy. Also, be prepared to adjust OKRs if there's a significant shift in company strategy.
- Align Thoughtfully: While OKRs can align from company to team levels, ensure this is done in a way that maintains strategic focus rather than becoming overly tactical.
- Use Metric Trees/Models: We suggest creating metric trees or models that show how different metrics relate to strategic outcomes. Use these to inform your OKR creation.
- Balance BAU and Strategic OKRs: While Business-as-Usual (BAU) Optimization OKRs are important, ensure you're also setting Strategic Cross-functional OKRs that drive transformative change aligned with your strategy.
Remember, the goal is not just to have OKRs that loosely relate to strategy but to create a clear line of sight from the company's strategic objectives down to the quarterly goals of teams and often individuals as well. This alignment ensures that everyone's efforts are contributing to the company's most important strategic initiatives.
Should all OKRs directly tie to company strategy?
How often should we revisit our OKRs in light of strategy changes?
Can OKRs help shape strategy?
How do we align strategy into OKRs at different levels of the organization?
Managing OKRs
What are Activities/Experiments in the context of OKRs?
While quarterly OKRs provide our overarching goals, the real engine of progress lies in the activities and experiments we conduct to achieve these objectives.
By nesting hypothesis-driven activities within our OKRs, we create a dynamic system that drives progress, encourages learning, and allows for rapid adaptation.
Activities/experiments are a separate list of the work you need to test, complete, release, implement, roll out, update, launch, etc., that help you progress Key Result measures and targets.
These can have states like Ideas/Up-next/In Progress/Completed and have their own sub-tasks and progress measures.
Understanding Activities/Experiments in the OKR Context
Activities or Experiments are the tactical, hypothesis-driven actions we take to move the needle on our Key Results. They have several key characteristics:
- Hypothesis-Based: Each activity starts with a clear hypothesis about how it will impact our Key Results.
- Time-Bound: They typically operate on shorter timescales than the overall OKR, often spanning days or weeks.
- Measurable: They have clear success criteria that can be evaluated quickly.
- Adaptive: Based on results, we can quickly pivot or double down on our approach.
Training and coaching teams to work in this way has proven time and time again to be an accelerator of OKR achievement.Â
How do we track progress on OKRs?
What should we do if we're not making much progress on an OKR?
How do we handle dependencies between OKRs?
What's the role of leadership in OKR management?
OKRs and Performance Management
Are OKRs used for individual performance assessment?
Can OKRs replace traditional performance reviews?
How do we motivate team members to engage with OKRs?
What if someone consistently fails to achieve their OKRs?
Advanced OKR Topics
How do OKRs foster a culture of transparency?
OKRs promote transparency in several key ways:
- Visibility of goals: In a well-implemented OKR system, objectives and key results are visible to the entire organization. This means that from the CEO to the newest hire, everyone can see the KPIs and metrics that matter via scorecards, the carefully chosen and committed goals (OKRs), and how they relate to the company's overall vision and strategy.
- Clear expectations: OKRs provide clarity on what needs to be achieved. There's no ambiguity about priorities or success metrics, which reduces confusion and promotes open communication.
- Regular check-ins: The OKR process involves frequent (ideally weekly) check-ins where progress is discussed openly. This creates a habit of sharing updates, challenges, and wins, fostering an environment where open communication is the norm.
- Shared accountability: When goals are public, there's a sense of shared accountability. Teams and individuals are more likely to support each other because everyone can see how their work interconnects.
- Data-driven discussions: OKRs encourage the creation of a data model and the use of measurable key results. This shifts conversations from subjective opinions to objective data, making discussions more transparent and fact-based.
- Normalized failure: OKRs create an environment where success is optimized for yet it's okay not to achieve 100% of every goal. This openness about "failures" promotes honest reporting and learning from mistakes.
- Leadership transparency: When leadership can articulate the strategy and set OKRs, it sets a tone of openness from the top down and helps employees understand the company's direction.
Fostering a culture of transparency through OKRs is a journey. It requires consistent effort and a willingness to be vulnerable. But the payoff is substantial: increased trust, better collaboration, and a more engaged workforce.
Have you noticed any challenges or resistance to transparency in your organization? We'd be happy to discuss strategies for overcoming those obstacles if you have any specific concerns.
How do we create effective cross-functional OKRs?
What's the best way to introduce OKRs to a team that's never used them?
How do we balance ambitious OKRs with realistic expectations?
Can we use OKRs for long-term projects that span multiple quarters?
Common OKR Challenges & Solutions
How do we avoid setting too many OKRs?
What if our OKRs become outdated due to rapid market changes?
How do we prevent OKRs from becoming a bureaucratic exercise?
What if teams struggle to come up with measurable Key Results?
How do we handle resistance to the OKR framework?
OKR Best Practices
How can we make our OKR process more data-driven?
Making your OKR process more data-driven isn't just a nice-to-have – it's essential for success. The key to achieving this lies in developing a robust data model or metric tree for your organization.Â
First, let's consider what a data model or metric tree is. Imagine a tree where the trunk represents your organization's ultimate goals or North Star metrics. The main branches are your key performance indicators (KPIs), and as you move further out to smaller branches and leaves, you find more granular metrics and measurements. This visual representation helps everyone understand how different metrics relate to each other and contribute to overall success.
Now, why is this so important for your OKR process?
- Identifying Leading and Lagging Indicators: A well-constructed metric tree clearly shows which metrics are leading indicators (predictive of future performance) and which are lagging indicators (showing past performance). This insight is invaluable when setting OKRs. You can focus your objectives on improving leading indicators, knowing that success here will drive improvements in lagging indicators down the line.
- Understanding Cause and Effect: By mapping out how different metrics relate to each other, you gain a clearer understanding of cause and effect in your business. This allows you to set more strategic OKRs that target root causes rather than symptoms.
- Aligning OKRs with Strategy: Your metric tree should be a direct reflection of your business strategy. When you set OKRs based on this tree, you ensure that every objective is contributing directly to your strategic goals. It becomes much easier to see how day-to-day activities ladder up to big-picture outcomes.
- Enhancing Observability: Here's where the concept of observability comes in. A good metric tree enhances your organization's observability. It allows you to infer the health and performance of complex business processes by monitoring key metrics at various levels.
- Empowering Teams: When teams can see how their metrics fit into the larger picture, it gives their work measurable purpose. They understand how their efforts contribute to higher-level goals, which can be incredibly motivating.
- Making Informed Decisions: With a clear metric tree, decision-making becomes more informed and strategic. You can quickly identify which levers to pull to drive desired outcomes, making your OKRs more impactful.
- Facilitating Cross-functional Collaboration: A shared understanding of how metrics interrelate encourages cross-functional collaboration. Teams can see how their OKRs might impact (or be impacted by) other departments' goals.
- Enabling More Precise OKRs: With a detailed metric tree, you can set more precise, data-driven OKRs. Instead of vague objectives, you can target specific metrics that your model shows are key drivers of success.
- Improving OKR Reviews: During OKR check-ins, you can refer to your metric tree to understand not just whether you're hitting your targets, but why or why not. This deeper understanding leads to more productive discussions and better course corrections.
- Evolving Your Strategy: As you track metrics over time, you'll gain insights that allow you to refine your metric tree. This, in turn, helps evolve your overall strategy, ensuring your OKRs remain aligned with what truly drives business success.
Implementing a data-driven OKR process based on a robust metric tree isn't just about making your goal-setting more accurate. It's about bringing your entire strategy to life, giving everyone in the organization a clear, measurable purpose, and enhancing your ability to observe, understand, and influence your business's performance.
At ZOKRI, we specialize in helping organizations develop these crucial data models and implement them effectively in their OKR processes. We understand that every business is unique, and we work with you to create a metric tree that reflects your specific strategy and goals. Our aim is to make your OKR process not just data-driven but a powerful tool for strategic execution and business growth.
Remember, gut feelings aren't enough. A data-driven OKR process, grounded in a well-structured metric tree, gives you the insights and focus you need to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. It's not just about setting better goals – it's about fundamentally improving how you understand and run your business.
What role does risk assessment play in OKR setting?
How can we improve the quality of our OKR check-ins?
What's the importance of retrospectives in the OKR process?
How can we foster a culture that embraces OKRs?
See what best-in-class OKRs really look like. Download our comprehensive guide featuring a detailed OKR example that’s changing how organizations think about strategy execution.
"This isn't your typical OKR template - it's a masterclass in strategic thinking"
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