OKR Spreadsheet
Most people and companies that are looking to introduce OKRs to their organization start with the idea that an OKR spreadsheet might be the OKR management tool to get them started.
They are right. Here’s a link to a Sheet that will help you plan your OKRs. There are OKR examples in there as well for you.
Spreadsheet or OKR Software?
Here is a table that helps to answer this question and provides you with the key points to consider when making
important decisions about your OKR management tool solution.
Cost
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Free
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Free or Paid
Best Practice Guide
Does the tool help users adhere to OKR best practices?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
No
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Yes
Scalability
Does the tool easily scale with the business?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Hard
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Easy
Training / Onboarding
Is it easy and fast to train and onboard team members?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Hard
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Easy
Management Overhead
What’s the management overhead of managing OKRs with the tool?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
High
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Low
User Experience
What’s the management overhead of managing OKRs with the tool?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Poor
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Good
Long-term Success
What’s the long-term success rate of setting-up and successfully
using OKRs using the management tool?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Low
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
High
Impact On Business
Is the potential positive impact on the business realized by the organization?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
Rarely
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Yes
Opportunity Cost
What’s the opportunity cost of the OKR management tool?
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
High
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Low
Spreadsheet e.g. Sheets
OKR Software e.g. ZOKRI
Cost
Free
Free or Paid
Best Practice Guide
Does the tool help users adhere to OKR best practices?
No
Yes
Scalability
Does the tool easily scale with the business?
Hard
Easy
Training / Onboarding
Is it easy and fast to train and onboard team members?
Hard
Easy
Management Overhead
What’s the management overhead of managing OKRs with the tool?
High
Low
User Experience
What’s the User Experience of using the tool for the purpose of owning and managing OKRs?
Poor
Good
Long-term Success
What’s the long-term success rate of setting-up and successfully using OKRs using the management tool?
Low
High
Impact On Business
Is the potential positive impact on the business realized by the organization?
Rarely
Yes
Opportunity Cost
What’s the opportunity cost of the OKR management tool?
High
Low
As you can see from the table above, the argument for using spreadsheet tools like Sheets and Excel when you are planning to roll-out OKRs is a poor one when compared to OKR Software like ZOKRI.
Of course, an OKR vendor would say that, right? No. The reason ZOKRI exists is because Spreadsheets are really hard to make work and OKRs are too important to not use an appropriate OKR management tool.
Plan & Execute OKRs Easier With Software
Ask people that have tried to implement OKRs and failed which OKR management tool they used. They will nearly always say a Spreadsheet. They will then tell you about how engagement was low and how goals became ‘set and forget’ parts of the business operation. Not exactly the guide and catalyst to business growth that was originally hoped for - something which is solved with a suitable OKR management tool.
ZOKRI guides its users to create OKRs with best practice in mind focusing on metrics that matter - it's actually very hard to create "fluffy" bad OKRs in the platform. Because of this, ZOKRI avoids getting used as a glorified task list pretending to be OKRs - much like what is often seen in Excel spreadsheets or other forms of OKR management tools.
Once you've found your North Star and understand what KPIs and Metrics you're going to focus on, your organization can start to plan and set OKRs:
Corporate OKRs
Often these are high-level and focus on budget or forecasts.
Team OKRs
Usually functional but can be project based too. As the name suggests - these are specific to teams and measured quarterly. You can read more about Team OKRs and see specific OKR examples here.
Check-ins
Assess the progress, confidence, blockers and Growth Initiatives by having weekly Check-ins. Depending on your choice of OKR management tool, this may be a manual task and difficult to get all parties involved. In ZOKRI however, weekly Check-ins are encouraged through structured agendas and workflow. Everyone remains focussed thanks to Target Meeting Lengths where confidence levels are updated and actions are captured and assigned to the right people.
Questions to answer before you choose an
OKR Spreadsheet?
Whether you’re calling it OKR management software or OKR spreadsheet, you’re looking for a digital solution to the opportunity presented from managing OKRs brilliantly within your business.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How important is growth this year to your business?
- Are the benefits of OKRs i.e. alignment, ambition, transparency, focus, critical to your plans to deliver growth?
- Is not succeeding with your OKR initiative a desired outcome and do you want to give yourself the best chance of succeeding?
- Is saving $100 a month for a 10 person company or $1,000 a month for a 100 person company a saving you want to make when the ROI on OKRs via employee engagement and performance is so high?
Depending on your answers you will know whether your OKR system of choice is the Spreadsheet or a market leading OKR software like ZOKRI.
Trello / XLS based approach."
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- ZOKRI helps leaders and teams achieve strategic goals using the OKR (Objectives & Key Results) framework. Our platform aligns strategy, goals, and people, fostering engagement and growth through comprehensive training and management systems.
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