Gaurav SabharwalUltimate Guide to Objective and Key results – OKR Meaning and Examples
Do you dread setting goals for your organization as you don’t see useful results? […]
The business environment now is as lively as it gets; economic fluctuations, customer behavior changes, digital transformation, fast-quitting employees, and whatnot.
But you only hold the reins to your team members and how you do business. OKRs are a tool to mind your most important business aspects and increase your chances of achieving growth in these uncertain times.
However, adopting OKRs comes with its own challenges and opportunities, and this webinar might give you a new perspective to change the way you do business.
About the experts
- Hrishikesh Sathwane (Host), Strategic Advisor
- Jim Apodaca, Strategy Execution Coach, Apodaca Consulting
- Gaurav Sabharwal, CEO and Co-founder of JOP
Key takeaways from the webinar
- What are OKRs? How do they affect the business?
- How can OKRs simplify your business growth plan?
- Prior requirements before adopting OKRs
- OKR best practices.
- Managing your OKRs in the most effective ways – OKR Software
- Do OKRs change for different organizations, teams, and industries?
OKRs is more than just a framework
“When you adopt OKRs, not only are you adopting a new framework but a new way of doing things,” says Jim.
The conversations, how you measure your goals, and your tools change to accommodate the new way of executing your strategies.
Creating OKRs is not the hard part. You start creating meaningful objectives and key results as part of your muscle memory, but changing the way a group of people, small or large, do things is a tough nut to crack.
Can any organization adopt OKRs?
“I think OKRs are size agnostic. You look at Intel; when they implemented it, they were thousands of employees, and Google, had 40 employees,” says Jim.
Why should a team use OKR software?
“The main question you should ask as a team is: How do you focus? How do you prioritize when so much is happening in a business and so many choices?” asks Gaurav.
A small team may be able to pull their OKR implementation off on Spreadsheets, but as you get bigger and processes and team structure get complex, things need to be simplified.
To support the whole organization with OKR goal-setting and the change management that comes with it, OKR software makes team collaboration, data collection, analysis, etc., simple and efficient.
Another big reason to use it is to bring about true results that matter for the business.
“It’s very easy to be busy all the time but still not achieve your goals at the end of the quarter or a year, but software like JOP keeps your people working on the most important goals,” adds Gaurav.
Do OKRs Change With The Industry
“OKRs are industry agnostic in the way you use them. We are used to this project-based way of thinking, and that’s how we measure our output. But with OKRs, we are focused on what matters (outcomes), and projects are means to those outcomes,” says Jim.
Your outcomes may change over time, but how you work toward your OKRs remains the same wherever you are.
Holding more meaningful meetings with OKR check-ins
“I have seen people coming to meetings and spending an hour just to figure out where the problem is, and by the time they can get to the problem and start thinking, the meeting is over.
In OKR check-ins, you know where the gaps are and whether you are moving the needle on goals. Mostly, it’s extremely transparent,” says Gaurav.
Specific methodologies or prior understanding before adopting OKRs
“You have to take the framework seriously and truly embrace it. I want leaders to look at the OKRs through the change management lens and be patient to see the results,” says Jim.
Many of my client organizations want to measure the impact of the OKR program. And I ask them, ‘Is it delivering what you wanted it to deliver?’
For example, some companies say they want greater clarity, which is good, but can you measure this clarity? If yes, then you can measure the impact of the OKR program.
Why would a BAU (Business-as-usual) heavy business like a Bank need OKRs for redundant operations?
“These organizations may ask themselves, How can we become more efficient in our current operations? For instance, enhancing their software to reduce the bugs. What are the goals we are trying to achieve currently?” says Jim.
Do KPIs and OKRs work well together?
“KPIs are always going to be a part of your business. OKRs don’t change KPIs, you still work for them, but OKRs make the team members more aligned with each other and the business,” says Hrishikesh
Attendee: What type of mistake is a product owner likely to commit while deciding on their OKRs?
“I see many of them creating OKRs for everything, the tasks, and their to-do items. OKRs simplify your work. Therefore, the less is more here. You have to carefully set your KRs and then create a plan of action to achieve them,” says Jim.
Conclusion
We hope you found the insights useful.
If you want to learn more about anything OKRs, you can just give us a call. We’re happy to discuss and help.
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