What is Objectives and Key Results (OKR) Methodology?

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a powerful goal-setting system that helps companies to align, perform, and achieve their desired results. It is a collaborative approach used by teams and individuals to set ambitious and challenging goals with measurable outcomes. OKRs stand for “Objectives and Key Results” and are used to track progress, create alignment, and motivate everyone to reach their goals. Weekdone is a great tool for generating status reports, connecting team OKRs with company objectives, and monitoring weekly and quarterly progress. At the most basic level, OKRs are used to set 1 to 3 overall company goals and 1 to 3 team OKRs.

By reviewing their objectives and key results every 3 months, teams have 4 opportunities a year to adjust to changes in the real world. It is important to remember that key results should primarily reflect results (outcomes) rather than production (amount of work delivered). Additionally, OKRs should focus on the areas most important for achieving measurable progress instead of trying to reflect everything you do. OKRs are designed for teams and organizations to facilitate growth, improvement, and alignment. On the other hand, Management by Objectives (MBO) is used to track employee performance.

From my point of view (CPB), the OKR system serves to analyze the key results of an individual's performance, but there is no definite path to achieve this. OKRs express what tactics teams and individuals will implement and what results they will need to achieve in order to help the organization reach its long-term objectives. Weekdone's OKR software makes it easy to set up connections between company and team objectives and complete them with key results that indicate whether you've achieved your goals. Everyone on the team knows exactly how their key results contribute to the company's goal, making it easy for that key outcome to stay in mind during the OKR quarter. Group objectives should always align with company objectives and support the ultimate goal of your organization. Google often uses “Objectives and Key Results (OKR)” to set ambitious goals and track progress.

Google's scoring method provides the highest level of detail, using a percentage scale (0.0 - 1.0) to give each key result a numerical score at the end of the cycle. Along with the objectives and their key results, employees should consider recurring activities that will help them get closer to accomplishments. Other key differences between MBO and OKR are that the latter are quarterly, not annual, and separate from compensation.