OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is an agile framework for setting goals in companies. It consists of a goal, which tells you where to go, and several key outcomes, which are the results you need to achieve to reach your goal. Initiatives are all projects and tasks that will help you achieve your key results. It is very useful to define and describe your initiatives as part of OKR, because it helps you realize what exactly you need to do to achieve your objectives and key results.
When used correctly, the OKR method can lead to greater transparency, alignment, focus and agility in your organization. An initiative is any block of work or product that takes a few weeks or an entire quarter to complete. Think about projects, research reports, or anything else you need to achieve. An initiative drives its goal to achieve a positive outcome for its key results.
The OKR framework helps leaders and their teams prioritize, align and measure the outcome of their efforts. Linking company and team objectives to key results helps team members understand how their daily work contributes to the big picture and what to focus on to drive improvements.Concrete objectives and key results can be derived from vision and mission statements; they will serve as a means to maintain the mission and achieve the vision. For example, saying that you want to follow the goal of growing your blog using the key result of writing 50 blog posts per month is something you can easily test when the time comes. These are specific actions and activities in which you will participate and start to live up to your Key Results. Projects with milestones belong to the output category, so they can be included as initiatives or tasks under the respective key outcomes.
An important element of working in accordance with the OKR framework is remembering to rate your key results as you approach your goal. In addition to setting objectives, key results and initiatives, it is also important to conduct weekly OKR checks. Alignment with company objectives and horizontal alignment with other teams ensures that the team's OKRs contribute to higher-level objectives, that there is no duplication of work in the next cycle, that opposing key outcomes are not established, and that potential dependencies between teams are identified. This encourages a more bottom-up approach to goal-setting, by giving teams ownership of key company results, they will contribute to the company's goal as they progress on their own OKRs during the quarter. If possible, key results should always include relevant metrics that measure the actual result, not just production. Once teams establish their clear objectives and key results, individual team members will decide how to achieve their OKRs.
Later, once you've mastered OKRs, you can set 1-3 overall company goals and 1-3 team OKRs. In conclusion, OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is an effective framework for setting goals in companies. It consists of a goal, several key outcomes and initiatives which are projects or tasks that will help you achieve your key results. It helps leaders and their teams prioritize, align and measure the outcome of their efforts. Linking company and team objectives to key results helps team members understand how their daily work contributes to the big picture and what they need to focus on in order to drive improvements.
