Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a powerful goal-setting methodology that can help companies drive alignment, performance, and results. It is a collaborative approach to setting ambitious and challenging goals with measurable results. OKRs are the way to track progress, create alignment, and encourage participation around measurable goals. The objective of OKRs is to set very ambitious goals, allowing teams to focus on the big stakes and achieve more than they thought was possible.
The OKR framework requires objectives to be INTELLIGENT (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound). It is important to be transparent about the objectives that the different teams are working on and their current progress. The key results describe how the employee will achieve the goal within a specific time frame. The framework must be transparent and align business, team, and individual objectives in a hierarchical and measurable manner.
Google often uses OKRs to try to set ambitious goals and track progress. The acronym OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, it is a popular management technique or tool to help companies focus and implement the strategy. OKRs comprise an objective (a significant, concrete, and clearly defined objective) and 3 to 5 key outcomes (measurable success criteria used to track the achievement of that goal). 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.
When an objective can last a long time, be extended for a year or more, the key results evolve as the work progresses. There is overlap with other strategic planning frameworks such as Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures (GMOs) and the Hoshin Kanri Matrix X.OKRs are different from other goal-setting techniques because of their focus on setting very ambitious goals. It is important to think about realistic but aspirational objectives and maintain quantifiable data for results. An important difference between MBOs and OKRs is that the latter are quarterly, not annual, and separate from compensation. OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is a performance management framework designed to encourage companies to establish, communicate, and monitor broad organizational objectives and results.
It can help teams break out of their comfort zones, prioritize work, and learn from both success and failure.
