While it may seem like we have more time on our hands during quarantine, it doesn’t mean that we are able to take on our goals with immediacy. With the work setting turned on its head by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote activity the “new normal,” there is a renewed search for accommodating our usual day-to-day efforts outside of the office setting.
Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, are still priority even in a work from home scenario. Now, there is user-friendly OKR software that allows teams to stay connected, aligned, and moving toward results.
The OKR System
Objectives and Key Results systems pre-date even recent office technology, going as far back as 1975. John Doerr, a salesperson working for Intel, attended a course taught by Andy Grove where he was introduced to the theory of OKRs. This process is defined by specific objectives within an organization that management can convey to organization members, then deciding how to achieve each objective in sequence. This process allows managers to take work that needs to be done one step at a time to allow for a calm, yet productive work environment.
Employees work in a variety of ways—around products, functions, and journeys—and need to be aligned to achieve our priorities as an organization. In recent months, we have seen leaps in technological advancements, making for the ability to more quickly align on strategic priorities is key to sustaining our leadership.
OKRs provide a common vocabulary and process for teams to articulate and align what they want to achieve, focus efforts on measurable outcomes, and iteratively learn with data over time. OKRs are a way of defining and achieving our best possible outcomes as teams and as an organization.
The OKR process has become the best way to tackle the most ambitious goals from business tax compliance to the simple reinforcement of a positive work environment.
Clarity on Intent and Direction
The important question to ask when establishing goals for you and your team: What do you want to accomplish and why is it important? Listing goals is a great step, but it’s also to recognize and rank the importance of these issues. Company goals can actually emerge from personal goals. By communicating three to five things you want to accomplish in detail, you can inspire and motivate people with a sense of purpose that may make them want to be on board.
OKRs, alignment, and progress are transparent to everyone with OKR software, so it’s easier to collaborate and we make good decisions faster. The idea of OKRs is to allow coworkers to establish their best possible results in a given quarter, focus efforts on great outcomes, and allow team members to learn from their metrics.
Measuring Quarterly Results
For each Objective, OKR software provides four to six measurable quarter outcomes, giving a deep analysis of a business goal, and where a company may be on their schedule to achieve this.
Quarterly key results provide radical clarity on where value is created. This helps teams and the organization drive business impacts faster. OKR software helps garner the best possible results, with numbers quantifying an end state or outcome, not action items or opinions.
Team members can thrive on diversity and in the face of adversity with quarterly career path conversations and one-on-one meetings with employees. This helps to create a unified value across the customer journey from marketing and sales to onboarding. Through this high output management service, key performance indicators arise in results. Quality service can be swayed by customer testimonials to help companies find a measurable way to key in on success.