In this blog, I will be telling more about Objective Key Results, OKRs, and how you can use them for goal-setting within your own organization. You may now use OKRs to organize your goals at home, too. The method of goal setting known as OKRs has been gaining traction around the globe, originally made famous by firms like Google. You may also start applying this strategy for goal setting within your business right now.
What are OKRs
Okrs are pretty simple yet they can be hard to implement. For those of you who know about the SMART methodology, OKRs work in a similar way but with some added features including milestones and priorities. With an Objectives section which is broken down into key results, each result will need to include its objectives so there's no confusion as to why something needs doing or how it fits into your overall strategy for that quarter/year, etc.
You'll then set out what Key Results you plan on using within the objective e.g conversion rate, monthly visitors, etc - these could also be used throughout all Objectives if needed! The OKRs must be realistic, measurable, and time-bound.
Once you've set out your key results, objectives, etc - then it is necessary to break them down into quarterly milestones which will help give guidance of what needs doing by when e.g This month I need to increase traffic x% on my website so, therefore, this quarter I'll focus more on SEO/social media activity/content marketing, etc.
Some Examples of Objective Key Results (OKRs)
- Objective - Improve Bottom Line Profits by 10% this quarter
(a) Key Result - Cut Operating costs by 10%
(b) Increase monthly subscriptions by 2000 active paid users in 4 months
If you look at this example provided above - there are some key points and takeaways to consider here. This is important for setting any kind of OKR:
- Objectives are high-level goals, while Key Results and smaller milestones help you work towards your objectives.
- Measurability of the objective and Key Result - As opposed to saying: "increase business profits", you rather want to say: "increase profits by xxxxx within xxxxx time period.
- Time-bound - as mentioned above, you need to specify the period in which you will be attempting to reach your objectives.
- Key results are like milestones towards reaching your objective. They are smaller objectives that support the main objective. They are also measurable and time-bound. Good key results are going to be selected in such a way, that achieving them will surely mean, you have achieved the objective.
Measure Progress towards your objectives
The last step in setting up Objectives & Key Results for your business would be defining how progress towards these goals can be measured i.e an actual figure or percentage value!
This is where Skhokho OKR software comes in, once you have selected the Objectives and Key Results - it is crucial that you can measure and track them on an ongoing basis.
Skhokho OKR Software can enable you to do the following:
- Set the high-level objectives for your business - assign responsibilities and time limits. So everyone knows who is responsible for the objective, when it should start, and when it is expected to finish.
- Report regularly on the progress of the Key Result. For example - if your key result is to achieve 2000 active users in 4 months, you should be tracking how many active users you are having regularly. As you report on the number of active users, the progress towards the target can be measured.
- Create OKR tasks - that your team will be involved in to help push the OKRs forward. For example, to achieve more active users, you might decide to spend $x on paid advertising. That would be a task assigned to someone. These tasks are recorded against your OKRs target. Try to create tasks on an ongoing basis to help you achieve your Key Results.
Get Started with OKR
In conclusion, the OKR method can be a very effective way to set and achieve goals within your organization. It is important to define key results that are measurable, time-bound, and realistic for them to help you reach the objectives they support. This blog post has defined what an objective is, how it works with key results, and examples of these methods too!
OKRs & Objectives & Key Results - All three terms relate closely together; however one does not necessarily mean another when setting out your organization's strategy each quarter/year, etc. Setting up good OKRs (Objective Key Results) will ultimately lead towards positive company growth which means more profits for all involved within the business!
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