Be An OKR Master in 2020

In the recent times, the concept of OKRs has thrown the corporate world into a frenzy. It has refurbished the idea of goal setting and how they need to be pursued.

There are two simple questions you need to ask whenever you are setting OKRs.

1. Where am I going? This will define your objectives.
2. How will I get there? These will be the key results.

This framework cascades through the company, at team and department levels as well as at the individual level. It keeps all employees well aligned, from the CEO down to the intern.

Here are some pointers as to how they can help your organisation:

1. Management frameworks – Because of OKRs, individuals, teams and the company, everyone simultaneously moves towards the same direction.
2. Enhances transparency – It enables everyone to be aware of how each team or department is heading towards achieving the goals.
3. Helps streamline goals – According to the OKR model, there should be 3-5 objectives for each level in the company. This encourages employees and the management to prioritise what’s of utmost importance to the organisation.
4. Measuring progress becomes easy – Keeping a track of the OKRs and where they are at, gives a sense of understanding in terms of achieving the shared company mission.

Don’t forget to revise the OKRs often and stretch them, so that you can ultimately achieve beyond what was targeted.

Also read: Tips For Setting OKRs During On-boarding

Here are some books on OKRs:

“Radical Focus” – Christina Wodtke

It talks about how to implement OKR as an approach, get a diverse team to work in unison, how to chalk out bolder goals, and how to handle and get past failures. Wodtke shows how fun it is to execute OKRs.

“How Google Works” – Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

The book highlights the journey of two business executives who helped Google grow from a budding start-up to a legendary organisation. This includes their experiences with OKRs.

“High Output Management” – Andy Grove

Grove is deemed as the author of OKR approach. As the former CEO of Intel he writes about how to build and run a company. This book guides in navigating through real-life business scenarios.

Also read: Know How to Tackle OKR Challenges

“Measure What Matters” – John Doerr

Last but in no way the least, this is one of the first books about OKR that shot up the popularity ladder. Doerr writes about how he brought OKR to Google and how it played a significant role in the success of Google, Bono, Gates Foundation, etc.

Now that you know quite a bit about OKRs, do share your thoughts with us, on how you would like to introduce and handle the OKR approach in your organisation.

How can you sidestep poor goal-setting practices? Engagedly can help! Request a demo from us to find out!

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Author

Srikant Chellappa

CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly

Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast.

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