What We Discovered After Surveying 50,000+ OKRs
Do you have a tactical plan that keeps your teams operating efficiently? Of course, but more importantly – are these objectives realistic? The reality is that if your objectives are not realistic, you run the risk of creating stagnation in your organisation’s growth strategy. Worse – the stagnation may spread to your teams. That’s where (And why) OKRs tools can step up to the plate.
The advantages are abundantly clear, given the number of businesses that employ the OKR goal-setting process. And we have analysed over 50,000 OKRs to unearth their true potential! So, let’s dig deep into OKRs and find out how you can set successful OKRs for your organisation.
Proven track record of OKRs: It really works
In the 1990s, John Doerr developed the OKR framework while working at Intel. Since then, OKRs have gained popularity as a tool for monitoring progress and boosting organisational performance.
Using objectives and key results (OKRs) has even enabled companies like Intel, Google, and Alphabet to experience exponential growth – allowing them to achieve 10X growth. Unsurprisingly, other prominent tech companies quickly embraced the OKR framework, like LinkedIn, Twitter, Dropbox, Spotify, Airbnb, and Uber.
Today, we witness the adoption of OKRs in many industries, including banking, media, telecom, insurance, and even the public sector.
The art of setting successful OKRs: Six steps to follow
It’s pertinent to note that setting objectives that motivate your team and yield results requires real skill. However, one aspect that tends to get ignored is that finding measurable goals can also be challenging for employees. If employees are unfamiliar with OKRs, they may become easily overwhelmed. So, to help you out, we have developed a few tips to set up successful OKRs in a way that’s conducive to the organisation employees.
1. Identify areas for improvement
What areas do you think your team needs to improve on? Setting OKRs that focus on these growth areas can be a great start. For instance, if only 70% of representatives met their work quota during the previous quarter, you could establish a goal to boost that percentage by 10% by the end of the next quarter. For example, let’s say that you’re setting OKRs for your sales teams. The key results could be:
Key result 1: The sales representative spends an extra hour finding prospects that will convert.
Key result 2: The sales representative now schedules two more weekly meetings than they did in the past.
Key result 3: Each sales representative closes five more deals per month than they previously did.
2. Align team OKRs to shared objectives
According to research, more than 85% of corporate employees are unaware of the organisational strategy and goals. So, by ensuring that the corporate goals (OKRs) are cascaded to the department and team goals through top-down or bottom-up alignment, OKRs provide a solution to this issue.
Employees are better informed about how their job contributes to company objectives thanks to OKR alignment, which also causes the entire business to function in unison.
3. Establish quantifiable OKRs
OKRs must be quantified, and they cannot include ambiguous objectives like “increase revenue” or “sell more products.” Each OKR, from the objective to the key results, should be given a number or percentage. By that logic, each OKR also risks being too ambitious or unreachable if no quantifiable measure is attached.
4. Enable measurement and tracking of key results
Weekly tracking of OKRs is an important part of the OKR process. The beginning of the quarter marks the establishment of the metrics that businesses will use for tracking and monitoring the numerous Key Results. Using tools like Synergita’s OKR Software, your teams can transparently track their own OKRs. It keeps everyone informed of the standings and enables members to assist individuals who require help fulfilling their obligations by leveraging resources and skills.
5. Remove obstacles and offer encouragement
It is too easy for reps to become demoralised when teams have demanding goals, especially if they encounter obstacles or do not get enough assistance. Remove any obstacles your team faces when using a current tool or procedure to accomplish their objectives.
6. Celebrate the wins and work on the losses
Finally, remember to celebrate your wins. Did your team achieve a key result or at least come close? If so, acknowledge this win. Then, take a look at the losses to find growth opportunities. To find out what the team found challenging and motivating, obtain feedback from them afterward. You can then restart the process to set more strategic and smarter OKRs.
OKR holds the key to organisational success
We hope that our analysis of over 50,000 OKRs has helped you understand not just the importance of OKRs – but also the urgency of adoption if you’re looking to increase the productivity of your teams. Setting OKRs will motivate your team to succeed and provide you with the ability to empower and inspire them to achieve your organisation’s objectives.
That’s why Synergita OKR Software makes it effortless to develop and implement unique OKR strategies. Synergita’s OKR expertise goes a long way to facilitate the ease of creating OKRs within a business unit or throughout your organization – further accelerating your growth.
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