Best ways for setting outstanding objective and key results

What is OKR?

It is a framework that will help you set, track, and execute goals. OKR was invented at Intel and was heavily popularized by Google, they are the secret ingredient behind sustainable growth.

When you implement them correctly, objective and key results curate a singular focus within the business, stretch the boundaries of what is possible, and keep employees accountable for company growth.

OKRs can be conducted monthly, quarterly, or even annually, all of this depends on the company. What truly matters is that the objectives should be communicated to the managers, who are then supposed to set their own goals and align the teams.

Below are some of the best ways you can set outstanding objectives and key results

Goals that inspire the employees and generate results takes a lot of effort and great skills.

But at the same time, it can be a bit difficult for employees to find objectives that are measurable and align them with the bigger picture of what the company is trying to achieve. Especially, if employees are new to OKRs, they might easily get overwhelmed.

Try to keep it simple

The primary focus should be on objectives you can achieve in the given time frame. Some employees think they need to contribute to every department objective and end up spreading themselves too thin.

Thus, always prioritize your objectives as per what the business needs most. Always remember that there is no magic number for how many objectives you should have, all of it depends on how complex they are, as well as the time and resources that are available.

Be accurate and specific

When you are setting an objective, think about various ways you can reach the result. Even better would be to draw out your action plan to be more specific on how to achieve your objective. For each key result, think about how you can evaluate performance.

For instance, with the help of KPI management software, you can create a framework to achieve desired goals and design a goal engine that works for you regardless of which KPI process your organization is using.

Cascade objectives

A common problem faced by employees that are setting the objective is struggling to see - how their job can contribute to the holistic organization goal and success? The answer to this question is fairly simple.

All you need to do is cascade your objectives: first from the organizational level, then to the departmental level, and finally to an individual level.

Make it Measurable

The key results need to have a unit of measurement. It doesn’t matter what, it can be to write 5 blogs per week to reach $5,000 in sales. Now, here what you are trying to do is, being confused as to whether you have reached your said goal or not.

A solution to the problem can be to conduct a 1:1 meeting with employees and the managers and add a metric to quantifiable goals.

Try to break key results into smaller goals

Try to create mini-goals within your key results. When you know all you need to do is achieve your key results, it makes objectives even more specific. Furthermore, these mini-goals will act as milestones throughout your progress.

When the goals are too broad, it can become difficult to maintain focus on achieving them, this step can help you stay on track.

Conclusion

about seeing aggressive growth, then be relentless in implementing and executing OKRs.

Make it a point that your entire/organization is on board with the selected framework for defining and measuring business objectives.