There's often excitement when embarking on something new — a honeymoon phase.
And like any long-term relationship, OKR requires commitment and care.
While there are early signs that can definitely predict when an OKR program will be successful,
it's also critical to continue to nurture your OKR program to promote ongoing engagement and participation.
At Perdoo all our OKR coaches have supported OKR implementations over many years in
a wide variety of organizations.
They've seen what it takes to keep an OKR program strong and healthy.
Here are their six best practices that will help you boost engagement
and get your OKR program to the next level.
The first is to set clear expectations.
Everyone is on the same page when they know what is expected of them and when to deliver what's expected of them.
Don't assume that everyone will remember the details of your OKR program that were shared
maybe via email or presentation.
Instead create a living document that details when OKRs needs to be created, updated, presented, and closed.
Having this timeline accessible helps everyone meet those expectations.
Here's a template you can use when determining the rhythm of your program.
When it comes to goal setting and updating progress, check-ins are a great way to communicate
those expectations. But what are check-ins?
They're a simple way for everyone in your organization to update all their goals at once.
In Perdoo you can customize the frequency of your check-ins to suit your organization
and ensure that everyone's goals are front and center and regularly top of mind.
Additionally, in Perdoo you can set up a reminder to set goals before every new quarter.
To provide additional reinforcement, we actually add a calendar invitation for important cyclical milestones.
For example, our Ambassador sends a calendar invitation for the first week of the quarter that says
"Close your Q2 OKRs and draft Q3 OKRs"
The second point is to distribute ownership.
It's important that a single person rather than a group of people leads a goal —
Objective, Key Result, Initiative, or KPI.
As the saying goes, "if multiple people are responsible, no one is."
Having just one lead creates a sense of ownership and responsibility,
motivating the lead to organize all the efforts to drive the goal to success.
And to be clear, the lead doesn't have to be the only person working on that goal.
They may need the help of contributors to achieve the goal.
A natural impulse we often see is that team leads own all the team's goals.
Alternatively, consider having other team members lead an Objective or Key Result.
This instills a sense of trust, pride and ownership.
Your team members will feel more invested if they can lead an Objective or Key Result themselves.
And let's be honest, as the team lead do you really have the time to lead all those goals?
If you're not ready to distribute this ownership, then make sure that your team members can participate
through creating and leading their own Initiatives.
The third point is to integrate OKRs into existing meetings.
We've already got too many meetings.
Avoid adding friction by creating yet more meetings for OKRs.
Instead insert OKRs as a topic in existing meetings and this can apply to all types —
one-on-ones, team meetings, leadership meetings, All Hands meetings.
Set out a clear agenda of what should be discussed to ensure standardization.
You could celebrate wins, share key learnings and surface road blocks.
And the level of detail should vary by audience.
You'll be the most granular in one-on-ones, maybe speaking to Initiatives and what you did the previous week.
Whereas in leadership meetings you'll be more high-level. There you could share maybe only the key information.
The fourth point is to lead by example.
Often leadership makes the decision to start working with the OKR framework
but their involvement should definitely not stop there.
Their continued participation is key to the OKR program's success.
Leadership needs to demonstrate the behavior and commitment that they expect from the rest of the organization.
And this includes creating company goals — both OKRs and KPIs, and updating everyone on those goals.
It's also important that leadership follows up progress of the team goals.
Leadership sets the example and if they care, everyone else is likely to follow.
The fifth point is to identify co-Ambassadors in each department.
In many situations there's strength in numbers and OKR is really no different.
OKR programs generally have an Ambassador who is the person responsible for managing
the education, roll out, and ongoing operations of the OKR program.
A strong Ambassador is critical to success but there's only so much a single person can do.
Identify those people who see the value of OKR and want to be experts.
You can then have co-Ambassadors for each department or team who will make sure everyone is creating high quality OKRs,
updating them on time, and taking the time to thoughtfully reflect and record learnings during the closing exercise.
The more people invested in the process, the higher the odds of success.
The sixth point is to celebrate wins.
While it's important to surface those goals that are definitely off track or need attention,
it's also important to celebrate the positives.
When an Objective or Key Result is achieved or has made significant progress you should take the opportunity to celebrate these accomplishments.
After all it's these outcomes that you're working toward and ultimately want to realize.
Managers should celebrate these in one-on-ones with their direct reports.
Team leads should celebrate these in team meetings.
Leadership should celebrate these leadership meetings and in company-wide All-Hands meetings.
You get the idea.
So to conclude your OKR program will likely not operate like a well-oiled machine from the start.
You need to embed the process into your existing workflow
and establish a routine.
Here were six best practices based on what we've seen at Perdoo and we have been doing this for quite some time
but don't be afraid to experiment yourself to find the right opportunities for your organization to further improve your OKR program.