Everything you Need to Know About the Objectives and Key Results
Objectives and Key Results (OKR) – Whenever the word goal-setting comes into play in a meeting, the only term that comes to everyone’s mind is OKR. That is because of the proven results shown by OKRs through Google and Intel.
Intel’s Andy Grove strongly believed in Objectives and Key Results and made everyone believe in it by leveraging OKR and showing excellent results through Operation Crush. And John Doerr became the Evangelist of the famous and powerful management tool.
Many HR tech companies digitized the management method by developing top-notch OKR tech solutions to make it easier for companies to set goals and track them. As a result, the use of OKRs among large companies increased. Not only do the other tech companies use OKRs, but also the retail stores like Walmart and Target use them.
What are the Objectives and Key Results?
Objectives are your business goals, and Key Results are your actions taken to achieve them. Key Results are measurable and they give you the details about your progress toward the desired goal.
It gains more popularity especially in the COVID period because all the once-in-a-year goal-setting methods have failed with the uncertain events that are happening now and also in the future. The biggest strength of OKR is that it is agile.
In this Pandemic, what happened to the Companies that Leveraged OKRs?
These companies might have thanked God for making the right decision.
Why?
Objectives and Key Results are agile and set quarterly. This approach enables the companies to make mid-way corrections to the goals.
At the beginning of 2020, when the lockdown was imposed, the companies, amidst planning their work from home transition, were worried about their goals for the year. The companies that had set once-in-a-year business goals and unfamiliar with OKRs would have been in a mess. They have to plan for new goals, make everyone understand the business objectives, set every individual’s goals, and do all these while working remotely.
While on the other hand, the companies that had OKRs in place changed their goals easily. Then, the individuals, teams, and departments aligned their goals with the business objectives. The months to weeks Goal-Setting process was done in a few days to cater to the business needs. Subsequently, all the employees’ efforts are also focused in the direction of the shared common goal.
How Helpful is OKR in Remote Working?
Accountability, a feature of OKR, has played a major in increasing the employee engagement rate even while the employees are working remotely. The employees are held accountable for their individual goals, and so the managers need not call up every employee to check on the status and micromanage them. The employees themselves will send the status updates, if required, and will clarify doubts if there are any. The employees are involved in the Goal-Setting process, and their inputs are taken into consideration.
The employees will also be aware of the bigger picture the company is planning and also their contribution to the company’s future. This awareness increases the number of engaged employees in the organization.
Stretch Goals Can Be Achieved with OKRs
Google kept improving their products and many companies released new products and tech solutions that support work from home and provide a seamless working experience.
How was that possible?
Again, the answer is OKR.
OKRs, where you can measure your progress toward your goals, helped companies to thrive even in the pandemic and the new normal. If a company can soar higher even in these uncertain times, it can weather any storm and achieve any dream, though not immediately but definitely using OKRs.
Your stretch goals can be achieved with OKRs if consistent efforts are put in and proper planning is done. Google made Chrome the best browser by sticking to the same objective and key results for three years. But they showed improvement every year though they failed to achieve their target in the first year. That is the power of Objective and Key Results (OKR).
Choose the right goal-setting tool to reach heights.
HANDPICKED RELATED LINKS:
