What Is an OKR and What Are the Dos and Don’ts of Setting OKRs?

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(Newswire.net — August 2, 2022) — OKR is a goal-setting framework, used by many individuals, teams, and organizations to define measurable goals and track their outcomes. OKR helps in the alignment of professional & personal goals. It also helps in the Performance management of the company. Moreover, It enables tracking employee progress which is necessary for businesses. 

The structure of OKR is simple, agile, and transparent. It helps organizations in completing tasks in the flow of work. Many reputable companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Oracle use OKRs

If you’re still unsure how to go about setting an OKR, here are some OKR examples –

OBJECTIVE 1 : Improve Our SEO

Key Results:

Get 10 new inbound links from relevant websites
Improve our internal on-page optimization
Improve our website loading speed

OBJECTIVE 2 : Improve Our Employee Retention

Key Results:

  • Improve our feedback and ongoing performance management process
  • Improve our employee engagement score and employee satisfaction to 8 or above
  • Survey employees monthly on how to make our company an even better place to work
  • Assess if we are paying salaries and benefits at market rates

Objective 3 : Grow the business

Key Results:

  • Grow revenue to $1M
  • Hire 10 more skilled employees
  • Launch a new product

The dos and don’ts of setting OKRs –

  • Use OKRs selectively – One of the most important things to remember when setting OKRs is that they should not be used as a project management tool. Use OKRs selectively to focus everyone on what matters. This is because too many priorities can dilute the team’s energy and make it difficult to achieve results. When choosing your priorities, be sure to consider the company’s overall strategy and what will have the biggest impact on achieving its goals. By doing this, you can ensure that your team is focused on the most important tasks and you are making the best use of your resources.
  • Keep it simple – Over-engineering your OKRs can be a costly mistake. By definition, OKRs should be simple and clear. By trying to make them too complicated, you run the risk of muddying the waters and making it more difficult to assess progress. Additionally, over-engineering can lead to unrealistic objectives that are ultimately unattainable. instead, focus on choosing the most relevant objectives and key results. This will help ensure that your team remains focused and motivated and you’re able to accurately measure progress. Ultimately, keep in mind that less is often more when it comes to OKRs. By keeping them simple and clear, you’ll maximize your chances of success.
  • Adapt OKRs to your team’s unique needs –  It’s important to remember that OKR is just a tool and not a prescriptive solution. Setting goals is essential for any team, but it can be tricky to figure out what will work best. Every team is different, so you’ll need to adapt the OKRs to fit your team’s unique needs. You may also find that what works for one cycle doesn’t work for the next, so don’t be afraid to try something different. The most important thing is to keep setting goals and moving forward.

You need to master the power of OKRs to truly experience growth. The right OKR tool is essential in helping your team move towards a shared goal at an accelerated pace. Huminos is a powerful OKR tool that will help you and your team to achieve success. Huminos ensure constant 1:1s, continuous tracking, and feedback. It helps in managing performance in the flow of work.