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The Guide to OKRs

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A Brief History

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The Good and Bad of MBOs

The Good The Bad• Infrequently updated• Siloed• Management-driven• Tied to performance

reviews and compensation

• MBOs ushered in era of results-oriented management

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A Brief History

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The OKRs Revolution

• Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are invented at Intel

• KPCB’s John Doerr brings OKRs to Google and more

Benefits• Quarterly vs. Annual process

• Transparent and aligned

• Aspirational

• Not tied to performance reviews/compensation

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So…What are OKRs?

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The guide to OKRs

OKRs are a management methodology that helps companies focus effort on the same important issues throughout their organization

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Objectives

• Personally significant and aspirational‒ Should get you out of bed in the morning

• Significant for company‒ Aligned w/, and supported by, entire org

As measured by…

What I want accomplished

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Key Results

• Clearly make the objective possible

• Measurable

• Limited in number

• Time related

How I will accomplish it

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Why use OKRs?

• Disciplines thinking

• Communicates accurately

• Inspires confidence that everyone is working together

• Establishes indicators for measuring progress

• Focuses effort

• Know exactly what you’re working on

OKRs tell you & your team what you’re doing THIS quarter & importantly, what you are NOT.

Rick KlauProduct Partner at Google Ventures

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Now that you’re convinced…how do you actually do OKRs?

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John Doerr’s famous football example

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General Manager

Head of PRHead Coach

OBJECTIVEMake $ for owners

KEY RESULTS1. Win Super Bowl2. Fill stands to 88%

OBJECTIVEWin Super Bowl

KEY RESULTS1. 200 yd/game passing attack2. 3rd ranked defense in NFL3. 25 yd punt return average

OBJECTIVEFill stands to 88%

KEY RESULTS1. Hire 3 colorful players2. Get 2 Monday night games3. Highlight key players

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Head of PRHead Coach

OBJECTIVEWin Super Bowl

KEY RESULTS1. 200 yd/game passing attack2. 3rd ranked defense in NFL3. 25 yd punt return average

OBJECTIVEFill stands to 88%

KEY RESULTS1. Hire 3 colorful players2. Get 2 Monday night games3. Highlight key players

Offense Defense Special Teams

Scouts Publicity Agent

News Staff

OBJECTIVE200yd/game passing attackKEY RESULTS75% Completion

OBJECTIVE3rd ranked defense in NFLKEY RESULTSLess than 100 yd passing per game

OBJECTIVE25 yd punt return averageKEY RESULTS3 blocked punts

OBJECTIVEHire 3 colorful playersKEY RESULTSVisit top 25 colleges

OBJECTIVEGet 2 Monday night gamesKEY RESULTS5 ESPN special features

OBJECTIVEHighlight key playersKEY RESULTSHire 10 new cheerleaders

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Some Best Practices to Remember

• Focus on 3-5 objectives at a time‒ With 3-5 key results for each

• At least 60% of objectives should be bottom up- Too much top-down dictation kills

motivation and aspiration• Performance evaluations should be

completely separate from OKRs- Keeping the two separate encourages

workers to set aspirational OKRs- Tying the two together stunts

innovative thinking, and leads to sandbagging

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Grading OKRs

• Grading and reflecting on past OKR progress is critical for setting future OKRs

• According to John Doerr & Google, a total grade of 60 - 70% = sweet-spot

Larry’s Objective Win Super Bowl Owner Status Grade

• 1. 200 yards a game passing attack Jeff • 250 yrds/game

• 2. 3rd ranked defense in NFL Joe • 9th ranked defense

• 3. 25 yard punt return average Aaron • 10 yrds punt return avg

TOTAL

1

0.7

0.4

0.7

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Taking OKRs to the Next Level

• They have not reached their full potential

‒ Held back by antiquated implementation

• OKRs are powerful when they are:‒ Adaptable and dynamic. Not static‒ Open and connected. Not siloed

• Fortunately, innovative technologies and Goal Science™ are bringing OKRs into the modern age Kris Duggan

CEO of BetterWorks

“OKRs are a timeless framework, but the methods for implementing them are antiquated. They need to be modernized.”

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Goal Science™ Thinking

Connected Supported Progress-based Adaptable AspirationalTransparent and

alignedSocial reinforcement

and recognitionFrequent and

measurable feedback Flexibility to respond to changing priorities

Retrospection to encourage excellence

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ConnectedTransparent, aligned and all

individuals participate

People view their manager’s goals 20% more

often than their own

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SupportedWorking transparently

with social reinforcement and recognition

27% of @mentions are made by someone other

than the goal owner

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Progress-basedFrequent, measureable

feedback and ongoing wins

Goals updated in the first month are 3X more likely to

be updated frequently

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AdaptableFlexibility to respond to changing priorities and

business needs

88% of stall points are within the control of the company

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AspirationalRetrospection to

encourage excellence

Top-performing department at an industry leading energy

company:Average progress: 82%

Average score: 97%

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Why use BetterWorks for OKRs?

Disciplines Thinking

1Communicates

accurately • Lets everyone know

what’s important• …and supports

everyone with relevant feedback

2Establishes indicators for

measuring progress• …and captures your

progress in real-time

3 4Focusefforts

• Know exactly what you're working on

• And WHY you are working on it!

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