OKRs in Business: Good OKRs Vs Bad OKRs

Objectives and Key results (OKRs) in business are adopted as an effective goal setting approach for individuals, departments, as well the organizations. The four key aspects of OKRs- Alignment, Focus, Clarity, and Accountability help to enhance performance and attain measurable outcomes. Google adopted the OKR methodology in 1999 which then became the standard for several other organizations like LinkedIn, Amazon, Twitter, and others.

OKRs in businesses serve as the most innovative way to craft a common vision, drive employee engagement, align to the desired objectives, and improve the business impact. Aligning every employee with the shared organizational goals is one of the key benefits of OKRs. The aim is simple- to ensure that everyone is moving in the right direction, with the clear focus, and in a constant rhythm. You must be wondering what exactly the objectives and key results in OKRs imply

• Objectives are the qualitative goals that an organization wants to accomplish. The short-term or long-term goals encourage employees with a sense of purpose to achieve something big.
• Key Results are the quantifiable outcomes attained against the desired objectives. The key is to focus on few results that define success for every objective.

Good OKRs Vs Bad OKRs

OKRs in businesses are a successful goal setting and performance-focused framework. Though, OKRs are easy to use at any level, organizations can make a few mistakes while adopting them for the first time. This is where comes the difference between good OKRs and bad OKRs. Good OKRs are well-defined towards attaining the desired results and bad OKRs lack the most significant aspects like measurability and accountability. So, it is essential for organizations to avoid the following mistakes while introducing OKRs-

• Poor Alignment against Goals
  Creating only top-down objectives from departments to individuals can be a bad OKR. OKRs must cascade goals both top-down as well as bottom up so that every employee knows where the organization is heading to. To avoid this, organizations should allow every employee to prioritize their goals and set objectives that clearly support organization-wide objectives to grow and succeed.
• Too Many Key Objectives
  When setting too many objectives, employees may lose focus and feel disengaged. This becomes a bad OKR. To avoid this mistake, companies must assign each employee with only 3-5 OKRs for a quarter, motivating them to stay focused, aligned, and productive.
• Consider OKRs as Tasks
  OKRs are not the tasks that need to be accomplished by employees. Instead, these are the results achieved against a shared set of organizational goals. To avoid this mistake,you can deploy a training management platform to track individual activities and the related outcomes.

Leverage the benefits of good OKRs in business to set clear objectives and attain remarkable outcomes. While implementing OKR methodology for the first time, organizations may face multiple challenges. But, eventually, the powerful goal setting and performance enhancement OKR approach will strive your business to grow.

Unlock:OKR is a robust goal setting tool that can aid your organization to align employees against intended objectives, improve focus on priorities, drive performance, and boost overall impact. Join our unique First Class program to know more about the benefits and use cases.