5 Must-Have Features Of OKR Goal-Setting Software

Every organization wants to create favorable conditions to thrive, and an effective way to do so is by setting goals. Companies like Apple, Google, LinkedIn, and Adobe are known for getting their team aligned and focused on the right goals via Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

While Objectives are something you want to achieve, Key Results provide a measurable way to track how close you are to achieving that Objective. But maintaining spreadsheets is not enough to deploy the OKR methodology. You need to rely on technology in the form of Objectives and Key Results Framework.

A sneak peek into the OKR software

An OKR software helps your employees track the progress of their goals easily. It offers one central location for documenting all the work, minimizing repetitive tasks and errors in the workflow.

Read More: Planning to use an OKR Goal-Setting Software? The Time is Now

OKR goal-setting software makes multi-alignment of goals across verticals in the company possible. But with so many options available, it can be difficult for you to select the most appropriate platform. This article highlights five features that every OKR goal-setting software must have.

1. People mapping

No OKR can be fully accomplished without creating visibility into who is doing what. If your team members do not work in tandem with each other, you will fail to achieve your Objectives.

That is why your OKR goal-setting software should smoothly integrate into the “flow of work” and enable all the stakeholders to move forward in the same direction hassle-free to focus on their progress and achieve defined outcomes.

2. Goal mapping

While enabling all employees in sync is necessary, success is not inevitable unless the end goals align with your CEO, leaders, and teams. If a particular group is working on goal A, but the C-suite wants to achieve goal B, the result is loss of time, money, and effort.

Your goal-setting software should, therefore, help everyone in the organization keep an eye on the main goal while clearly understanding individual objectives and how every person’s actions will contribute to business success in the long run.

Read More: How do OKRs in Business Help Improve Leadership Skills?

3. Alignment and assignment

An OKR software should have the basic functionality to align and cascade goals. Since OKRs and goals are a shared responsibility, you need an OKR framework that helps you share goals across multiple company verticals, functions, or hierarchies.

For instance, a manager can delegate end-goals to their subordinates. Goal alignment also helps everyone see the main Objective.

Here’s an OKR example: You’re a freelance consultant and you need to get your website ready so that more people can find you through Google. Your OKR would be:

4. Review and feedback

Without proper OKR software in place, it becomes difficult for different teams and employees to keep tabs on their progress. You see, emails often get lost or go unread. An employee goal-setting software will give you an open window to collaborate with others, review and provide or receive feedback on the work done, and move closer to achieving your Objectives.

5. Reporting

A goal-setting software is useless with an intuitive dashboard. Therefore, make sure your OKR performance management tool has a robust reporting system that helps you focus on the lagging goals, stay aligned with the business priorities, and improve overall performance.

A brilliant OKR software reflects the progress made with completing goals over a specific period and assesses Key Results aligned with the desired Objectives. It also helps identify bottlenecks at both the grassroots and company-level that should be addressed at the earliest.

Over to you

A goal-setting software such as Unlock:OKR allows business leaders to prioritize, refresh and realign OKRs so that organizations meet the overall vision, goal and purpose. Your business can therefore attain measurable business outcomes, improve employee engagement and track performance using Unlock:OKR’s goal-setting software.