Setting objectives and defining key results is only the beginning of goal management, there are two basic questions when determining your OKRs, they are:
- Where am I going?
- How will I get there?
Companies that use OKR management know exactly where they want to go, how they need to get there, and how they will measure each stage of the process. And companies with misaligned goals fail before they even start.
One of the main reasons for this is that they don't determine which objectives and key results need to be achieved.
The cultural transformation of implementing management processes takes planning, time and commitment, but when implemented, the benefits allow teams to contribute directly to organizational goals, while also contributing to their own goals, which is transformative for everyone involved.
For some people, OKRs start and stop with the creation of a list of tasks or objectives created at management level, which are cascaded down to operational level. There is still a lot of confusion in thinking that OKRs management is a way of creating to-do lists or a vague set of ambitious goals. Execution is not about checking off each activity, but about generating real impact through measurable results.
Creating a transformative culture
OKRs are inspiring, when implemented to their full potential they allow teams to contribute directly to organizational objectives, but at the same time establish broad alignment, responsibility, autonomy, focus and transparency. The transformation of the corporate culture must be based on the true desire of the leadership to implement the OKR methodology. Based on the behavior of managers, it will be possible for the team to get involved, become enthusiastic about the new methodology and believe that each process will be worth the effort.
It is important to ensure that the company identifies the core values that will drive greater focus and purpose, while facilitating a healthy company culture. The culture of transformation must talk about collaboration, transparency and the autonomy of people and teams. In short, the values should always incorporate items from the corporate culture and environment, providing an environment for adopting and managing OKRs.
Analyzing the maturity level of your OKRs
The process of measuring, adjusting, repeating and refining OKRs is more mature and can be divided into five levels: OKR CuriousOKR Aware, OKR Champion, OKR Excellence and OKR Master. Companies that manage OKRs know that a culture of collaboration, transparency and autonomy makes teams agile, innovate faster, accomplish more in less time and with fewer resources.
Most companies focus on achieving alignment between employee performance and business strategy. To make it easier to understand which level of the methodology your company is at, we've listed each stage:
OKR CuriousAt this level, management has a process for managing tasks or setting targets at business and/or individual levels. This type of process is familiar with the OKR methodology, but has little or no experience of implementing the processes. Companies at this stage have nothing formalized or structured, setting targets based on certain periods and monitoring their indicators with a few employees or not at all;
OKR Aware: Management at this stage has committed itself to experimenting with OKRs for a period, has started a process of gathering indicators, but the OKRs have been defined at a single level and can be shared more widely. Each objective has its own measurable key result, but cannot be measured at individual levels. Based on this experience, the leaders hold few meetings to monitor and discuss progress and there is no alignment between the teams;
OKR Champion: Leaders at this stage have been using OKRs for more than a quarter and use spreadsheets to monitor key indicators. Each goal is distributed at more than one level and widely shared between teams, with each objective having measurable and individual key results. By monitoring OKRs, managers meet a few times a month to check on progress, share feedback and learn. At this level, the team's objectives are aligned with the business objectives, but in a broader way. Each result achieved is analyzed at the end of a cycle (quarter, for example).
OKR Excellence: At this level the company uses a management system to monitor its indicators. Teams prioritize OKR activities and each goal is divided into more than two objectives, with measurable and individual key results. Alignment meetings are held every two weeks, discussing points for improvement, difficulties and monitoring progress. With closer monitoring, managers are able to share feedback and instruct each team to update their goals based on a scoring model, before the quarterly review meeting.
OKR Master: The company is aligned by allowing responsibility and autonomy for each person, priorities are connected with individual activities and the purpose of the business. By using the management system to monitor each OKR, the data sources allow an objective analysis of each person's performance. Leadership and teams can understand whether an objective has been achieved or not, because managers use reports and 1:1 meetings to discuss each result. At this level, the leadership has a complete overview of the company's progress, the OKRs are shared by everyone, so each person knows exactly how each indicator is progressing. At this level, one person on the team is defined as the OKR Master or OKR Champion, i.e. the specialist in the methodology who supports the implementation and helps managers and employees with the practical support of the process.
Diagnose your company
By adopting the OKR methodology, it is possible to have better alignment throughout your business, achieve faster and healthier growth, and have engaged teams. Transparency in the process and the timing of reviews, updates and planning can be flexible as process management is embedded in the company's culture, but to make it easier to understand what stage the company is at, the Improvefy has developed a diagnosis so that leaders can easily identify how to optimize the OKR journey.
The diagnosis is a simple assessment that helps us to know what level of OKR implementation maturity the company is at. Carrying out this initial diagnosis will help you understand how to move forward to reach the OKR Champion level. Increasingly, companies are looking for the best way to understand their performance and execution, which is why we believe that the OKR Management Maturity Diagnosis will be important to make each stage more visible to management.
