DEFINE OKR

I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time - Michael Phelps

Objectives

1. To set goals for this strategy

Approach

1. Define the objectives for this strategy

2. Decide the cadence for key results

3. Define Key Results for current cadence

Actors

1. Facilitator

2. Business and Technology Stakeholders

3. Subject Matter Expert(s)

Output

1. Objectives

2. Key Results

3. Cadence for setting Key Results

Activities

Decide OKR Cadence

There is no hard and fast rule for OKR cadence. Best practice is to set corporate-level OKRs or strategic OKRs annually and group-level OKRs or tactical OKRs quarterly or semi-annually. Level 1 and 2 strategies may have an annual cadence and level 3 strategies may have a quarterly or semi-annual cadence.

Setting OKRs is a time-consuming activity that involves all relevant stakeholders and requires considerable effort on their part. Therefore, companies should decide which cadence best suits their situation.

Workflow: Manage Strategy

Define Objectives and Key Results

Objectives may be defined during the Guide phase. Key results are defined during each cadence. Below are some guidelines for defining both.

• Objectives should be short and crisp

• Objectives should be inspiring and challenging

• Objectives should align with organizational themes

• Each strategy can have 3 to 5 objectives

• Key results should be SMART (specific, measurable, ambitious, relevant, and time-bound) Each goal can have 3-5 key results

• OKRs can be committed or aspirational, with expected scores of 1.0 and 0.7, respectively.

• OKRs may also be classified as run, grow or transform with expected scores of 1.0, 0.85 or 0.7

• All OKRs should deliver tangible business benefits.

Workflow: Manage Business Objectives

Examples of Objectives and Key Results:

• Objective: Lead in digital payment market

  • Key Result: capture 10% of digital payment market

  • KPI: our share of digital payment market

  • Initiative: digital transformation initiative

• Objective: Improve customer experience in branch

  • Key Result: Reduce wait time in branch to within 5 minutes

  • KPI: wait time in branch

  • Initiative: implement queue system in branch

Link Monitoring KPIs

• Link a KPIs to each Key Result to monitor the outcomes over a period of time

• KPI data should be tracked over time

Workflow: Manage Strategy KPIs

Assign to Stakeholders

Objectives and Key Results should be assigned to Responsible Stakeholders. Objectives are assigned to leads and Key Results may be assigned to their reports.

Play Back

Play back is the act of causing recorded sounds or pictures to be heard or seen again. In this case the facilitator will rewind and play back the entire process to set the Objectives and Key Results.

It is an opportunity to re-engage the stakeholders and keep them in sync with the OKRs. During Play back stakeholders should review the objectives and key results, raise concerns, discuss and finalize them.