14 Tips for Using OKR Goals

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Easily set clear business objectives, align your teams, focus
everyone on what matters, track progress,
and drive great results.

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NEW 2017-2018 Expert Series
14 Tried & True Tips
for Using OKR Goals
(Pronounced: A-Team)
for OKR Goals & Ongoing
Performance Management#1

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Understand the Definitions
1

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OKRs is a critical thinking
framework and ongoing
discipline that seeks to ensure
employees work together,
focusing their efforts to make
measurable contributions that
drive the company forward.
Source: Objectives & Key Results,Paul R. Nivenand BenLamorte

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Clear objectives align everyone at your
company and focus collective effort on
what really matters so that you can
achieve your top corporate goals.

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OKR Definitions
• Objectives (Os)
- Answers : WHAT we want to accomplish
- A qualitative title or a headline
- A “Strategic Theme”
- Worded to focus on results/outcomes, not activities or tasks
• Key Results (KRs)
- Answers: How will we accomplish the Objective?
- A Key Result is either a Milestone or a quantified Metric
- Author it as a typical measurable objective or MBO
- KRs help you measure the Objective’s progress
- They are the lowest level of detail and don’t break down any further

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We Want to:
{Objective}
as measured by this set of KRs:
{1. Key Result}
{2. Key Result}
{3. Key Result}

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Writing OKRs - The Importance of Language
• Try to word an Objective (i.e. the title/headline) that inspires the
team to reach high and tap into their best performance
• Use action verbs to start Objectives or KRs
• Phrase the OKRs in the language relevant to the target group

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Set Them Quarterly, Not
Annually or Monthly
3

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Annual Goals > Quarterly Objectives > KRs
2017
Annual Goal 1
Q1
Q1 Objective 1
KR1
Projects 1 Projects 2
Tasks 1,2,3,4,5 Tasks 1,2,3,4,5
Tasks 1,2,3,4,5 Tasks 1,2,3,4,5
KR2 KR3
Q1 Objective 2 Q1 Objective 3
Q2 Q3 Q4
2016
Annual Goal 22016
Annual Goal 32017
Annual Goal 4
Q1 Objectives
(the “What”)
Q1 Key Results
(the “How / Measures”)
Projects/Tactics
(the “Initiatives”)
Tasks
(the “Activities”)
Tasks are not goals – your team’s activities
are not measurable results

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Break Down Strategy Into
Clear Goals
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Translate yourbusiness strategy into a few,
clear and focused goals. These goals will
connect yourteam’s execution back to your
strategy.

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“Never mistake activity for results.”
- Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM and RJR Nabisco
(Credited with turning around IBM’s fortunes)
Image Source: Forbes

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Task vs. Project vs. Goals
• A task (a “to do”) is something that you do (i.e. tasks are just
“activity”)
• A project is an initiative – to complete your project, you have to do
various tasks
• A goal is the OUTCOME or RESULT that you need to achieve. You
usually have to complete a combination of projects in order to attain
your goal.

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“Don’t confuse activity with achievement.”
- John Wooden, Basketball Coach
(won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period as head coach at UCLA)

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How To Cascade
& Align the Goals
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True Goal Hierarchy TM Technology
Assigning Goals to Different Levels of the Company
Top Company Goals
Team
“Shared Goals”
Individuals
Level:
Departmental
“Shared Goals”
CEO
EVPs/VPs
Employees
Goal Owner:
Team
Managers

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Top Company Goal:
Business Unit /
Department Goal:
Team Goal:
Individual
Goal:
Key Result 1
Key Result 2
Key Result 3
Example: How You Would Cascade Goals

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Top Company Goal:
Division /
Department Goal:
Team Goal:
Individual
Goal:
Key Result 1
Key Result 2
Key Result 3

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Goal Planning
• Objectives
-Limit ideally to only 1 to 3 Objectives (maximum of 5)
 1-3 per Company
 1-3 Department/Team
 1-3 per Individual Person
• Key Results
-1-3 Key Results per Objective

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Focus:
We must realize—and act on the
realization—that if we try to focus
on everything, we focus on
nothing. A few extremely well-
chosen objectives impart a clear
message about what we say “yes”
to and what we say “no” to.
Source: High Output Management, Andy Grove, p.111

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Start EVERY Team
Meeting With Goals
9

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Start With Goals
• How is your progress
on your top goals?
• Do you think you’re on
track overall?
• What are the small
wins you’re proud of?

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Identify Problem
Areas Early
• Where are you stuck?
• What are the
bottlenecks where I
can help you?
• What goals are “At
Risk” (in the red)?
• How can I help you
attain these goals?

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Cross-Functional Alignment
& Collaboration
• Are teams aligned?
• Is there cross-functional
collaboration?
• Are people commenting
on each other’s goal
progress, praising goal
attainment, nudging the
effort, offering feedback?

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10
The 3 Secrets of Getting
Started

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3 Keys to Success When Starting To Set Goals
1. Discretion
2. Common Sense
3. Walk before you run

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The 1 Critical
Must Do Tip
11

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The key is to set and use
OKRs frequently.

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Source: APA -http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/bul0000025
2016
A random effects model revealed that, on
average, interventions were successful at
increasing the frequency of monitoring goal
progress … promoted goal attainment...
Moderation tests revealed that progress
monitoring had larger effects on goal
attainment when the outcomes were
reported or made public, and when the
information was physically recorded.
Taken together, the findings suggest that
monitoring goal progress is an effective self-
regulation strategy, and that interventions
that increase the frequency of progress
monitoring are likely to promote behavior
change.

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You MUST Do
Weekly
Progress Check-Ins
(it’s only 5-10 mins)

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8 Benefits of Regular and Weekly Check-Ins
1. Know your progress regularly and avoid surprises
2. Identify obstacles before they blow up into big problems
3. Address changes and course-correct early on
4. Keep employees laser-focused on what matters
5. Encourages interaction between managers and employees
6. Recognition of good performance
7. Address any performance challenges in real-time
8. Coach and train employee skills based on real results

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Source: HR Technology Disruptions in 2016,Bersin by Deloitte,Josh Bersin

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Goals are combined
with Employee Feedback to
increase performance (&
Employee Engagement in
their work at your company).
Source: Gallup – Employees Want a LoreMorefrom theirManagers

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Win With “Small Wins”
12

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Source: Harvard Business Review, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
Ongoing Weekly Progress Check-Ins Offer You a
Significant Competitive Advantage

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How Long To Plan and
Launch?
13

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Timeline: If Setting OKR Goals For the 1st Time Ever, It May Take Even a Few Months
To Plan and Socialize Internally
…But If You Do It Once, the Next Time Can Be In Just a Few Days

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FREE eBook: Go to our RESOURCES page:
https://www.atiim.com/resources/

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Atiim is an enterprise goals and performance management platform
that transforms the way organizations and their people align and
revolutionizes how companies work to achieve maximum
performance and stellar results.
Our mission is to make mid-market companies more:
aligned, competitive, effective and successful.
(Pronounced: A-Team)
for OKR Goals & Ongoing
Performance Management#1

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14 Tips for Using OKR Goals

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