Objectives and Key Results

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Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a management system for targeted and modern employee management . It is a framework to the objective (Objectives) and measurement of earnings indicators (Key Results) .

Details

Objectives and Key Results is a framework for modern management that links the individual tasks of teams and employees with corporate strategy, plans and vision. Objectives and key results should be objectively ascertainable or measurable and visible to the entire company.

OKR divides goals into qualitative objectives and quantitative key results.

Objective: Where do I want to go or what do I want to achieve?

Key Result: What do I have to do to get there and how can I measure it?

By definition, each key result must contain a number, and the objective is operationalized by defining the desired key results. The objective is achieved when all assigned key results are achieved.

Every three months, the OKR is reformulated in the company, initially at company level, then each part of the company and then each individual team derive their OKR. The degree of target achievement and the trend are checked weekly.

OKR should help companies with this

  • ensure a more structured goal-setting process
  • to specify and clarify the expectations of the tasks of the employees
  • improve internal company communication through transparency and visibility
  • set up the indicators for process measurement
  • Link the goals and earnings metrics across the organization.

particularities

Since Google is one of the main disseminators of the method, some peculiarities of the framework have spread, which arise from the specific implementation method of the search engine provider. OKR is not a formally strict process, but a framework that can be adjusted depending on the company context. However, the cornerstones of this framework are all in themselves essential to the success of OKR.

  • Crucial are a tangible corporate mission statement, as well as short and concise annual goals / moals (midterm goals), which connect the OKR with the strategy of the company
  • There are various OKR events that ensure the successful completion of the company's own OKR process: OKR Planning (the OKR of the company and the team are defined here), Weekly OKR (weekly short status update), OKR Review (status meeting at the end of the cycle) and the retrospective (systemic view of the past cycle and options for improvement).
  • The goals (objectives) are ambitious, but their implementation is only partially concrete, the key results are measurable and clearly quantified (e.g. with percentages from 0 to 100%)
  • The time frame for OKR is usually between two and four months
  • OKRs are transparent throughout the company (i.e. internally publicly visible) because they also have a transparency function. For this purpose, an OKR list is required in which all OKRs of the company are written down and continuously updated
  • A result corridor of usually 70–90% target achievement is targeted, a regular achievement of 100% increases the risk of not sufficiently ambitious targets
  • Negative target attainments are not sanctioned, but are viewed as data points for improving future OKRs
  • The company should have responsible persons (OKR Master, OKR Champion, OKR Ambassador, ...) who actively promote OKR and act as OKR coach, expert, process monitor and facilitator as well as change agent for the employees
  • OKR is not an employee evaluation method, but a management approach to target achievement
  • OKR is not linked to a bonus system.

advantages

Followers of the method attribute a number of advantages to OKR in structuring and operating companies:

  • Company goals are specified and linked to the work content of individual teams or even employees
  • Transparency and communication in the company are increased, employees not only know what they are doing, but also why
  • Internal coordination processes are accelerated
  • Intrinsic motivation is encouraged
  • Resource planning is made easier
  • OKR is easy to understand and can be implemented without a complicated technical infrastructure
  • Companies learn to focus better, as there should generally be no more than four objectives for the company and per team
  • Companies are becoming more agile as the speed of reaction to changes in the market increases significantly
  • Self-organization and commitment of the teams are required and encouraged.

disadvantage

Of course, a framework, a method or a model that has many advantages is also accompanied by challenges (which can develop into weaknesses):

  • A lack of management support can cause OKR to fail
  • If the introduction of OKR is not conclusively justified, the transparency of the goals can create pressure or resentment
  • If the management uses OKR as a "control instrument", employees can react negatively and the potential of OKR is not exhausted
  • Too many goals can quickly overwhelm the entire company
  • At the beginning, during the introduction of OKR, additional time is required
  • OKR will achieve little without a mission statement
  • A lack of discipline (in terms of transparency, focus, commitment, self-organization, time expenditure) can cause OKR to fail
  • If the OKR introduction is not actively viewed as a change project, rejection and misunderstandings can arise
  • OKR needs commitment and time capacity (especially the OKR Master)
  • OKR requires a corresponding open corporate culture and the desire to change towards more agility
  • The use of OKR software leads to overly complex procedures.

history

OKRs were first introduced at Intel when Intel co-founder Andrew Grove developed the system based on management methods such as MBO ( Management by Objectives ) and SMART (Specific Measurable Accepted Realistic Time Bound). OKR received broader attention through its use by the search engine provider Google , which has been using the method since 1999 and has been in constant use ever since. Through the work of the well-known US manager John Doerr , who proclaimed the OKR method with his holding company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers , other well-known growth companies have adopted the approach over time, including the business network LinkedIn and the game developer Zynga . Current intranet solutions for data storage are sufficient for the implementation of the framework, but with the increasing spread, a whole range of software tools for the implementation of OKR have established themselves.

While Andrew Grove describes the method on two pages in his book, the “textbooks” and software tools are now very bloated.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schmid-Gundram, Ralf: Concept. Controlling practice in medium-sized companies. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2014. 81-143.
  2. ↑ OKR . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 11, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.enterprise-gamification.com
  3. ↑ Christina Wodtke: The Art of the OKR . Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ Fabian Schaub: How companies can develop people: Why high performance needs sense and passion . Bourdon Verlag, Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-947206-09-4 .
  5. ↑ Rick Klau: How Google sets goals: OKRs? . Medium.com. October 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ Joel Kaczmarek: What is OKR and how is it implemented? . digital compact. March 10, 2016.
  7. ↑ Steven Levy: In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives . Simon & Schuster, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4165-9658-5 , pp. 162-3.
  8. ↑ Rick Klau: How Google sets goals: OKRs . Google Ventures. May 14, 2013.
  9. ^ The Management Framework that Propelled LinkedIn to a $ 20 Billion Company . First round review. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  10. ↑ o. V .: What is the best tool or software application for tracking OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)? . Quora. March 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Andrew Grove, High Output Management . Random House, 1983. ISBN 0394532341 .