The Basics of OKRs

Introduction to Objectives and Key

Results

Weekdone OKR Software:

weekdone.com

Jüri Kaljundi
CEO & Co-founder
OKRs are your daily poster on the wall:

What should I do next?

What should I focus on?

How far am I?
 It’s said:

“If there is one leadership and team

management process anyone should try,
it’s OKRs”

Used by: Google, LinkedIn, Sears, Twitter,

Yahoo and thousands of others.
So should you.
What is OKR methodology?

• Set quarterly goals – Objectives

• Measure metrics progress – Key Results
• Share it with leaders & co-workers
• One direction everyone works towards
• Aligned & linked hierarchy
Company > Department > Team > Personal
• Transparency and open clearly
communicated teamwork
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Importance of shared goal-setting
via OKRs
• Vision of where you want to get
• Prioritization of how to get there
• Know what's expected of you
• Guide people towards right path
• Daily focus on most important goals
• Freedom inside your own sandbox

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Example Company or Sales OKR

• Increase Q2 recurring revenues

– Increase average subscription size to at
least $295 per month
– Increase the share of recurring
subscriptions vs one-time deals to 85%
– Up-sell to 100 existing customers
– Reduce churn to less than 1% monthly

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OKR key points

• 3-5 Objectives you strive for

– Where you want to get

• 3-5 Key Results to be achieved under

each Objective
– Metrics, to see if you’re getting there

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Why limit amount of goals and metrics?

• 3 O x 3 KR = 9
• 4 O x 4 KR = 16
• 5 O x 5 KR = 25

People can remember and focus on 9

things, but not 25 or more

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Differences compared to other methods

• Two-level grouping:
– One O has multiple KRs
• Everything is measurable
• Limited amount of goals to focus
• Linked from company to team to person
• All public across the company
• Goals are difficult, but not impossible
• Often not tied to salary & bonuses

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Objectives: your goals. The “What?”

• Aspirational
• Challenging
• Qualitative
• Time bound
• Unambiguous

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Key Results: evaluation of achievement.
The “How?”
• Measurable & Quantifiable
• Objectively gradable
• Achievable
• Usually numerical
• Actionable
• Tangible
• Outcome related
Did we meet the Objective?

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Key Result types

• 0-100% progress
• Any % value or x% to y% change
• Euros, dollars
• Items, units, articles, people
• 1-5 or 1-10 grade rating
• Milestones, stages, project phases
• Deliverables, tasks, outcomes

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Roof-shots

• Definitely achievable and easier

• Practical regular activities
• “Business as usual”
• Still pushing to be better

Need to hit 100%

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Moonshots

• Stretch goals
• Ambitious bold goal you might reach
• Failure and risk-taking is an option
• Challenging & uneasy
• Push people to achieve more

Even 60-80% progress or 2/3 is good

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Keys to make OKRs a success

• Less is more: max 3-5 Os and KRs

• Evaluate and mark progress weekly
– Comment on milestones
• Say no to non-OKR activities
• Think big, set goals that matter a lot
• Reflect each week and at the end of Q
how far you are

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Common mistakes

• Over 5 Os or KRs
• Listing too small unimportant tasks
• KRs not measurable, not numeric
• Not understandable to co-workers
• Continuous ongoing Q-to-Q goals have
no growth
• Not challenging enough

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Usual schedule

• Overlapping last Q review + new Q

definition
• 1-2 weeks before and after Q
ends/starts
• Mid-quarter review at 45 days
– Or monthly each 30 days
– Ideally on all company levels

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Hierarchy of OKRs and linking

• Top-down and bottom-up - both OK

• Usually start from Company level
• OK to do 1 or 2 levels only at first
• Lower level O becomes higher level KR
• Link weekly tasks to Objectives

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Examples of bad KRs

• Keep working on product roadmap

• Talk to customers about our products
• Make sure our employees are happy
• Keep working on new website
• Assure onboarding is done well
• Continue the CRM project
• Support our sales team

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Try out Weekdone OKR software

Sign up for free at

Weekdone.com

Browse the OKR Examples Database

http://okrexamples.co/

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Helpful OKR resources

Free OKR Guide E-book

https://weekdone.com/ebook/okr-goal-
setting-guide-template/

Employee Guide to Getting Started with

OKRs
https://blog.weekdone.com/employee-
guide-getting-started-okrs/
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Example Company or HR OKR

• Improve internal employee

engagement
– Reach weekly employee satisfaction score
of at least 4.7 points
– Conduct 3 monthly “Fun Friday” all-hands
meetings with an external motivational
speaker
– Start using OKR’s in all 10 teams and 5
departments

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Example Marketing OKR

• Successfully implement the weekly

newsletter
– Grow subscriber base at least 5% per week
– Increase the CTR% to above industry
average of 3.5%
– Finalize the content strategy, key messages
and topic structure for next 6 months

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Example Marketing OKR

• Activate user-testing
– Conduct at least 4 face to face testing
sessions per month
– Receive at least 15 video interviews from
Usertesting.com
– Make sure at least 80% of people
interviewed are from core target group
(Directors, VP’s, CEO’s, Division Managers)
not random friends

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Example CFO or Finance OKR

• Improve annual budgeting and

business planning
– Receive business line budget proposals
before Sept 1st
– Conduct a daily planning session with each
division manager before their proposals
– Have each business line manager start
using our online dashboards
– Close the final budget by November 30th

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Example Product Manager OKR

• Implement new 360-degree product

planning process
– Divide exact clear roles between sales,
marketing, design and development
– Integrate user testing into planning phase
– Integrate user testing into testing phase
– Decide on input methods from design and
development back into product
management

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Got questions?
Feel free to get in touch with me:

Jüri Kaljundi
CEO & Co-founder, Weekdone
E-mail: jk@weekdone.com

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