How Operational

Leaders Can Drive

Excellence With
OKRs

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Contents Introduction
The main challenges for operational leaders
3
5
How OKRs and OKR software help operational leaders
solve business challenges 11
How operational leaders can roll out OKRs in 5 steps 20
Why the COO must be the OKR sponsor 25
Best practices for implementing OKRs 27
Ready to see what OKRs can do for you? 30

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Introduction

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Introduction As an operational leader, you’re a crucial link in the organizational chain.

Your role drives various outcomes across the business hierarchy, like
managing efficient operations, incorporating new technology, and adapting
to internal/external environments. You translate the company strategy into
actionable plans and ensure everything runs smoothly.

Except things don’t always go as planned.

Dealing with business challenges like ever-changing market conditions

and change management issues can hinder your ability to fulfill your
responsibilities effectively. To help you stay on track, you need a flexible, all-
encompassing framework to help you manage operations — objectives and
key results (OKRs).

This guide shows you how OKRs improve your operations, allowing
you to overcome your toughest challenges and achieve long-lasting
operational success.

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The main challenges for
operational leaders

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The main challenges for operational With unexpected forces at play and complex technologies to navigate, you
leaders
face a unique set of challenges in your role:

01
Inefficiencies in operations management

02
Operational risk management

03
Change management

04
Driving operational excellence

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The main challenges for operational
leaders
Inefficiencies in operations management
Operational inefficiencies hinder your business from reaching its full
potential, performance, and growth across the board. Some common
culprits are:
๫ Poor process management: Inefficient workflows, duplicated
or conflicting tasks, and unclear procedures lead to wasted time
and efforts
๫ Inadequate resource allocation: Insufficient resource planning cause an
overuse (or underuse) of assets
๫ Ineffective communication: Miscommunication across departments and
stakeholders lead to errors and delayed decision-making
๫ Technological limitations: Incompatible software, outdated systems,
and manual operations induce operational errors, lags, and inefficiencies
๫ Lack of standardized procedures: Without proper guidance, employees
may resort to inconsistent or suboptimal processes
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The main challenges for operational
leaders Operational risk management
Interdependencies and the sheer volume of data involved in operations
create risk management headaches. These are often brought on by:

Inaccurate data Disconnected risk

Outdated or backward-looking data gives
you a lagging performance perspective,
failing to depict what needs to change.
This limits the company’s ability to react
to the increasingly complex and dynamic
nature of business risks.
management and strategy
When risk management and business
strategy are not in sync, it may
be challenging to evaluate your
organization’s risk tolerance and ability
to achieve goals.

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What is strategy execution?
Change management
Dynamic market changes require collaborative, forward-thinking, and
flexible operations. However, attaining these is challenging when faced with:

Outdated frameworks Resistance to change

Not syncing vision, strategy, and execution The uncertainty, fear, and anxiety
can complicate strategy execution to the stakeholders and employees feel when it
point of paralysis by analysis. comes to change can lead to pushback.

Hybrid and remote work

structures
Outdated ways of work don’t support
communication, collaboration, and company
culture, requiring new setups to cultivate trust,
transparency, and engagement with employees.

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The main challenges for operational
leaders
Driving operational excellence
Keeping operations running smoothly may feel like a juggling act. You must
allocate resources effectively, streamline processes, and deal with ongoing
complexities and constraints. Often, the pitfalls of operational performance
stem from:

Improper measurement Poor employee engagement

Without accurate measurements and monitoring,
you can’t assess progress, identify areas for
improvement, or make informed decisions,
making it difficult to identify bottlenecks
or inefficiencies.
When employees lack motivation and
commitment, the quality of their work
diminishes, resulting in a significant
decline in employee experience and
operational performance.

Disjointed short-term and

long-term goals
Balancing short-term optimizations with
long-term growth initiatives can impact
your ability to pivot while maintaining
operational efficiency.

Let’s take a look at how you can use OKRs and OKR software to overcome
these challenges and achieve success.

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How OKRs and OKR software
help operational leaders solve
business challenges

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational The unique set of challenges you face as an operational leader requires a
leaders
unique solution. To help you better approach these challenges head-on,
here are a few real-world case studies of companies that tackled these
challenges using OKRs and OKR software, emerging stronger as a result.
We’ll explore each challenge, how OKRs directly counter these, and what the
practical use of OKR software would look like in each scenario.

1. How OKRs and OKR software help with

inefficiencies in operations management
OKRs provide a clear framework to set, communicate, and achieve
goals. This enables you to focus on initiatives aligned with strategic
priorities to avoid wasting resources on insignificant activities. As a result,
collaborative efforts grow, with the entire organization working together
toward common goals.

Additionally, as OKRs encourage regular progress tracking, they help you

quickly identify areas for improvement and take corrective action.

To support data-driven operations, you can utilize OKR software like

Quantive Results or other OKR goal-management systems to emphasize
key priorities and ensure teams focus on the most valuable tasks.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational Dedicated software provides visibility into OKR ownership, progress, and
leaders
interdependencies, promoting accountability and showcasing how individual
and collective efforts drive essential metrics.

Case study

BaseKit

BaseKit, a website builder platform, struggled to align its growing team

toward a unified vision. After implementing the OKR methodology, they
aligned the company across all levels, providing clarity and structure
throughout the organization.

As a result, employee engagement spiked. Collaboration, creativity, and

innovation thrived among teams with common goals at the forefront,
increasing operational efficiency and effectiveness.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational
leaders
2. How OKRs and OKR software help with
operational risk management
OKR updates and reviews help you stay on top of risks, obstacles, and
bottlenecks, prioritizing them based on potential impact. This facilitates
data-driven decision-making and consistent risk assessments.

Additionally, OKRs keep your strategic initiatives in line with your

business’s vision, allowing you to focus on the right areas and minimize
misaligned ventures.

Choosing the right OKR software can make all the difference in error-free
risk management. With essential integrations like Asana, Slack, and Jira, you
can track metrics and have clear visibility into progress.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational Case study:
leaders

Goodlord

Goodlord, a UK-based software company serving the rental industry,

opted for Quantive’s OKR software to drive their implementation and help
them proactively avoid the common pitfalls of OKRs — especially “failing
to update OKRs” without linked KPIs.

Using OKR software, they were able to track real-time performance

metrics and identify issues promptly, achieving clarity, alignment, and
effective risk management. This played a significant role in their continued
growth and customer satisfaction.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational
leaders
3. How OKRs and OKR software help with
change management
OKRs promote cohesion, flexibility, and continuous improvement, offering
your teams a clear path forward when faced with challenges and roadblocks.
Their flexible, measurable nature allows you to monitor and adjust your
approach consistently, helping you tackle anything unexpected head-on.

Moreover, OKRs bring transparency and visibility to your business strategy,

making it accessible throughout the organization. This complements change
management efforts by enabling teams to oversee, align, and adapt to new
working methods.

OKR software further enhances change management practices. It provides

functions like process reports, approval workflows, and retrospectives to
keep teams attuned to both external and internal changes, while looking at
what’s to come.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational Case study:
leaders

Serasa Experian

Serasa Experian, the world’s leading global information services

company, embarked on a journey to accelerate business growth and
transform their strategy execution. They turned to OKRs, witnessing
remarkable performance within the first two years of implementation.
Quantive’s OKR software improved their OKR tracking and
transparency, speeding up operations (such as the onboarding of
new hires) and company-wide OKR adoption.

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How OKRs and OKR software help operational
leaders
4. How OKRs and OKR software help with
driving operational excellence
OKRs allow your business to hone its most impactful areas, breaking down
larger objectives into actionable, specific, measurable goals focused on
outcomes.
They also facilitate improved engagement and productivity. With OKR
stretch goals demanding innovation and creativity, employees pursue
challenging yet meaningful objectives. These yield improved productivity
and business performance.
OKR software plays a pivotal role in operational excellence. It can:
๫ Predict the achievement of strategic goals (using confidence levels)
๫ Assist in resource allocation
๫ Foster engagement through recognition and rewards for
superior performance
It also ensures accountability across the board, boosting consistency and
cohesion within the organization.
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How OKRs and OKR software help operational Case study:
leaders

Maths Pathway

Maths Pathway, a tech-based learning and teaching model, turned to

Quantive Results to automate and scale their OKRs, replacing their
reliance on spreadsheets.

Quantive Results’ custom features simplified OKR tracking for

the company, allowing them to accommodate multiple OKRs
simultaneously, save time with automated weekly updates, and
create an effortless learning curve for employees.

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How operational
leaders can roll out
OKRs in 5 steps

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How operational leaders can roll out OKRs Now that we’ve covered the “why,” let’s look at the “how.” Here are the five
in 5 steps
steps you can take to implement OKRs with your teams and ensure wider
organizational adoption.

1. Educate the organization on OKRs

Present the OKR framework clearly to everyone participating in the OKR
rollout. Share success stories of other companies that have used OKRs.
Express not only the benefits of OKRs, but also how they’ll help meet their
unique needs, demands, and challenges.

2. Prepare executives, managers, and team

leads for OKR implementation
OKRs work best when teams have set aside time to understand how the
framework will work. It can take weeks to months to ensure they’ve learned
OKRs, practiced using them, and led by example. You won’t get the benefits
of OKRs if they’re used to replace management by objectives (MBOs) or
other goal-setting frameworks, so they must be part of a freshly rethought
organizational strategy.

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How operational leaders can roll out OKRs
in 5 steps
3. Build an operational capability around
OKRs
While OKRs aren’t meant to be complex, rolling them out to an organization
requires proactive support and enablement. Start by establishing a
dedicated advocate or team depending on the scale of your deployment —
this involves defining templates, training materials, documentation, support
systems, and ways of automating OKRs. OKR software makes deployment a
manageable process, reducing the friction to operate.
4. Develop a rollout and operations plan
around OKRs
Sit down with the operations leadership team and determine how OKRs
will be structured. With many approaches to goal management available,
thinking critically about the implementation plan is important. As part of this,
ensure you address the following questions:
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How operational leaders can roll out OKRs Will OKRs be reviewed monthly, quarterly, or annually?
in 5 steps

With dedicated OKR software, OKR review cycles become more frequent,
resulting in faster, more valuable course corrections and insights. This
makes review frequency an important governance element of OKRs.

How many layers of OKRs are needed?

Three layers of OKR are common across organizations — company-

wide, departmental, and individual. Yet, as organizational structures and
factors vary, different organizations may opt for varying configurations of
OKR layers.

How many steps will be used in the rollout, and in what order?

Often, a good place to start is at the C-suite level, where company-wide

OKRs are defined and used to align teams and employees. Typically,
an organization will pilot OKRs with willing executives and their teams.
Subsequently, lower-level OKRs will be created in alignment with high-level
OKRs in a second rollout (or even the first rollout in larger organizations).
Ultimately, OKRs spread across the entire organization in a final rollout.

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How operational leaders can roll out OKRs
in 5 steps
5. Roll out OKRs in phases — measure,
reflect, and adjust
Rolling out OKRs successfully can take several iterations, as OKR mistakes
are common, and lessons are learned along the way. Reporting and analytics
are vital in determining whether OKRs are being met — and whether they’re
the right ones, to begin with. A regular review cadence helps you assess
OKRs continuously, improving them based on feedback and learning.
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Why the COO must be
the OKR sponsor

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Why the COO must be the OKR sponsor Regardless of how you choose to roll out OKRs, having the COO as an OKR
sponsor is essential. Why? COOs hold the authority to drive early OKR
adoption. Having a trusted, capable leader who runs a vital operational
function as an OKR sponsor will ensure goals are aligned with business
objectives, and the process is adopted throughout the organization.

By piloting OKRs within the operations team, they can create advocates,
generate valuable experiences, and cultivate new champions for OKR
implementation. With the COO leading the way, OKRs gain traction as a tool
for defining and steering the organization toward success, providing a level
of transparency and clarity few other frameworks can offer.

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Best practices for
implementing OKRs

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Best practices for implementing OKRs Now that you better understand how to drive excellence with OKRs, here are
five best practices for creating successful OKRs that drive operations and
yield results.

01
Keep it simple

OKRs should be simple, straightforward, and easy to understand.

Avoid creating complex objectives that require too much explanation.
The simpler the OKRs, the more likely people understand and buy
into them.

02
Align to the company OKRs

Cascade company objective down to teams and individuals, with

their key results serving as key contributions to the company OKR.
This avoids siloed initiatives while ensuring everyone works toward
the same goals.

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Best practices for implementing OKRs

03
Connect OKRs with company values

Objectives and key results should represent the company’s values

and mission. This ensures everyone’s objectives are meaningful and
relevant to the organization’s purpose.

04
Review and adjust regularly

Iterating OKRs in a cadence helps you identify what’s working and

what’s not, allowing for prompt adjustments. Frequent check-ins to
discuss progress and provide feedback are crucial, keeping everyone
accountable and motivated.

05
Make OKRs collaborative

OKRs should nurture an environment where everyone’s input

is valued. This encourages ownership and accountability for
OKR outcomes.

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Ready to see As you navigate the operational uncertainties in today’s environment,
OKRs are your go-to for overcoming challenges and achieving successful

what OKRs operations. They offer a straightforward framework to prioritize strategic

initiatives, promote alignment, and foster collaboration across your

can do for organization. By following the five-step process for implementing OKRs,
combined with hassle-free OKR software, you can address operations, risk,

you? and change management inefficiencies.

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