Objectives and Key Results Implementation For a Tech Company

Project Duration: 2.5 months.

Request

An Estonian technology company turned to us with a request to help them establish a goal-setting framework that emphasises outcome-based result evaluation. The challenges they've been facing were an unstructured company-wide goal-setting process, more output-based rather than outcome-based result evaluation, weak goal alignment between chapters, and a general lack of encouragement for taking responsibility for the goal outcomes.

Together, we have agreed on OKRs as a preferable framework and came up with the main project goals:

• Train key people in the company on OKRs.
• Enter Q2 with defined and aligned company OKRs and chapter/team OKRs.
• Establish an OKR cycle to define, align, track, and evaluate OKRs in future quarters.

Process

We started by interviewing key people in the company and gathering the needed insights. In the process, we discovered that the company's purpose and strategy needed some initial tuning as well, so we decided to include this as a first step toward effective goal-setting.

Our first major milestone was conducting a workshop for the leadership team, the outcomes of which were a refined company mission and the previous strategic goals turned into a 5-year North Star Goal and company OKRs for 2 years.

Before moving on to setting OKRs on chapters level, one more step was needed. In OKR implementation, it is important for some people in a company to obtain the vision and knowledge of what the OKRs are, why, and how we set them. This is why we held two training workshops for about twenty key people in the company, where they got a chance to learn the theory and practice of OKR setting both individually and as a group.

The company successfully communicated its newly formed goals to all employees, and after making sure the stage was set from all angles, we gathered for a two-day workshop where everyone was present (more than a hundred people, with 70 present offline). For those two days, we worked on grasping the knowledge of OKRs and setting them for all company chapters simultaneously, making sure they were all aligned with each other, and that the chapters had all the resources needed to reach their goals.

Kristina, the HRD, was not present on the second day, and she was in for the surprise after returning to the office. She actually asked the CEO what was the matter, as various employees were coming to her and asking how they could help her achieve her ambitious 2-year HR goals.

Another crucial thing for OKRs is not just effectively setting them but also effectively tracking them. We made sure to help the company put its goals into a proper tool and embed an OKR cycle to track and evaluate the goals regularly.

Outcomes

Firstly, the strategic goals of the company were revised, and the North Star Goal was established for the next five years. This provided a clear roadmap for the company to follow, and the company OKRs were set for the next two years, which served as a roadmap to achieving the North Star Goal.

Then, the chapter OKRs for 2023’Q2 were set, which allowed everyone in the company to be on the same page regarding what needed to be accomplished. Each chapter had a clear direction of what was expected of them, and how their work would contribute to the company's overall success.

The top management team and key employees were trained on how to define, track, evaluate, and align OKRs. This ensured that everyone was on the same page in terms of expectations and outcomes. Additionally, this has set the stage for an OKR culture to keep developing in the company with its newly trained ambassadors, supporting the desired outcome-based goal-setting.

Finally, an OKR cycle was established for tracking and evaluating OKRs in future quarters. This is a critical aspect of implementing OKRs, and by establishing an OKR cycle, the company can ensure that it is on track to achieving its objectives and can make adjustments where necessary to ensure that it meets the desired targets.

Furthermore, the company successfully implemented the Oboard tool (OKR Board for Jira), seamlessly integrating it with Jira. This integration allowed teams to align their daily work with the established OKRs, providing a cohesive connection between strategic objectives and day-to-day activities. The Oboard tool facilitated better visibility, tracking, and collaboration, ensuring that teams stayed focused on the aligned OKRs and achieved desired outcomes.