Best Practices - OKRs for Managers

👉 The Beginning

As we know, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a system of collective and individual goals that converge to achieve the organization's global objectives. The concept originated from Andy Grove's book "High Output Management" and was popularized in the 2000s by John Doerr, a board member at Google and venture capital investor. One of its differentiators that contribute to its widespread acceptance is its adaptability to different realities, making it one of the main reasons for its success.

The OKR cycle consists of three stages: Planning, Monitoring, and Debriefing. Regarding the planning stage, it is essential to establish the foundation of objectives and projects, a strategy that contributes to the success of the methodology.

With this in mind, we have prepared this material to help you understand more about the subject and learn how to establish a solid OKR.

🌟 Best Practices for Creating OKRs for My Team

In the planning of OKRs, what is the grounding of objectives and projects?

During the planning stage of OKRs, we recommend establishing the grounding of objectives and projects. This involves using a kind of template that the team will fill out when creating their OKRs, contributing to their planning.

The advantages this brings to the company include:

1. Promoting reflection and critical thinking among team members.

2. Stimulating the development of well-defined projects or objectives.

3. Assisting leadership in gaining a better understanding of the objectives and projects.

4. Providing more insights for decision-making.

How does the grounding of OKRs work in practice?

1. Vision of Success: At the end of the predetermined cycle, what would success look like for this project? In this field, individuals should fill in "what they see around them" in a scenario where the planned strategy was executed, and the desired results were achieved.

2. Pre-mortem: In contrast to the previous topic, if the plan is not executed, and the objective is not achieved, what were the reasons that "contributed" to this outcome? Here, individuals should identify what could go wrong.

3. Alignments: As mentioned earlier, OKRs are collective and individual goals that converge to achieve the company's global objectives. In other words, how does this objective align with the long-term vision, perennial assumptions, threats, strengths, and weaknesses of the company? And with which OKR does this objective align?

4. Co-dependency: Which other teams or areas are related to this project?

By following these practices and completing the grounding template, your team's OKRs will be well-prepared and aligned with the overall goals of the organization. This will lead to more focused and successful efforts, ultimately driving the company towards greater success.

🟣 Practical Example

Below is a practical example of grounding OKRs:

OKR: Increase website traffic volume and become a reference in the industry segment.

• Vision of Success: The website's traffic volume has significantly increased. We invested in creating new content, attracting qualified leads to our blog. Additionally, we developed valuable materials that resulted in conversions. As a result, we now rank among the top positions on Google for the most strategic keywords in our industry, establishing ourselves as a reference among both current and potential customers.

• Pre-mortem: Unfortunately, there was a lack of content production for the website as planned (due to a shortage of resources within the team). We planned to hire a new team member, but encountered difficulties finding the ideal candidate for the position. Consequently, the website's traffic stagnated, while competitor companies made considerable progress in their channels.

• Alignment: This OKR aligns with the one-year vision of acquiring a specific number of new customers, as it helps attract qualified prospects to our channels.

• Co-dependencies: Concerning attracting potential customers, it aligns with the sales department, which aims to close deals with new customers.

🧠 Action Plan for OKRs: Understanding How to Develop One

In an OKR, what are action plans?

As we've seen, OKRs consist of objectives and key results. For each objective, there needs to be an action plan in place, which defines what will be done, and by whom, to achieve that objective successfully. To determine the action plan for a particular objective, it's ideal to have a discussion that explores potential solutions for the challenges the team is facing. Several problem-solving techniques can be utilized for this purpose, including:

1. Five Whys: A technique where the team asks "why" multiple times to identify the root cause of a problem.

2. Fishbone Diagram: Also known as the Ishikawa diagram, it helps identify potential causes contributing to a specific issue.

3. Design Thinking Session with Brainstorming: A creative and collaborative approach to problem-solving, encouraging innovative solutions.

During the monitoring phase, you may encounter situations related to the action plan. It's the team's responsibility to understand what is driving those results and determine the most appropriate strategies for each situation. Here's a practical example:

OKR: Form an exceptional content team to double the company's website traffic.

Action Plan: Hire a content professional to oversee content production, increase the frequency of content publications, and review the results bi-weekly.

At the end of the OKR, the person responsible for this objective may encounter specific situations that require adjustments or further actions based on the outcome and progress made during the period. Regular monitoring and adaptation are crucial to ensure the success of the OKR and ultimately achieve the desired results.

🟣 Actions were executed according to the plan, but the goal was not achieved

When all the actions were executed as planned by the responsible person, but the website traffic volume was not doubled (or even close to it), it indicates that there might have been an issue with the action plan. In such a situation, it's essential to analyze what could have been different to achieve the desired results. For example, it may be necessary to focus on producing more strategic content rather than just increasing the quantity of content.

Additionally, monitoring the results more frequently, like on a daily basis, might provide better insights and opportunities for timely adjustments.

The key is to identify the areas that need improvement and make necessary adjustments for the next cycle. This process of continuous learning and improvement is at the core of the OKR methodology.

🟣 Actions were not executed according to the plan, and the goal was not achieved

In cases where the actions were not executed as planned, it's crucial for the team to understand the reasons behind the deviation. Taking our previous example, if the desired content professional was not found, the team should investigate the reasons behind it. Possible reasons could include a slow hiring process, a shortage of professionals with the required qualifications in the job market, or interviewees not matching the company's profile.

Similarly, if the results were not monitored as frequently as planned, it could be due to a lack of resources or the responsible person's disorganization and failure to prioritize their activities effectively.

By understanding the underlying factors contributing to the deviation from the plan, the team can propose new actions and strategies to address those issues and improve performance in the next OKR cycle. This adaptive and problem-solving approach is fundamental to making OKRs an effective and valuable management tool.

🟣 Actions were carried out according to the plan, and the goal was achieved.

This is the biggest desire of all teams. However, even when the results are achieved, the team needs to have a critical view to understand if it was because of the action plan or external factors. For example, in this cycle, there was a major company event that generated triple the website traffic. The result was higher than intended but caused by other circumstances.

Based on this, the team must understand what strategies to adopt for the next period to achieve an equally good result without relying on external factors.

🟣 Actions were not executed according to the plan, but the goal was achieved.

Again, it is necessary to understand the factors that contributed to achieving the goal, as well as to discuss why the actions were not executed as planned.

✏️ Understand: Few contents were produced, while the intention was to significantly increase this volume. What led to this failure? Were there new demands on the team that deprioritized this activity? What can be done to prevent this situation from happening again? Hiring freelancers? New professionals on the team?

🟣 What are the Five Whys?

The Five Whys technique aims to help the team identify the root cause of a problem. If you stop at the surface level and do not dig deeper, you are unlikely to find a satisfactory solution. Therefore, the idea is to ask "why" five times, or as many times as necessary until the problem is resolved.

Returning to our previous example:

Q: There was a 50% decrease in content production. Why?

A: There was no hiring of a responsible professional for the team.

Q: Why wasn't someone hired?

A: We couldn't find qualified professionals in the job market for the position.

Q: Why didn't we use other methods to advertise the position?

A: Due to a lack of personnel in the recruitment and selection team to screen the applicants.

Based on this answer, you can identify the root cause of the problem. Insufficient content production was due to a lack of someone responsible for the task, which, in turn, was not hired becuse there was also a shortage of staff in the recruitment and selection team.

Often, understanding the root cause makes the action plan more evident for solving the problem. In this case, it is necessary to hire another professional for the recruitment and selection team, which will have more availability to advertise the position, screen received resumes, and hire a new collaborator, enabling the marketing team to achieve the intended publishing volume.

🟣 What is the Fishbone Diagram?

Also known as the Ishikawa Diagram, the Fishbone Diagram helps the team organize the root causes of a problem in a more visual manner. It is created after the team has conducted the Five Whys exercise.

Some advantages of using this strategy include:

• Improvements in team processes as a whole.

• Identification of the main causes of the problem.

• Greater visibility of the team's issues.

• Visual recording, which facilitates future analysis.

• Team involvement in the company's quality management.

• Improved organization of ideas.

• Encouragement of teamwork.

🟣 Team Discussions

It is essential for the entire team to gather once a week to review the progress of the OKRs. During these meetings, team members will assess the status of the key results and discuss the current outlook. Using a three-color traffic light system for both the likelihood of achieving the OKR and the execution of the action plan can be beneficial:

Green: Everything is on track, and progress is going well.

Yellow: The results are not as expected, but there is optimism that the objective can still be achieved.

Red: The results are not as expected, and there is doubt that the objective can be achieved.

Following these discussions, the team should also develop a plan for each goal: what the person responsible for that objective commits to doing to improve the results.
​

🟣 Focus on Solutions

During these monitoring meetings, it is crucial for the entire team not to discourage those whose results are below expectations. The team should not accept that any key result will not be achieved either. Instead, the focus should be on finding solutions, understanding the obstacles that hinder positive outcomes, and identifying precise actions that will strengthen the capabilities of individuals or the team as a whole.

This approach aligns with the "Working Together" method introduced by Alan Mulally during his time leading the 777 jet project. In this method, no team member could be penalized for reporting bad news about the project.

In this content, you have learned what a plan of action is, its importance in creating OKRs, and explored other tools that provide better visualization of goals to achieve the proposed objectives. As with any other strategy or methodology, it is essential for the team to understand these points, know how to formulate a suitable action plan for their objectives, and continuously monitor progress to modify the planning as needed. By fostering a positive and solution-oriented environment, the team can optimize their performance and successfully achieve their goals.

Questions? #ChatWithUs 🚀