Measure What Matters

Some simple tests to see if your OKRs are good: If you wrote them down in five minutes, they probably aren’t good. Think. If your objective doesn’t fit on one line, it probably isn’t crisp enough. If your KRs are expressed in team-internal terms (“Launch Foo 4.1”), they probably aren’t good. What matters isn’t the launch, but its impact. Why is Foo 4.1 important? Better: “Launch Foo 4.1 to improve sign-ups by 25 percent.” Or simply: “Improve sign-ups by 25 percent.”

Use real dates. If every key result happens on the last day of the quarter, you likely don’t have a real plan.

Make sure the metrics are unambiguous.

Goal Planning and Reflection To help facilitate this conversation, a manager might ask a contributor the following: What OKRs do you plan to focus on to drive the greatest value for your role, your team, and/or the company? Which of these OKRs aligns to key initiatives in the organization? Progress Updates To get the contributor talking, a manager might pose these questions: How are your OKRs coming along? What critical capabilities do you need to be successful? Is there anything stopping you from attaining your objectives? What OKRs need to be adjusted—or added, or eliminated—in light of shifting priorities? Manager-led Coaching To prepare for this conversation, the manager should consider the following questions: What behaviors or values do I want my report to continue to exhibit? What behaviors or values do I want the report to start or stop exhibiting? What coaching can I provide to help the report fully realize his or her potential? During the conversation, the leader might ask: What part of your job most excites you? What (if any) aspect of your role would you like to change? Upward Feedback To elicit candid input from a contributor, the manager might ask: What are you getting from me that you find helpful? What are you getting from me that impedes your ability to be effective? What could I do for you that would help you to be more successful? Career Growth To tease out a contributor’s career aspirations, a manager might ask: What skills or capabilities would you like to develop to

Career Growth To tease out a contributor’s career aspirations, a manager might ask: What skills or capabilities would you like to develop to improve in your current role? In what areas do you want to grow to achieve your career goals? What skills or capabilities would you like to develop for a future role? From a learning, growth, and development standpoint, how can I and the company help you get there?

If the contributor is performing well or exceeding expectations, what can I do to sustain a high level of performance

Contributors, too, should prepare for performance conversations. Specifically, they can ask themselves: Am I on track to meet my objectives? Have I identified areas of opportunity? Do I understand how my work connects to broader milestones? What feedback can I give my manager?

Four Superpowers of OKRs Focus and Commit to Priorities Align and Connect for Teamwork Track for Accountability Stretch for Amazing Continuous Performance Management Importance of Culture

Use all-hands meetings to explain why an OKR is important to the organization. Then keep repeating the message until you’re tired of hearing it yourself.

Motivate contributors less with extrinsic rewards and more with open, tangible measures of their achievement.

Frequent check-ins enable teams and individuals to course-correct with agility, or to fail fast.

To sustain high performance, encourage weekly one-on-one OKR meetings between contributors and managers, plus monthly departmental meetings.

As conditions change, feel free to revise, add, or delete OKRs as appropriate—even in mid-cycle. Goals are not written in stone. It’s counterproductive to hold stubbornly to objectives that are no longer relevant or attainable.

At the cycle’s end, use OKR grades plus subjective self-assessments to evaluate past performance, celebrate achievements, and plan and improve for the future. Before pushing into the next cycle, take a moment to reflect upon and savor what you’ve accomplished in the last one.

At the beginning of each cycle, distinguish between goals that must be attained 100 percent (committed OKRs) and those that are stretching for a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (a BHAG, or aspirational OKR).

Establish an environment where individuals are free to fail without judgment.

To stimulate problem solving and spur people to greater achievement, set ambitious goals—even if it means some quarterly targets will be missed. But don’t set the bar so high that an OKR is obviously unrealistic.

When a team fails to attain a stretch OKR, consider rolling the objective over to the next cycle—assuming the goal is still relevant.

Unleash ambitious goal setting by divorcing forward-looking OKRs from backward-looking annual reviews. Equating goal attainment to bonus checks will invite sandbagging and risk-averse behavior.

Rely on intrinsic motivations—purposeful work and opportunities for growth—over financial incentives. They’re far more powerful.