OKRs and Goal Management sitting in a tree

by Gill Arnott | Feb 13, 2020

time icon 2 mins

Roses are red, violets are blue, OKRs give clarity, and goals drive you through. OK, so we’ve jumped on the Valentine’s Day bandwagon, but the sentiment is absolutely spot on. OKRs and goal management are intertwined, and their bond is strong.

OKRs as the tool to manage your goals

Setting goals is something that we are big fans of. What we’re not fans of is setting goals because you’re told to, or because you think you should. If you’re setting goals simply as a tick list exercise then a. it’s a waste of time and b. you’re never going to reach that goal, unless you run into a lot of luck.

Goals, when managed effectively, are the driver to a more successful business. So, how do you manage your goals? Do you check-in on your goals in a timely way to assess your progress towards that goal? For example, you’ve got an objective to increase your revenue and you’ve set yourself a key result to sell 50% more roses this valentines day than your last and in real terms, that means an increase from 5000 to 7500. You have a few ideas about how you could hit that – some advertising, a special offer, contacting previous clients to encourage repeat buying, and that’s all great but that’s your plan, not your key result.

Keeping your OKRs focussed, simple and sharp brings clarity to your goal management by offering an agile approach to managing your goals and motivating your staff. The agile nature of OKRs allows you to constantly adapt to ensure you reach your priority goal.

Check-ins keep you on track

Any good relationship is built on communication, and goals are no different. The OKR methodology offers you the clarity to communicate about your objectives and check-in with your teams to ensure everyone is pulling in the right direction – avoiding any crossed wires.

Check-ins empower your team members to discuss their achievements towards your priority goal, whilst offering the space for open and honest conversations about any issues or worries that could impact the performance of the team towards your goal.

Feeling the love

You may be reading this thinking that OKRs are simply KPIs, or that OKRs replace KPIs. This isn’t true. Think of KPIs as telling you how much gas you have in the tank and your OKRs help show you the route ahead. Both great to have on the dashboard, but both very different in nature. One is about growth, the other is about your capacity for fueling that growth.

So, whilst goals are an essential part of any growth plan, OKRs offer alignment, clarity and focus to help you keep on the straight and narrow towards your priority goals.

So, if you need some OKR clarity in your life, check out our handy tools or book a call with the team to discuss your organisation’s relationship with goals.

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