OKRs for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with OKRs

Dylan Rhodes June 4, 2022
Updated 2022/06/28 at 3:14 PM
okrs for beginners

 

What are OKRs? OKRs, which stands for Objectives and Key Results, are a form of goal setting that allows you to define clear objectives and measure your success in achieving them. They were originally developed by Intel in the 1960s, but can be applied to any business situation and can be easily adapted to non-business settings, as well. If you’re interested in using OKRs to get more out of your personal or work life, this guide will teach you everything you need to know about getting started with OKRs today! It’s OKR easy!

The One Key Rule

The most important rule when it comes to using OKRs is that you have one key objective, or KVO.

 

Don’t be like everyone else who tries setting too many objectives at once—you’ll only end up accomplishing them all poorly. Instead, focus on doing one key thing really well.

 

That’s what will make you stand out in your organization and drive your career forward. Keep track of all objectives in a single document so they’re easier to review and refine as you go. 

 

Then each month, review your targets and see how you did against them. You can also look back over previous months’ targets and use earlier performance to predict future success—or failure! With some practice, these reviews will become an essential part of your monthly routine.

 

Create Objectives

Create three goals for you, your team, and your company that meet company objectives. Each goal should also have a timeframe associated with it, but as a general rule of thumb, one month is long enough to not be too difficult while three months is short enough to provide some immediacy.

 

A year was just too far out there, said Ilyanah Straus who is known as an OKR management expert. Straus recommends setting them up in Google Calendar or a similar app that allows you to add attachments such as notes.

Set Measurable Goals

It’s hard enough to motivate yourself or your team when you’re setting goals. It’s even harder if those goals are nebulous and impossible to measure. I want my staff to be happy, engaged, and ready to take on any challenge we face in 2015! That might be a worthy goal for a leader who is trying hard not make his staff miserable—but it lacks concrete metrics.

 

Instead, think about how leaders can design more actionable work goals using OKR management software that sets measurable objectives. If your goal is just an amorphous wish list of good intentions, set yourself up for failure by trying without knowing what success looks like.

 

How Do I Manage OKRs?

You can start managing your team’s goals and objectives by using any of a variety of okr software tools. You can keep it simple by adopting an okr app, or even use google docs to set up your process.

 

 

Or you can be more strategic and make it part of your company culture by investing in corporate training on how to use okrs; that way everyone’s on board with your new methodology.

 

 

And if you want a bit more structure than just setting goals, you can always choose specific and best okr management software for a framework. Either way, once you get started, be sure to keep track of what works and what doesn’t so that you can optimize as you learn from each iteration!

How Do I Get the Most Out of My Team?

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself, so you can go from good to great. At HubSpot,  recently service reps were put through a week of training in OKR Management (objectives and key results) – here are some tips that everyone should learn.

 

 

If you’re new to okr management or want to try a different methodology, these might help! The key is asking everyone on your team what their objectives and measurements are

 

how they align with those of their manager, and how it will lead them toward achieving long-term goals within your department as well as within their role in your organization.

What Does the Research Say?

The best way for implementing goals is with the help of okr management software.

Writing out goals—and translating them into something measurable with the help of software technology—can actually help you achieve them.

 

Although there are a number of great tools to use, it’s hard to beat writing on paper when it comes to defining your objective and setting up specific metrics that will help you measure your progress. 

 

Of course, those in a more tech-savvy position may prefer more digital options, such as OKR software. No matter what your preferences are, take advantage of technology as much as possible when working toward your goals. These tools can be useful for organizing your thoughts and tasks. 

 

Whatever tool you choose, make sure it helps you keep track of important dates, reminders about your goals, deadlines, and how far along you are in achieving them.

 

OKRs For Beginners also has many other uses besides helping new users get started with okr management. It provides information about basic okr software applications and processes that many veteran managers can still learn from!

 

 Even if someone has been using an okr management system for years they can still learn how to improve their productivity by following these steps! This makes OKRs For Beginners very valuable because it offers knowledge everyone needs even if they have experience already!

Dylan Rhodes

Share this Article