OKRs have become an increasingly popular tool among businesses because they encourage employees to set both specific and ambitious goals, measure the results, and then use that information to improve performance in the coming year.
However, if you’re still new to this type of planning, there are some common pitfalls you should be aware of so you can avoid them in your business (and in your personal life).
Here are the top five OKR problems and challenges you’ll face in 2022 and how to avoid them.
1) Communication
When it comes to setting and achieving goals, clear and effective communication is key. However, with the vast array of OKR software and frameworks out there, it can be difficult to find a system that works for your team. What’s more, most goal-setting systems are outdated and don’t cater to modern teams.
The lack of an efficient way to communicate your OKRs causes one of the most common challenges teams face when using this framework: unclear expectations.
With no clear set of expectations from managers or teammates, individuals end up feeling frustrated and unproductive. The result?
“They either burn out or leave their jobs altogether.”
A few companies have found success by assigning teams new quarterly OKRs on a regular basis. By updating their goals each quarter, these companies ensure that all stakeholders understand what needs to be done and where they stand.
For example, if you’re tasked with improving sales numbers but the company doesn’t meet its target at the end of Q1, you can change your Q2 objectives accordingly so everyone knows what they need to do next.
2) Keeping people happy
If you’re not careful, your OKRs can end up making people unhappy.
Measuring progress is important, but you also need to make sure that people feel like they’re making progress. That means keeping an eye on your management style and making sure that you’re not micromanaging.
It’s easy for a boss to believe that their input will always be helpful, so it’s important to get feedback from your team members about how much direction you’re giving them.
Make sure they know what the company goals are and then provide the space for them to figure out how they can help meet those goals themselves.
People want to contribute. The more you ask of them, the more they want to give back.
But remember:
Don’t tell them exactly what to do or how to do it. Let them work independently on tasks that push their limits. Reward initiative and creativity instead of just rewarding hard work with routine tasks. And when people are struggling, find ways for them to succeed rather than punishing mistakes.
3) Getting everyone on board
The biggest challenge with OKRs is getting everyone on board.
To have effective performance discussions, you need to ensure that everyone understands the OKR methodology and tools. This can be a challenge, especially if you’re dealing with a large team or organization.
One way to combat this problem is by educating people before they start using OKRs. Additionally, as you talk through individual goals and objectives with your teams, make sure they know how their success contributes to the company’s success at every level.
If individuals feel like their accomplishments will only benefit themselves and not the larger group, they may hesitate to fully engage in OKRs.
- Start out by talking about why they matter – it helps bring them into the fold.
- Also, remember to keep conversations open-ended when discussing expectations for specific objectives so that employees can adjust their plans accordingly.
- Finally, don’t forget to communicate any changes in those expectations during review meetings – even if it means making adjustments to an employee’s goals mid-stream.
These small considerations go a long way towards achieving buy-in from all levels of an organization for OKRs and ultimately for achieving organizational success.
4) Empowering everyone to reach targets
One of the biggest problems with OKRs is that they can be very top-down, meaning that only upper management sets and tracks the goals.
This can lead to a feeling of powerlessness among employees, who may feel like they’re just working to meet someone else’s targets. To overcome this, it’s important to involve everyone in setting and tracking the goals.
There are a few different ways to do this, including using OKR programs or tools that allow everyone to see and contribute to the goals. Using these tools means that everyone on your team will have the same goals, which will not only make them more engaged but also more committed to achieving them.
And for those looking for inspiration on how to start, look no further than our comprehensive guide on “7 Tips for Aligning Your Company and Team With Effective OKRs!“
But if you’re still unsure about implementing OKRs, contact us and we can help you figure out whether or not this strategy is right for you.
5) Keeping up with changing company objectives
As companies continue to grow and change, their objectives will also change. This can make it difficult to keep up with what needs to be done in order to achieve those objectives. Employees may not know how they’re supposed to spend their time because they are not privy to company updates or strategy changes that affect their work.
A possible solution is to provide regular training for employees on the company’s overall vision so that everyone knows where the company is headed and how they fit into that bigger picture. These types of briefings should be scheduled regularly (perhaps monthly) so that there is a set time for people to look back at the previous month and assess if their actions aligned with the company’s goals.
Another possibility would be to create a dashboard for employees that summarizes all of the information about company performance metrics, KPIs, quarterly results, etc., in one place. Employees can access this dashboard at any time to see if they’re doing enough – or too much – as defined by corporate priorities.
Conclusions
As the world of work changes, so too must the way we measure and manage performance. The goal-setting framework known as OKRs has become increasingly popular in recent years, but it’s not without its challenges. That’s where the difficulty lies: it can be difficult to implement the most effective approach if your team is used to just getting things done on their own.
To get started with OKRs, find a few areas that need improvement and make sure you have metrics or measurable objectives for those areas.
Don’t overcomplicate it!
Pick a small number of goals that are important to you this year, then break them down into quantifiable objectives that will help you achieve those goals