OKR University

No, OKRs do not replace KPIs. Simply put, they serve different purposes and cannot replace each other. We’ve already documented the difference between OKRs and KPIs. OKRs actually replace the several methods of managing your KPIs. KPIs and their trends indicate how well your business is doing or parts of your business are doing. Another… Read more

Entrepreneurs set audacious goals to change the world. They have crazy ideas, throw their money, time, and their life behind those crazy ideas. With their relentless pursuit and persistent effort, they build a solution to a problem and deliver it to the marketplace. But ever wondered how many of them succeed in this pursuit? According… Read more

OKR is a way of life in business. As in life, you need periodic checks to make sure you are marching in the right direction. While you check-in more frequently, quarterly Reflect/Resets allow your OKRs to be reviewed holistically and make adjustments for the next quarter. We do not learn from experience. We learn from… Read more

OKRs are an amazing way to manage startups. How so? Well, let’s actually take OKRs and compare with the lean startup movement, to see how these two methodologies complement each other. We’ve already documented the OKR Payoffs in detail. They are summarized using the acronym FACTS. Core principles of the lean startup movement Now that… Read more

Looking at the wide use OKRs enjoy in business today, it becomes obvious that this goal management tool is as relevant today as it was more than four decades ago. This is in contrast to the dwindling role Performance Management initiatives such as Annual Performance Reviews continue to play in many Fortune 500 companies. OKRs… Read more

OKR Payoffs can be expressed using the acronym FACTS, and illustrated in the following picture. Focus A key guideline when practicing OKRs is to limit the number of objectives to 3-4 per person and limit the number of key results to 2-5 per objective. This guideline is in place to bring exceptional focus to what… Read more

Managers need a reliable method for syncing up with their teams to maintain forward momentum and productivity, no matter how large or small their company or project is. The progress, plans, and problems (PPP) framework is an effective status management method used by several hugely successful business, including Apple, Facebook, and Skype. This simple but… Read more

Let’s examine a few examples of how operations departments can utilize OKR from the top down. Example 1: Work Environment Objective: Improve the office’s workspace Key Results: Purchase a sofa Organize 1 office bonding/social a month Create a survey for employees to pinpoint desired food & drinks Example 2: Inventory Management Objective: Streamline the inventory… Read more

The OKR method has been proving a highly effective way to structure and achieve objectives since the 70s — and its methodology is particularly useful for finance-related fields and departments. Whereas other fields and departments like customer service or marketing may have measurements that are more abstract, and therefore less conducive to creating measurable and… Read more

The nature of marketing work necessarily entails a much broader and less defined industry standard for establishing and maintaining KPIs. Due to its highly subjective nature, marketing teams across various industries may have an overabundance of metrics or may have too few in place to establish an effective OKR. Though marketing metrics may seem more… Read more