If you work in IT services, you know the drill. The clock’s ticking, clients are waiting, and your team is working hard, sprint after sprint. You’re fixing bugs, building features, and moving from one deliverable to the next, often using Agile frameworks and tools like Jira to keep things organized and on track.
But here are the question:
- Are all these sprints really driving your business forward?
- Are they aligning with your big-picture goals?
- And how do you know you’re focusing on the right tasks?
This is where OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is the right strategy execution framework that can help you answer all the above questions with confidence. OKRs aren’t here to replace Agile or your sprint process. Instead, they add a powerful new layer. They help answer the “why” behind the “what” and “how” of your work. They connect everyday tasks to your company’s bigger mission and help teams focus on outcomes, not just output.
Leadership expert Simon Sinek talks about the “Golden Circle”, how great leaders start with why before the how or what. That’s exactly what OKRs do for Agile teams in IT services: they bring purpose and strategic direction, so every sprint moves the needle toward something meaningful.
In this article, we’ll explore why Agile alone isn’t enough, how OKRs fill that strategic gap, and how combining the two can unlock powerful results for your teams and business.
Why Agile Alone Isn’t Enough
Agile is fantastic for managing work in short bursts, keeping teams focused, and delivering features quickly. But the question remains:
Are these efforts connected to your company’s big strategic goals?
Here’s why this matters:
- Lack of strategic alignment: You’re executing tasks, but are they truly aligned with the company’s mission? It’s easy to get caught up in the rush of day-to-day sprints without stepping back to see if you’re working on the right things.
- Difficulty prioritizing: How do you decide which features or projects will truly have the most impact? Without clear strategic guidance, prioritization becomes more of a guess than a calculated decision.
- Focusing on output instead of outcomes: Delivering features is important, but what about the impact those features have on your clients or your business growth? Output metrics (features delivered) are great for tracking work, but outcomes (client satisfaction, business growth) are what really matter.
- Limited visibility into strategic contribution: It’s easy for teams to get bogged down in their tasks and forget how their work contributes to the bigger picture. Without a clear understanding of why they’re doing something, motivation and ownership can start to slip.
John Doerr, in his seminal book Measure What Matters, warns against this very pitfall. He explains how many organizations fall into an “output obsession,” focusing on activity metrics rather than meaningful progress.
OKRs, Objectives and Key Results, is the framework that bridges this gap. By clearly defining ambitious objectives alongside measurable key results, OKRs shift focus from mere output to impactful outcomes. They bring alignment and transparency, making it easier for teams to prioritize the right work and understand how their efforts contribute to the organization’s mission.
OKRs: Your Strategic Compass
OKRs(Objectives &Keyresults) are the missing piece that brings focus and alignment to your Agile efforts. While Agile keeps your team moving at lightning speed, OKRs make sure you’re moving in the right direction.
OKRs answer the “why” behind the “what” and “how” of your work.Tweet
But what exactly are OKRs?
- Objectives: These are ambitious, qualitative goals that set the destination. They inspire teams to think beyond day-to-day tasks and focus on making a real impact.
- Key Results: These are the specific, measurable outcomes that tell you if you’re getting closer to your objective. Think of them as the road signs that guide you toward your destination.
Unlike traditional KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), which measure ongoing performance, OKRs focus on aspirational goals and drive teams to push beyond what’s comfortable. OKRs are not static; they’re dynamic and set quarterly, so teams can adapt and pivot based on the latest insights.
People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
Why quarterly OKRs fit perfectly with Agile
One of the biggest strengths of OKRs is their cadence, they’re usually set and reviewed every quarter. This timing works beautifully alongside Agile’s fast sprint cycles. While Agile focuses on short-term delivery, two weeks or so per sprint, OKRs provide a longer-term direction that keeps all those sprints aligned toward bigger goals.
This balance means teams can stay flexible sprint to sprint but never lose sight of what really matters over time. Each sprint becomes a stepping stone toward achieving meaningful objectives, rather than just a to-do list.
Clearing up misconceptions: OKRs aren’t micromanagement.
Sometimes teams worry that OKRs will feel like extra work or a way for managers to micromanage every task. But that’s not the case at all.
OKRs don’t tell you how to do your work, they define what success looks like. They empower teams to decide how to achieve those results within their Agile framework. This freedom encourages creativity, ownership, and smart decision-making during sprints.
Ready to see how OKRs can supercharge your Agile process and bring measurable results?
Ready to see how OKRs can supercharge your Agile process and bring measurable results? Let’s start the conversation today.
The Perfect Partnership: OKRs + Agile = Strategic Success
Here’s how OKRs and Agile work hand-in-hand to create powerful, outcome-driven teams in IT services:
- Strategic Alignment: OKRs provide the company-wide direction. When your company-level OKRs are clear, it’s easy to break them down into team and individual OKRs that tie back to those larger goals. Every sprint, every feature, and every task should have a purpose that connects directly to the company’s strategic priorities.
- Outcome-Oriented Delivery: Agile sprints often focus on output, how many features were delivered or how quickly issues were fixed. OKRs shift that focus to outcomes. For example, instead of just delivering a new feature, the goal is to understand how that feature impacts client satisfaction or drives business growth
- Enhanced Prioritization: When Agile teams use OKRs, prioritizing becomes easier. The focus shifts from tasks like “completing this feature” to “delivering value” in line with strategic objectives.
- Improved Team Autonomy and Ownership: OKRs give teams the “why” behind their work. This clarity gives teams the freedom to make decisions within the sprint, knowing they’re working toward meaningful outcomes.
- Transparency and Communication: OKRs foster better communication across teams. When everyone can see the same set of objectives and key results, silos are broken down, and collaboration improves. Teams align and understand how their contributions fit into the broader company strategy, driving more engaged and accountable performance.
- Faster Learning and Adaptation: With the quarterly cadence of OKRs, teams get regular check-ins on progress, allowing them to course-correct as needed. This flexibility fits perfectly with Agile’s iterative nature, giving teams the chance to assess their progress and make adjustments in real-time.
| How OKRs Supercharge Agile: The Perfect Partnership | ||
|---|---|---|
| Key Benefit | What It Means | |
| Strategic Alignment | Company OKRs set clear quarterly goals that guide all teams and projects toward shared priorities. | |
| Outcome-Oriented Delivery | Focus shifts from just completing features to delivering real impact measured by Key Results. | |
| Enhanced Prioritization | Teams prioritize work that directly advances important business outcomes. | |
| Improved Team Autonomy | Teams understand the why behind their work, empowering smarter decisions within sprints. | |
| Transparency & Communication | Public OKRs create clarity across teams, fostering collaboration and shared understanding. | |
| Faster Learning & Adaptation | Quarterly OKR reviews enable quick course corrections and continuous improvement. | |
How OKRs Supercharge Agile: The Perfect Partnership
- Strategic Alignment: Company OKRs set clear quarterly goals that guide all teams and projects toward shared priorities.
- Outcome-Oriented Delivery: Focus shifts from just completing features to delivering real impact measured by Key Results.
- Enhanced Prioritization: Teams prioritize work that directly advances important business outcomes.
- Improved Team Autonomy: Teams understand the why behind their work, empowering smarter decisions within sprints.
- Transparency & Communication: Public OKRs create clarity across teams, fostering collaboration and shared understanding.
- Faster Learning & Adaptation: Quarterly OKR reviews enable quick course corrections and continuous improvement.
Integrating OKRs with Agile and Jira
Strategic objectives (OKRs) can be mapped to larger Epics in Jira, providing context to the work your teams are doing. Instead of just completing tasks without understanding their significance, teams now see how their work directly contributes to the company’s strategic goals.
For example, a company-level OKR like “Increase customer satisfaction” can be tied to an Epic in Jira related to customer support improvements, with specific user stories aimed at improving response time and resolution quality. This ensures that every sprint is not just about task completion but about driving strategic impact.
Tracking Progress with Jira Dashboards: Measure What Matters
One of the most powerful features of integrating OKRs with Jira is the ability to track Key Results using real-time metrics. Metrics such as client satisfaction scores, project delivery rates, or bug resolution times can be directly linked to Key Results, providing instant visibility into how well the work aligns with broader business objectives. For instance, if a Key Result is to reduce bug resolution time by 30%, Jira’s data on incident resolution speed directly contributes to tracking this outcome.
Using OKRs in Sprint Planning: Prioritize with Purpose
OKRs bring a higher level of focus and direction to sprint planning. While Agile teams traditionally prioritize tasks based on urgency or backlog, OKRs ensure that teams are working on the most impactful tasks that align with business goals.
By considering your quarterly OKRs alongside the product backlog, teams can prioritize user stories and tasks that directly contribute to achieving the company’s strategic objectives. For example, during sprint planning, a team may decide to focus on an Epic that contributes to a Key Result like improving customer retention by 10%,ensuring that each sprint delivers more than just features but also measurable business value.
Incorporating OKR Reviews into Agile Ceremonies: Keeping Strategy Alive
Integrate OKR reviews into your Agile ceremonies, such as sprint reviews or quarterly planning sessions, to continuously evaluate progress against strategic goals.
These regular reviews provide teams with an opportunity to reflect on what’s working, adjust course if necessary, and ensure that their efforts are aligned with the broader business strategy. This approach makes OKRs a living system within the Agile framework, ensuring that strategy remains adaptive and relevant.
Tools and Integrations: Automating Alignment and Tracking
Platforms like Profit.co offer deep integration with Jira, making it easier to link OKRs directly to Jira issues. As tasks are completed in Jira, progress is automatically updated in the OKRs platform, eliminating double work and providing a single source of truth for both strategic and operational status.
Why This Matters: Connecting Every Sprint to the Bigger Picture
OKRs don’t dictate how to run your sprint or manage tasks, that’s on Agile. Instead, OKRs define what success looks like and why you’re doing the work. By integrating OKRs with Jira, each sprint, every story, and every bug fix connects back to your company’s vision and goals.
This partnership between OKRs and Agile creates a feedback loop that aligns your teams on a strategic level, empowering them to deliver work that not only meets deadlines but also drives meaningful business results.
While Agile helps teams deliver efficiently, it’s OKRs that ensure they’re delivering what truly matters.
Aligning Delivery with Client Value at ApexNova Solutions (Not the real name)
Here is a detailed example of how an IT Services firm used OKRs to align execution with strategy and saw powerful results.
Company Profile
ApexNova( Not the real name) is a 300-person IT services company, specializing in custom software solutions for mid-market fintech clients. Agile and Jira were already deeply embedded in their delivery culture, but leadership struggled with disconnected outcomes, and teams were delivering features, but client satisfaction was plateauing.
Challenge
Despite completing 92% of sprint commitments on time, ApexNova’s Q2 client NPS dropped from 48 to 39. Product owners were prioritizing work based on internal technology goals, rather than customer impact.
OKR Implementation
The leadership team introduced quarterly OKRs across departments with a top-level objective:
Objective:“Delight Clients Through Value-Driven Delivery”
Key Results
- Increase client NPS from 39 to 50
- Reduce average bug turnaround time from 4 days to 2 days
- Prioritize 3 client-requested features per quarter in each roadmap
They integrated these OKRs directly into Jira, mapping each Epic to a Key Result and creating dashboards to track bug resolution time, client feature tickets, and feedback.
Results After 2 Quarters
- NPS rose to 54
- Bug resolution time dropped to 1.8 days
- 86% of prioritized client-requested features were shipped within the quarter
- Sprint retrospectives showed a 3x increase in “value to client” mentions from delivery teams
Why It Worked
OKRs gave ApexNova a strategic filter for backlog grooming and sprint planning. Agile kept them fast; OKRs made them focused.
Common Concerns and Challenges with OKRs in Agile Teams
Let’s be honest, bringing OKRs into an already fast-moving Agile environment can feel overwhelming at first. Teams are juggling sprints, deadlines, and client demands. So it’s natural to hear concerns like:
“We’re already too busy with sprints.”
This is the most common pushback. Agile teams run tight ships. But here’s the thing: OKRs aren’t about more work, they’re about more meaningful work.
By aligning sprint tasks with OKRs, teams focus on what actually moves the business forward instead of getting stuck in busywork. OKRs help cut the noise and clarify which stories or features matter most.
Tip: Start small. Introduce team-level OKRs for one squad. Let them integrate OKR discussions into existing sprint planning or reviews. You’ll soon find it brings more clarity to sprint decisions, not clutter.
“How do we measure long-term impact in short sprints?”
Sprints are fast. Strategic goals are longer-term. That mismatch can be confusing.
OKRs bridge that gap by acting as the North Star. They don’t replace sprint metrics, they elevate them by allowing teams to track incremental progress across multiple sprints.
Tip: Define Key Results that can be informed by sprint outputs.
“Will this turn into another top-down reporting tool?”
OKRs are team-driven, not enforced from the top. They give teams clarity on goals, but leave room for ownership in how to achieve them.
Tip: Co-create OKRs with the teams. Managers can set the direction, but let teams define their own OKRs that ladder up to strategic goals. This builds ownership and avoids the feeling of micromanagement.
“What if we miss our OKRs?”
OKRs aren’t about perfection; they’re about progress. In fact, missing a stretch OKR often means you set an ambitious goal and made significant strides, even if you didn’t fully get there.
Tip: Use OKR reviews as learning moments. Celebrate what worked. Reflect on what you didn’t. Then reset for the next quarter with better clarity.
Conclusion
Agile has transformed the way companies deliver value in a fast, iterative, and responsive way.OKRs harness the power of Agile and direct it toward what truly matters: company-wide alignment, outcome-driven delivery, and long-term success.
By integrating OKRs with your Agile practices:
- You align every sprint with broader business goals.
- You prioritize with confidence, choosing work that drives impact.
- You empower teams to make smarter decisions with clarity and purpose.
- You foster a culture of continuous improvement, not just delivery.
The result? A more focused, motivated, and strategically aligned organization, one where Agile execution meets ambitious vision-