Discover the OKR method, a methodology used by technology giants and which can be applied in your organization.

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Companies and leaders around the world are looking to become increasingly agile and efficient in order to achieve their goals and objectives. To do this, it is necessary invest in management tools that help increase performance As a whole, including the employees, who are the ones who make everything happen.

It is in this relentless pursuit of better results that the OKR method has become a market favorite. As it is a very simple tool, it is gaining more and more adherence in the corporate environment. However, its implementation process can be somewhat complex at first, especially if applied on a large scale.

Therefore, we who are management specialists, we have prepared this content so you can better understand what the OKR method is, its advantages, and how to apply it in your company. Shall we begin?

Origin

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a simple and flexible management method that fosters employee engagement in order to increase organizational productivity. In Portuguese, this acronym means Objectives and Key Results and was developed by Andrew S. Grove, former CEO of Intel, in the 1970s.

But it was only in 1999 that the method became popular, when John Doerr, a Google investor, introduced it to the company's employees, and it was at that moment that it gained notoriety in the business world. When the method was presented to the tech giant, the company had fewer than 50 employees. Today, it has over 85,000, demonstrating that in addition to being adaptable to companies of different sizes, it has been able to support Google's dizzying growth in recent years.

But, what is the OKR method?

The famous method that has charmed companies like Google, Twitter, Spotify, Airbnb, LinkedIn, and so many others, is actually a mobilization strategy to increase productivity by doing the right thing at the right time.

It allows organizations to better visualize their priorities and how they relate or do not relate to the company's larger strategies and objectives. Basically, it clarifies What to do and why do.

The two main pillars are objectives (O) and key results (KR). To help you understand better, we will explain each of the points:

The objective (O) should directly and concisely state the direction the organization wishes to pursue. It needs to be described in an impactful way to capture the interest of all employees. 

Keywords (KR) can be defined as the goals that will directly impact the process of achieving the objectives that must be met. Remember that objectives should be qualitative, meaning they determine the elements that should be part of this group. Key results, on the other hand, are quantitative and present more specific data about the objectives at the end of the period.

Normally the method is applied for a predetermined period. After the end, the results are evaluated and new OKRs are defined for that organization.

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And what are the benefits that the OKR method provides for organizations?

If so many companies, including tech giants, are using them, you can already imagine the benefits are numerous. But, to start showing you why you should invest in implementing OKRs in your company, we've selected just 9. Shall we get to know them?

Transparency

We can say that one of the values of this method is transparency, an essential characteristic in the company/employee relationship and increasingly valued in the market. The focus in the OKR method is the success of the whole, and therefore, transparently sharing objectives with the entire team is essential, showing how each person is contributing to achieving the results.

2 – Teaching tool

One of the main advantages is that OKR is educational and easy to use. It is not necessary to have specific training or a technical team to apply it in your organization. With training, it is possible to achieve the effectiveness of the method quickly.

3 - Agility

OKR is an agile methodology that allows larger objectives to be broken down into smaller ones to achieve results. For example, you can divide a year-long objective into quarters. This way, it's possible to evaluate the results obtained up to that point at each period, helping to increase everyone's productivity and agility.

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4 – Alignment

OKR ensures alignment of the entire team, each in their area, with the company's objectives and strategy. It is also very important for ensuring that different company sectors do not have conflicting objectives.

5 – Increased focus

When setting goals, we tend to go far and imagine a thousand possibilities, but this hinders us when it comes to focusing on what is truly important for that moment. OKRs help in this process, assisting you in focusing on the priority for that period.

6 – Engagement

Setting goals is important, but it's useless if they're only known to leaders and managers, as achieving them requires the entire team to work together. In the OKR method, all of this is defined and shared transparently across all departments and hierarchical levels. This way, the team as a whole feels more encouraged, challenged, and motivated to be part of these achievements, increasing team engagement.

7 – Growth

Companies are always looking for growth, whatever it may be. OKRs are ideal for finding bottlenecks where it is possible to innovate, grow, and evolve in the organization, contributing to continuous performance improvement and, consequently, growth.

8 – Learning

As we discussed previously, OKRs have shorter cycles, which aids in evaluating results for faster decision-making. However, this also helps with learning, as the team needs agility to learn and adapt to achieve the goals set for that period.

9 – Results

Well, everything we've discussed above has only one objective: to achieve the best results. And that's what OKR provides! With all its simplicity, OKR surprises teams around the world with the results it generates. All of this, of course, while making the team more aligned and motivated, leading to positive consequences for everyone, including customers.

As you can see, it's no wonder Google, Twitter, Dropbox, and so many other companies use this methodology. What are you waiting for to implement it in your organization?

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How to implement OKRs in my organization?

You've already learned about all the benefits of OKRs and seen everything they can do for your organization quickly and easily. But now you might be wondering: where do I start implementing them? Calm down, We will also help you with this part.

For those of you who are interested in the methodology, check out these simple steps to start implementing OKRs in your company today!

Step 1 - Purpose

Every company exists for a reason. This is called purpose. What is yours? With this in mind, begin to think about the objectives to be achieved by the organization.

Step 2 – Periodicity

Based on your company's organization and demand, define the OKR cycles. The cycles should preferably be shorter, but this duration can vary from company to company, ranging from 2 months to annual. Everything depends on the organization's needs and current situation.

Step 3 – Defining and aligning OKRs 

This is the time for the company to define the OKRs and communicate them to the departments so that everyone can be aligned with the defined objectives. Remember the importance of everyone involved in the definition process participating from beginning to end.

Step 4 – Alignment

With the objectives defined, it's time to communicate and align expectations with the entire team, across different departments and hierarchical levels. This way, the teams will be able to develop their own OKRs that will contribute to achieving the greater objective. We reinforce the importance of everyone in the company participating in this process to achieve the expected result.

Step 5 – Follow-up

Are objectives defined and aligned with the entire company? It's time to start putting everything into practice and perform periodic checks to monitor the evolution of results. Since the cycles are short, we recommend weekly checks to identify problems and, if necessary, resolve them.

Step 6 – Review

At the end of each cycle, it is important to review the defined OKRs. It is important for the entire team to be together, after all, if the result was a success, the merit will belong to everyone, and if the result is not as expected, it is important for everyone to find the points to be improved together. After all, the essence of the methodology is precisely to learn quickly and adapt to changes.

A good OKR should be:* **Ambitious:** They should push the boundaries of what's considered possible. * **Measurable:** Key results must have clear, quantifiable outcomes. * **Specific:** The objective should be clear and focused. * **Challenging:** They should stretch the team but not be impossible. * **Time-bound:** OKRs are typically set for a specific period (e.g., a quarter). * **Aligned:** They should connect to company-wide goals and other teams' OKRs. * **Transparent:** Everyone in the organization should be able to see them. * **Concise:** Easy to understand and remember.

To be functional and truly OKRs, there are some characteristics that objectives must follow. Each of these characteristics directly impacts the achievement of the key results proposed by the methodology. Before defining your organization's OKR, check if it complies with any of the 5 characteristics listed below:

• Numbers If the objective (O) does not have a number, it is not possible to measure the key result (KR). Therefore, a good OKR must contain numbers and be measurable to be understood and improved.
• Communication: The expected objectives should be explained very well. The better the explanation, the better the alignment and communication among the entire team.
• Short cycles In general, companies' strategic goals and planning have a 12-month cycle. OKRs should have short cycles, of about 3 months. It's an agile methodology and, therefore, must be revisited and changed more frequently in order to identify errors and achieve the best results.
• Simplicity: There's no need to complicate what doesn't need to be complicated! When setting goals, be as objective as possible. Write in a simple and clear way to ensure effective communication.
• Collaboration and autonomy OKRs provide team alignment to achieve the expected result. Therefore, in addition to top-down objectives, they also highlight the importance of bottom-up objectives. In other words, leaders define goals that should be communicated to other teams, so they can also define goals based on these larger objectives, contributing to their achievement in their respective areas.

Here are some examples of OKRs:

We've talked a lot about the theory behind OKRs, how about seeing in practice how objectives and key results are defined? We've put together 3 examples here so you can better visualize what OKRs look like.

• Example 1

Objective: Increase production by 20%% by the end of the year

Key Results

• Hire 15 employees.;
• Invest in new equipment and renovate half of it by August.

• Example 2

Objective: Increase customer satisfaction

Key Results

• Conduct an NPS with 500 people by June;
• Develop actions to strengthen customer relationships by August.

• Example 3

Objective: To be a benchmark in the segment

Key Results

• Increase 30% of Market Share;
• Increase revenue by 20% compared to the competition.

Did you see how OKR can transform how your company handles objectives simply and practically?

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