Introduction to OKRs: a simple goal-setting practice that increases focus, alignment and performance
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a simple goal-setting technique that can help an organization increase organizational learning and improve performance.
They are a method to get a collective commitment to stretch goals, alignment on a strategy, and help people decide what to do and what not to do each day.
Watch this video to learn more about OKRs and discover how organizations are using the process.
This presentation was recorded in 2019 and our recommendations may have changed based on our experience.
Resources to help you implement OKRs
There are several schools of thought on using OKRs. I strongly recommend Christina Wodkte’s approach over others.
Wodkte’s Introduction to OKRs is excellent and free. Chapter 2 is the best intro to the practice. The book also has recommendations on weekly status report emails and meetings to make it easier to spot problems and course correct.
I consider the second edition of her book, Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results, required reading before deciding if OKRs are a good fit for your organization. Start with the second edition of Radical Focus before reading other materials on OKRs.
Google has a guide to their method of implementing OKRs. John Doerr, the person who brought OKRs to Google, has a playbook drawn mostly from internal Google sources. Although the Google and Doerr materials are helpful, I recommend following Wodkte’s recommendations.
Presenter
Randall Smith is a director at PowerLabs, a consulting firm that supports organizations in designing and running people-powered campaigns.
He specializes in providing strategic advising and coaching to help organizations create the strategy, structures, and processes to drive organizational learning and improve performance. He’s helped over a dozen organizations implement OKRs.
Clients he has worked with include Courage Campaign, Free Press, IfNotNow, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Movimiento Cosecha, Showing Up for Racial Justice, United for Respect, and Sunrise Movement.
He is also a Momentum trainer and co-organizes peer support and training events for the Momentum community.
He previously provided strategic support to user-generated campaigns on Change.org's platform. His work at Change.org helped people win life-changing (and life-saving) victories including freeing loved ones from prison and changing the policies that govern lung transplants for kids. At Change.org he was part of a team that garnered the company millions of dollars of earned media, and added millions of users to the platform.
Randall has also worked as the digital director at a global advocacy organization, the operations director of an immigrant-led human rights organization, a tenant organizer and a direct action trainer during the global justice movement.
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