Lessons Learned From Implementing OKRs
March has just ended, and it is time for me to assess the use of OKR (Objectives & Key Results) during the first quarter of 2021. As promised in my previous post on the topic, I’m sharing my takeaways from my first-hand experience using the OKRs framework in my personal life.
Don’t skip weekly check-ins
As part of implementing the framework, I’ve decided to spend 15 to 30 minutes each week reviewing my key results and updating the figures. Having those weekly check-ins was critical for my success. It helped me to stay on track with the key results and stay focused on my objectives. Reviewing the OKRs makes me reflect on what I was doing well and what I wasn’t doing so well. It also helped me to prepare for the week ahead with the proper mindset.
Limit the number of objectives and key results to only 2–3
When I analyzed the numbers every week and saw 0% progress on some of the key results, I asked myself, “Did I set up too many key results? Did I set the wrong key results? Did I spend too little time on these key results, and I need to spend more time on these in the upcoming weeks?”
Whenever I had those thoughts, I told myself that it was too early to make a change. I ultimately decided to wait till the end of the quarter to reevaluate.
Now that I’ve looked at my OKRs at the end of the quarter, I still have three key results with less than 25% progress; however, I was satisfied with my overall progress. In Q2, I’m going to limit the number of objectives I set to 2–3 and the number of key results to 2–3, so I will have a total of 4–9 key results rather than 14, which was quite high.
If you feel you don’t want to limit the number of objectives/key results you can always shrink your goals e.g., set your goal to go to the beach three times a quarter instead of five times a quarter. Use this approach cautiously as you still want to challenge yourself.
Aim for success — add items to your calendar
After a bad week, I did not make much progress, so I expected to see 0% progress on all key results. To my surprise, I had at least one “quick win key result” on my calendar. I learned that if you put something on the calendar, there is a higher chance that you’ll actually do it! By doing so, you’ve progressed with at least one key result, and you don’t feel out of step with the plan.
OKRs are useful for tracking initiatives that are important but not urgent
If you’re familiar with the Eisenhower method, then you probably know that initiatives, which are important and not urgent, are what you need to care about the most. You can use this method in either your professional or personal life.
The OKR framework is great for such initiatives because you pick only a few, important objectives and you track them over a long time frame between quarter-year.
As a rule of thumb, don’t use the OKR framework for tracking daily or weekly objectives; there are other better frameworks out there for doing so.
So, will I continue to use OKRs?
You may be asking yourself, is this a good framework to use?
I think the better question is whether an alternative framework would work better. I am not aware of any framework that works better right now, and I’m thankful I’ve started to use OKRs. I will continue to use them and update you on my future findings.
