Last updated 24 June 2022 ·
Once you’ve set your company’s OKRs, Objectives and Key Results for the year, it’s time to track its success. Whether or not you measure your team’s performance via weekly or monthly meetings, one-on-one interviews, or some other method, it’s essential to review how they are doing with their OKRs regularly. Many people struggle with figuring out exactly how to do this; however, here are some tips on tracking the success of your OKR plan across all teams.
Start with SMART goals
As the company OKRs are cascaded throughout the wider business, ensure that they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) as they form the foundation of all strategic direction for the company. Using these top-level OKRs, create your SMART objectives and key results corresponding to those and focus primarily on your area of specialism. As long as your OKRs are made SMART, they become a lot easier to measure, allowing you to reap the benefits that OKRs provide of increased visibility and transparency as other stakeholders can see your live progress.
Define metrics
Communicate which are the most important metrics to measure success on. OKRs are usually set quarterly, every six months or annually, and the most important metrics to watch likely are those detailed in the OKRs themselves and, therefore, different for everyone. The true nature of OKRs requires that key results include a measurable number, for example, to increase social media activity by 20%.
Another way to track OKR performance is to consider some of the more common overarching metrics, including the number of OKRs achieved within the specified timeframe and whether overall performance is on track for completion by the OKR cycle end date. Top-level performance metrics like this can be challenging to obtain regularly without using OKR software to facilitate the process. The Reclaro 1-3-5® OKR software includes a top-level overview of all plans in the business, showing live progress in a series of percentage dials so leaders can see at a glance whether they are winning and the company is on track or not.
Share plans with the right people
One of the significant benefits of using OKRs is the visibility of progress, performance and achievements they provide, as well as the transparency of roles and responsibilities across all levels. In most businesses, we see the CEO and their senior leadership teams have access to all plans in the business so they can quickly assess full business performance at any time. Furthermore, managers can see how their peers in other departments are performing, enabling them to share success stories, and inspire each other with tips, advice and guidance. Sharing plans with the right people can encourage a culture of healthy competition, helping develop employees and stimulate innovative thinking.
Get feedback, adjust and re-evaluate often
As with all internal processes, it’s important to regularly evaluate the success of your OKR cycle in terms of measurable metrics achieved but also sentiment and the overall general feeling amongst employees. Employee engagement is a hugely influential factor in business growth. An effective way to monitor this is by gathering feedback through anonymous surveys or confidential 121 meetings in which employees open up and share how they feel OKRs are working for them.
Do an end-of-quarter audit
Finally, the best way to track OKR progress is to evaluate metrics at the end of each OKR period. Using OKR software will dramatically reduce the time required to do this task, enabling constant evaluation of performance over the period instead of waiting until the deadline. If you are considering implementing an OKR online tool to help cascade your objectives for improved team alignment, high performance and faster growth, check out our blog, which compares the six best OKR tools for practical goal setting.
Alternatively, if you are just starting your journey with OKRs, download The OKR Builder™ today. It contains a step-by-step guide on how to write compelling OKRs that cascade perfectly throughout all levels of your business.
