Business activity and general personal growth are arguably some of the most vital parts of an economy. Without carefully constructed businesses and productive individuals, an economy is bound to become substandard and even fall into recession.
Luckily, OKRs or goal-setting metrics are pretty useful in this regard and can help combat issues. Initially created roughly two decades ago, many startups used this performance measurement process as they grew.
These various companies would include those such as Google and Microsoft. Yes, if Google and Microsoft used them, they must be wonderful performance processes, right?
That is the consensus as OKRs helped these startups reach the reputable level they have today.
Andrew Grove is popularly referred to as the father of OKR due to his contributions towards this performance process. John Doerr, a big supporter of this performance process, explained how this innovation works, saying, “The key result has to be measurable. But at the end, you can look, and without any arguments: Did I do that or did I not do it? Yes? No? Simple. No judgments in it.”
Although this process has helped spearhead change in several companies, they are primarily unsung heroes. The average person doesn’t even know what OKR is or what or how effective it is for their lives or businesses.
Thus, this guide would explain what this concept is and answer whether you can use this process for both your business and personal life.
See This Link Between OKRs for Your Business and Personal Life
As said previously, OKR is a performance process that has changed the way companies plan and achieve goals. Before its invention, many people and companies have had a hard time achieving goals. When they set goals, they tend to become overwhelmed by the number of tasks they need to do to achieve these goals.
As a result, goals, especially business goals, were widely misconstrued to be unreasonably difficult to attain. Luckily, OKR has helped and is presently helping to combat this misconception. They can see this link between their personal and business lives.
The Essence of the OKR
Objectives and key results, or OKR for short, is a framework that allows people, companies, and industries to set key results in order to achieve various objectives. There are two main elements of OKR, and they are:
Objectives
This is the first element of the OKR, and it involves setting objectives in order to achieve a goal. However, when selecting these objectives, many people tend to either set unrealistic goals or objectives that aren’t necessary to succeed at that particular point in time.
Hence, when you want to set an objective using this framework, try to put the one you know that is feasible. Although OKR would also help you determine the feasibility, it is also essential to decide on your goals’ feasibility before inputting this into the framework.
Key Results
Just like the name states, this is the second element of OKR. Key results mean an algorithm or set of processes that help you track your progress towards completing your objective. Something that can affect your progression rate is to have too many or too few key results.
Having too few key results affects your key results by failing to thoroughly touch all areas of the plan you need to cover to progress. On the other hand, having too many key results tends to make you feel overwhelmed when you want to complete them. Hence, it is recommended you set between 2-6 key results when trying to achieve your goal.
Why is it Beneficial for You and Your Business?
Many people who know about this innovation tend to believe that it is only beneficial for business planning. However, you can use it in virtually all areas of your life. From planning for your health to your career and even finances, OKR is an excellent tool you can use.
That said, OKR helps you and your business in the following ways:
Improves Transparency In Your Plans
To achieve any plans, transparency is key. Without your goals being transparent enough, you would have difficulty trying to determine the other factors of your plan.
That said, OKR is a framework that improves the transparency of each goal and objective you have, helping you to determine factors such as duration of completion.
Hence, for that plan to lose weight, learn a new skill, or conduct your business processes with more transparency, this is an excellent performance process to use.
It Makes Your Plans Easier to Achieve
Anyone that wants to achieve a goal knows how hard it is to accomplish. More often than not, many people tend to set goals that are challenging to achieve. But it does not have to be that way.
OKR understands this and has provided a way for you to break down your goals.
This not only makes your objectives easier to achieve, but it also helps you achieve them faster. This benefit is for both personal and professional use. So, the next time you’re setting a long-term goal with many steps to take, consider using OKR.
It Keeps You from Feeling Overwhelmed
In the beginning, setting plans in order to achieve an objective can make you feel fantastic. However, as more time progresses, there would be an increased chance of you getting overwhelmed. This overwhelmed feeling can negatively impact your progress and even cause some mild or severe regression.
Thus, it is essential to use the OKR framework. This framework helps you analyze your goals and break them down into smaller, more achievable vital results.
Differentiates Ambitious from Ambiguous Goals
There is a very fine line between ambitious and ambiguous goals. Unfortunately, many people mistake ambitious goals for ambiguous ones.
Luckily, the OKR framework can help you differentiate these two types of goals clearly in all aspects of your life.
This would help you either discard ambiguous goals or break them down into more feasible objectives.
The Verdict on the OKR Process
Many companies such as Google, Microsoft, and even LinkedIn wouldn’t have progressed as fast if they didn’t use the OKR. This framework has changed and is still changing the way people set goals and achieve them. That said, you now know what it is and why it’s so helpful to use. When you want to use this framework, make sure you’ve conducted your research on the goal you want to achieve.
