Keep it Simple
One of the biggest benefits of OKRs is that the framework is terminology light. Just three easy to understand words: Objectives and Key Results. This simple vocabulary allows people, even those brand new to the process, to quickly grasp the principles and begin utilizing OKRs immediately. Which they do – with gusto. As an OKR Consultant, I’ve witnessed newcomers to the model begin creating effective OKRs after just one training session. The enthusiasm and creativity exhibited by these OKR rookies is always inspiring, but at some point in every session we hear the four words that can grind any measurement effort to an abrupt halt: “We can’t control that.”
Control v. Influence
There will come a moment when you’re feeling the high of generating what you think is the absolute best key result ever imagined, only to come crashing back to reality when you realize that its success is dependent on another team or group within your organization. At that point you’re ready to toss the key result in the digital trash bin. Or, if you’ve experienced this frustration multiple times, to dispatch the entire OKR approach to the heap of good intentions. Fortunately, there is a way to overcome this challenge: dependent key results.
What’s a Dependent Key Result?
When developing key results don’t pull the emergency brake on your momentum because you’ve brainstormed something that will require the assistance of another team. Instead, carefully document exactly what form of help is required, and, ideally, the person who can provide it. Then, once you’ve drafted your initial list of OKRs, schedule meetings with the teams upon whom you rely and share what you’ve created, outlining the input you need from them in order to achieve success.
Let’s look at an example OKR from a Marketing team to illustrate the process. Their objective is: Provide offers via e-mail that resonate with our current customers. They’ve chosen this corresponding key result: 10% increase in revenue per e-mail sent to current customers. The team feels this key result will gauge success in the objective, but quickly realize that in order to achieve it they need help from IT. Specifically, in order to develop more targeted e-mails the Marketing team requires IT to add a new field to their database that shows the last order date.
In this case, after drafting their OKRs, Marketing will meet with IT, share the dependent OKR and note the importance of the new field in achieving it. The goal is to receive a commitment from IT to supply the field by a specified date, and the name of the person who will actually perform the action. The IT team may or may not create an OKR related to the creation of the new field. If it’s a time consuming or complicated procedure they may require an OKR. If, however, creating the field is a simple task that can be accomplished in a day, they will simply log the action as a ‘to do’.
OKR is About Cross-Team Collaboration
We feel these meetings to review and negotiate dependencies will not only lead to better OKRs, but also accelerate results from enhanced understanding and cooperation among teams – something that is sorely lacking in most companies. Recent studies show that managers are very confident they can rely on their boss and direct reports. Fully 84% say that is the case. By contrast, a mere 9% say they can rely on colleagues in other functions.[i] Sharing dependent OKRs and reviewing areas of mutual interest opens the door to enhanced understanding of each function and creates opportunities for mutual support.
Learn more about this and many other OKR topics in my book: Objectives and Key Results: Driving Focus, Alignment, and Engagement with OKRs.
Paul Niven, OKR Expert and best-selling author.
[i] The statistics are drawn from: Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes ,“Why Strategy Execution Unravels – and What to Do About It.” Harvard Business Review, March 2015.