With Q1 coming up, I have business planning on my mind! I try to use every planning cycle as an opportunity to refresh myself on best practices in goal setting using the OKR framework.
Here are a two tips that I’m keeping top of mind this round:
Keep objectives short and memorable
It can be easy to go overboard when writing OKRs - but less is more. Aim for 3-5 objectives per planning increment. Too many and it becomes difficult to remember them all; if you can’t remember them all off the top of your head, you have too many!
Don’t forget to make sure they’re actionable, time-bound, and ambitious!
Try using this formula to write great objectives:
Objective = Verb + what you’re doing to do or achieve
It’s not a key result if it doesn’t have a number
You have to be able to measure a KR. If you can’t measure it, you can’t communicate how it’s progressing you toward successful completion of the objective!
Make sure you’re also giving context on your metric - “grow by 100%” is a very different metric if you’re going from 5 to 10 than if you’re going from 50 to 100.
Try using this formula to write great key results:
Key result = Verb + what you’re going to track + from X to Y
What tips do you have for writing OKRs? Leave a comment!
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