OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results”. To be a successful Product Manager, you need to fully understand the OKR Framework – a must know strategy.
To clarify, OKR is not a skill that can be learnt (unlike other critical product management skills), it is simply a style of functioning. You may already be using some version of the OKR framework, but you may not be aware of it. Within your scrum teams, clearly defining what kind of framework you use will help in bringing organisational clarity to your stakeholders.
Now is also a good time to make sure you are aware of the top 15 benefits of Kanban. Not to forget the top 15 benefits of Scrum.
OKR Framework Origin
But where did this framework come from? And why has it become so popular?
Answering the first question will automatically give you the answer for the second question.
Andy Grove, an employee at Intel, had first come up with the OKR acronym. Another employee at Intel, John Doerr, took the concept of OKRs with him when he went to work for the legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. In 1999, in a little known startup that Kleiner Perkins had invested in, Doerr initiated the concept of OKRs.
That little known startup was Google.
On a similar note, do you know what makes Elon Musk such an effective Product Manager?
The rest, as they say, is history.
OKRs have helped lead us to 10x growth, many times over.
Larry Page, Google Co-Founder
OKR is now an integral part of all processes within Google. And given their obvious success, the OKR framework in general has become wildly popular. If you are looking for successful OKR examples, look no further than OKR Google!
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As the Product Manager, it is your responsibility to set the objectives. You can use any tool that you already have – Jira is a good starting point.
OKR Meaning
At its core, the OKR Framework brings discipline within the team because you need to clearly define your objectives. Not only that, you need to make sure you are able to achieve your key results.
However, it is very important to not fall into the trap of the Waterfall model. OKR can and should be used only with the Agile Methodology. You should also understand the key differences in Agile vs Waterfall.
Many people make the mistake of getting fixated on pre-defined objectives, failing to take constant feedback and completely abandoning the Agile processes.
To help prevent this trap of falling into the Waterfall model, you need to keep all communication channels open. Don’t forget to communicate like a boss!
An objective is a clearly defined goal (with a clear timeline) that you as a Product Manager need to set. Nobody else should set the goal besides you (not the Scrum Master, Dev Lead, etc.).
Refresh your memory with the following key differences –
A Key Result is a measurable metric that can help in analysing the impact of the Objective. These metrics are also called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
OKR Product Management
No matter the product, OKR is seamlessly applicable to any management style.
In other words, this framework is Product Agnostic.
And as far as OKR software is concerned, there are many available on the market. But you can easily use any existing tool for your OKR metrics.
As a Product Manager, it is also important to create realistic goals and measurable key results. Keeping open ended goals with vague metrics is not only counter productive, it is actually demoralizing for the team.
I have always break down my bigger objectives into smaller and more manageable objectives. Then, I create many small KPIs to help understand my progress.
It is also important to have a fixed timeline for all your KPIs. A KPI becomes meaningless if there are no fixed timelines.
Also, it is a good practice to connect your OKRs to your larger product roadmap. It helps if you can demonstrate that a certain OKR is a natural bridge to a future feature or enhancement.
I also want to add in a point about product roadmaps here. Always try to be as detailed as possible in your product roadmap. However, don’t keep your features dependent on a fixed outcome of a previous OKR. Give yourself the buffer to proceed or update your roadmap based on your KPI results.
OKRs give all stakeholders a quantitative and a measurable sense of where the product stands.
OKR Examples
Let us look at a few examples.
Example 1
Objective – Start a social campaign on Twitter.
Key Result 1 – Get 1000 new followers on Twitter. The key is to keep it simple – don’t forget the KISS principle.
Key Result 2 – Get an engagement rate of 40% for your tweets.
Example 2
Objective – Launch a new version of your app.
Key Result 1 – Get 10000 new downloads on the App Store.
Key Result 2 – Get a minimum rating of 4.5 on the App Store.
Example 3
Objective – Conduct customer survey for product feedback.
Key Result 1 – Get responses from 2000 customers.
Key Result 2 – Prepare 10 new features based on customer feedback.
Conclusion – Measure What Matters
The OKR meaning should be clear to you now. Some people also ask about OKR vs KPI. But that is not a valid comparison. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator, and it exists within the OKR framework. In other words, KPIs are a part of OKR goals.
In conclusion, setting up stretch goals and reaching for them is the hallmark of the OKR framework. Use your intuition and judgement while setting up these objectives. You already know the Business Requirements. You already know the Development Team capacity. Your job is to find the perfect match between the two. This is where your knowledge and experience will come in handy.
Bonus – How do you remain an effective Product Manager during Coronavirus?
Other online resources include the most famous OKR book – Measure What Matters, some OKR best practices and some Google OKR examples.