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How to Set OKRs With Your Team and Deliver the Right Goals Quicker · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: How to set OKRs with your team and use them to deliver the right goals quicker and better will make you and your team a lot more successful.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Using the OKRs or Objectives and Key Results system helps prioritise, creates a focus on results rather than activity, and aligns everyone's efforts to deliver the right goals.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: When you get everyone working in the same direction and supporting each other as a team, you can achieve amazing things.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've worked in world-class corporates through to startups, and I see too many team members left to do what they think is best, which results in most of the team working in slightly to very different directions.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: It is incredibly hard to deliver great results when this is happening.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most important tasks of any leader or manager is setting the right goals, and OKRs are a great framework for creating clear and measurable goals.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Setting great OKRs is the starting point, and what you do afterwards is even more important to deliver great results.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I have six steps I recommend that you follow to set OKRs with your team and then help them deliver the results that you want.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, understand the high-level objectives.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Second, select the OKRs for your team.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Third, break down the objectives into projects.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, assign who's doing what.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, create visibility and celebrate progress.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then sixth, proactively support your teams and relentlessly follow up.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Before we dive in, I will quickly cover what are OKRs or objectives and key results.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: The objective part is what you want to accomplish.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It is the direction of travel or the broad goals to achieve.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ideally, objectives are action-oriented, concrete and inspirational.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: The key results part must be measurable and specific and talk to how we achieve the objective.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone should be really clear where the finish line is and what the results look like.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: You may have one to five key results for each objective.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The results should always include numbers.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Either you meet them or you don't.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: The results targeted should be stretching but achievable with the right resources, etc.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: OKRs should be used for projects, improvements and initiatives, not day-to-day activities and tasks.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: OKRs can be used in any size of company.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: For example, Google started using them when they had less than 100 people, and it still uses OKRs today with over 182,000 employees.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, Enhanced.training shares people management expertise, resources and courses teaching you how to build high performing teams.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: We have lots of free resources and webinars available to add more depth to your knowledge or save you a ton of time.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So do visit us at Enhanced.training to make use of these.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: A very important step before you set objectives and key results for your team is to understand what the higher level objectives are.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: The high level objectives for the company are typically set by a few leaders.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Managers in the organisation might be consulted but are unlikely to have been involved in the decision-making process to select the company level goals.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding the goals of the next level up from your team, which might be the company goals but probably the business unit or functional goals, allows you to align your team with the wider goals.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: This alignment is really important, so make the time to understand the objectives and discuss them with your boss.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you are clear about how your team will be contributing to achieving the wider objectives, you can then set objectives for your team.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Aligned objectives will maximise the efforts of your team into helping achieve company goals.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: When all teams do this, achieving the company goals set are a lot more likely.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if two of your company's objectives were to firstly improve the scalability of the business and then secondly to increase the net profit margin to over 15%, you would choose team objectives focused on the areas and results that your team is responsible for that best help the company achieve these objectives.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Second, the next step to deliver the right goals is to select the OKRs for your team.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: You may have your boss tell you what your team OKRs are.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you have the opportunity, try to create the OKRs yourself and then get input from your boss.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: There are several benefits to this approach.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, you have more control over the OKRs you have to deliver.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, your boss will be impressed by your ownership and proactivity and it'll be one less thing for them to do.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And third, you'll be demonstrating your leadership potential and skills.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: To get high levels of buy-in from your team, consult them on what OKRs the team should have.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: This process increases their ownership and understanding of the OKRs being set.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I suggest you create 1-5 OKRs each quarter for your team.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Creating OKRs is about focus and sustained effort into tightly defined areas, which result in a much higher chance of delivering the results that you want.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is why we use tools like OKRs to improve success rates.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: The bigger your team and the bigger your team's bandwidth, the more OKRs you can successfully take on.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Don't stretch yourself or your team too thin.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Examples of OKRs for a team in a quarter could be firstly create a business plan for a self-service platform for our customers to reduce our admin expenses and increase business scalability.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And second, review and prioritize our customer contracts on profitability terms and identify at least one profit-increasing activity for each contract.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The third step for how to set OKRs with your team is to break down the objectives into projects which deliver specific results.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Work with your team to break down each team objective into specific projects that you will undertake to achieve that objective.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Each of your quarterly objectives may have one to five projects being undertaken.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the results to be achieved realistic for the quarter.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can always add follow-up projects for the next quarter.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're creating projects to answer the how are we going to achieve this objective.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Your team members will be a lot more confident with a map of how to achieve what is being asked of them.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Each project should be broken down into monthly tasks and activities to achieve specific results.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: For even better results, I would work with the team or groups of the team members to plan out the steps, activities and results needed for each project.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Many minds are better than one.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, you are sharing the responsibility for how to achieve the results across the team rather than having it all on your shoulders.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, the project plans belong to the team members as much as you, and therefore they are much more likely to be bought into the project plan, which further increases the chance of a successful result.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth step for how to set OKRs with your team is to assign who is doing what.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: To ensure all the projects sitting under the OKR are as successful as possible, you want to get the right people and resources in place as early as possible.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Start with a person who will be leading each project.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: The better you know your team, the easier it will be to assign project leaders.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Consider team member skills, strengths, ambitions, and development needs when picking leaders.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Each project should have one person who is responsible for its success.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then assign team members to each project.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Limit the number of projects each team member works on to two to three at the most.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: If they have more than three, they'll probably be spread too thin, which will risk the success of the project.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Factor to consider when assigning team members include alignment with their skills, capacity, interests and their day job.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do your best to give enough bandwidth to each team member to enable successful results.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth step in setting OKRs with your team is to create visibility and celebrate progress.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Keeping attention and focus on the OKRs is, in my view, more important than creating good OKRs in the first place.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Too many managers create great goals, objectives or OKRs and then hope the team will deliver without any further intervention from the manager.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It would be amazing if this actually happened.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is very rare in my experience.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Creating visibility enables you to, firstly, keep the OKRs and the projects underpinning them in everyone's mind.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: The message you are sending is they are important to me, so you need to make them important to you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, visibility increases ownership and efforts by project teams.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: No one wants to let their colleagues down or fail, so everyone tries harder to deliver.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Third, problem and issues can be spotted as early as possible and resolutions put in place or help provided to overcome problems as quickly as possible.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Meet at least each week to provide updates for each project.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Publicly share progress against each result being targeted and plan as a team how to get projects back on track if needed.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: I would recommend that you share team OKRs openly, including your own ones.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: This means everyone is aware of what is being worked on by each person in the team and what are the most important results to be delivered for that week and month.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, publicly praise great progress and results.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Receiving appreciation and recognition is a very big motivator for most people.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Make a big deal of team members who are delivering great results.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: The sixth step for how to set OKRs with your team is to proactively support your teams and relentlessly follow up.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Following up regularly with each team member is a vital part of any manager's job, and there are loads of benefits from following up.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, you know exactly where each project and work stream is.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, any problems are identified early and you can help resolve them before they create a big negative impact.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you are able to provide support, help and coaching when it is most needed.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: All of these allow you to confidently communicate progress to your boss and stakeholders, make the tough calls about what to focus on, what to stop and what to say no to.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you can help quicker and more effectively when team members need it.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Following up means your projects are going to be more successful and be finished faster, which in turn means your team is more likely to meet and beat their OKRs.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I suggest you always approach following up by asking how you can help your team members.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then actually provide any help asked for quickly.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Taking this approach incentivizes team members to share what is happening with you and they don't feel like you're micromanaging in any way.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Follow up and support your team wherever you can to make it easier to meet and beat OKRs.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, OKRs are a great framework to set, track and achieve goals and objectives.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: OKRs are often the best way to set the right goals for the business through to the individual teams.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: A great part of the OKR system is to share everyone's OKRs from the CEO downwards and to make these available to everyone inside the organization.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: This practice maximizes ownership and accountability and increases alignment within the organization.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The more alignment of direction and effort, the more likely the company, function, and team is to achieve their goals.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: The six steps I suggest you take for how to set OKRs with your team are firstly understand the high level objectives.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, select the OKRs for your team.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Third, break down the objectives into projects.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, assign who is doing what.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, create visibility and celebrate progress.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then sixth, proactively support your teams and relentlessly follow up.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on how to set OKRs with your team and deliver the right goals quicker, please email me at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.