Why OKRs Can Be Such a Powerful Resource to Set Business Goals

There is a major misconception that OKRs are only successful for leading companies with the means to get more done. OKRs may have become popular because Google and Amazon rely on them, but that does not mean they are only compatible with major organizations. What makes OKRs so universally applicable, is that they create specific and measurable outcomes out of flexible and creative methods. The framework itself is designed to accommodate flexibility, and making changes is a normal and expected part of any business serious about their success. Every business and team is different and requires its own set of OKR-driven practices to govern how goals are accomplished.

At the very core of the OKR foundation, the framework establishes a way to link broad business goals with the daily grind of the average workday. In baby steps, the key results are accomplished with the full force of all players in the organization working together. In a combined workspace of alignment and measurable outcomes, workers are motivated to accomplish more than they ever thought they could be capable of.

No Finance Resource? No Problem!

A powerful aspect of OKR is its ability to underwhelm employees daily. While the overall goal may seem daunting, the step-by-step actions to get there are not as scary. By checking things off little by little, employees will feel empowered by their ability to get more done and remain excited about the broader end goal. Seeing these smaller steps in action proves to teams that it does not take the luck of having an immense finance resource to accomplish big things. The flexibility of the system extends to how objectives are created. It’s recommended to use bottom-up objectives, as this style encourages individuals to develop their own ideas, allowing for greater employee participation and work ethic to follow suit.

OKRs are for Everyone

To recap, you do not have to be Jeff Bezos for OKRs to work for you and your organization. Taking the time to identify what it is your business needs to accomplish, and how every individual can do their part to get there, is half of the battle. After that, the only thing left to do is to cadence your workflow to track your progress. It’s up to you and what works best for your team to determine what the cadence looks like. Will you review progress on a monthly, weekly, or quarterly basis? Are your OKRs long-term or short-term? These questions have flexible answers as they are molded to the given organization at hand; there is no established formula.

Like other business goal-making frameworks, OKRs provide ways to maximize the most out of your business so that you can get the results you need to succeed. What sets OKRs apart is their ability to cultivate larger successes than what is thought to be possible by many alternative goal strategy methods. Take advantage of this quality and begin writing your OKRs today.