How to Align Teams with OKRs for Revenue Growth

I recently spoke at multiple conferences and talked to a number of companies about planning. Each time I asked a simple question: what is the most important part of planning? There were many answers like providing top-down guidance. Or unleashing the power of innovation through bottom-up insights from the team. Still others said that it’s reflecting and learning from previous plans. Sure, all are important, but they pale in comparison to the actual most important part of planning: Executing the plan!! The best plans are worthless if you don’t follow with great execution. So then the real question is: how do you plan with great execution in mind? I put together this quick guide to make sure you're set up for success: 1️⃣ Clarify Roles Every Key Result needs one (and only one) DRI (Directly Responsible Individual). They're your KR quarterback, calling the plays but not the only one moving the ball forward. 2️⃣ Integrate Tools Don't keep your OKRs and daily tasks in separate apps. It's like storing your socks in the kitchen – inefficient and confusing. Embed your OKRs where you actually work. Your team meeting doc should have the OKRs embedded. Leadership meetings should start with a look at the OKR dashboard. Your 1-1 doc should embed the relevant OKRs as well. 3️⃣ Track Confidence Track progress (e.g. from 0% to 100%) but also add a confidence meter (e.g. Green, Yellow, Red). Your KR sitting at 80% might still be a "Code Red" 🚨 if the team is blocked by something they cannot overcome without help. 4️⃣ Update Often Frequent updates let you see around corners. Keep everyone in the loop, from interns to the C-suite. 🤖 Pro Tip: Automation is your friend. Send automatic reminders only to people who have not updated their OKRs in a while. Automatically update OKR progress based on your Jira tasks. I’d love to hear how you're tackling execution this quarter. Share a comment below!

I’m a big believer in OKRs (objective, key result) OKRs are an effective tool for driving alignment across levels within an organization and for establishing a more standard approach to performance management In several of my past companies, I’ve been part of the core team responsible for scaling OKR management from company level to leader to departmental to manager to IC A few tips: 1) max of 3-5 OKRs OKRs are not meant to measure everything you do; just the key intiatives to drive impact and focus 2) have clear company OKRs so that leaders can tie their OKRs to company for thread of alignment 3) implement a regular cadence (I recommend monthly) for reviewing progress to OKRs and challenges and plan to close gap. I would have a monthly team meeting where would review mine and my directs to see where trending 4) Establish what good looks like (generally OKRs should be aspirational so an 85% achievement is good across the board. 100% could suggest you had too easy OKRs or perhaps burnt out teams) 5) Link performance management to OKRs. This helps with having a standard for what good performance looks like across disparate teams. For example, in past companies where we had bonus tied to non quota achievement OKR achievement generally informed about 85%+of bonus with discretion from manager for things outside of it 6) Review OKRs to make sure OKRs link to core objectives of an org. Example, if you are in a CS org where retention is the name of the game, a large majority of your OKR should link to effective renewals management. Your function determines the focus. 7) A mix of outcome and process OKRs is fine, but ensure at least 50/50 are outcome focused (aka you impacted X metric - outcome, vs you did Y thing or delivered z) 8) implement calibrations across teams with leaders present to balance the different approaches and potential bias leaders have to rating teams Anything else you’d add? #okrs #performancemanagement

Let me be straight with you—having #OKRs is just half the story; the other half is defining, executing, and learning from them through a well-thought-out process. Here are the main ceremonies to perform: Year View → Annual Strategic Planning Conducted in the final quarter of the preceding year, this is when you lay the groundwork for your organizational vision. You decide on themes that will serve as the backbone for your OKRs in the coming year. From my experience, blocking 2-4 weeks for this activity sets the right pace for a comprehensive yet focused discussion. →Resource Allocation You can't drive a car without fuel, right? The same goes for executing OKRs. A part of your annual planning should zero-in on resource allocation. I've seen teams soar when they've got this right, and stagnate when they overlook it. Quarter View → Preparation About a month before the new quarter, prepare drafts for departmental and team-level OKRs. This is also when you sync up with stakeholders to align departmental goals with the overarching organizational strategy. Monthly Ceremonies →Check-Ins: Quick status updates, vital for maintaining momentum. →MBR: A deep-dive into performance metrics. Invaluable for data nerds like me! →Problem-Solving: Time set aside to unravel roadblocks. Creativity to the fore! →Inter-departmental Syncs: I can't stress enough how essential these are for cross-functional harmony. Quarterly Ceremonies → QBR: This is your grand review—often featuring the C-suite—that lays bare your performance over the past quarter. It's a prelude to the Final Learning & Review, so make it count. → Final Learning & Review: At the quarter's end, evaluate your OKRs, jot down your lessons learned (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and chalk out your improvement strategy. Spend about 2 weeks on this; trust me, it's time well invested. Transition & Buffer Between quarters, reflect internally on your focus areas for the next cycle and make those last-minute resource adjustments. This often-overlooked week serves as a breathing space for your teams. So, whether you're a seasoned OKR veteran or a newcomer, remember that the right process can make or break your OKRs. Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments! Join me on this enlightening journey as I continue to share insights, learnings, and best practices in achieving #ProductOps excellence. Follow me, Farid Sabitov, for more enriching content