Elizabeth here — John would say that I’m your OKR Shepherd, but I prefer the term “Wingwoman.” 

It’s time to check in on your OKRs. 

Last month, we focused on sharing OKRs to finalize the cascade: Company → Department → Team → Individual. Every layer of your organization should now have locked in their OKRs for the quarter.

🗓️ This month: Using OKRs in Your Staff Meetings & 1:1s

Over the next two weeks, share progress towards OKRs in your staff meetings and 1:1s. 

Possible, a nonprofit healthcare company, shared with us that they start each staff meeting and 1:1 meeting with a check-in on OKRs so they can’t be avoided. And since every Key Result is measurable, you can see progress in real time.

Last year, we recommended posting your OKRs all over the walls of your office. But, many of us continue to — and might even permanently — work from home. And, with HQ replaced by many home offices, it’s harder to “walk over” to solve a problem quickly — or even to remember what our shared priorities are.

Thankfully, OKRs allow remote teams to focus on our top priorities, with no physical location required. When done right, OKRs are simple, completely transparent, and easy to understand, and everyone — regardless of location — can use them to quickly check for alignment. 

To help your team navigate OKRs this quarter, try starting with a Google Doc or Sheet that everyone in your team can access. If you’re not sure what it should look like or what to include, download these templates to get started. 

⚠️ What if an OKR isn’t quite right? Can you change them?

Now that you’ve been working with your OKRs for a few weeks, what if an OKR isn’t right? Maybe a Key Result is measuring the wrong thing, or a target was set too ambitiously... It’s up to you and your team to decide if changing it before the end of the quarter is the best way to course correct the OKR. If you change it, remember that your entire team should all agree with the change.

💬 Meet the sibling of OKRs: CFRs

OKRs, on their own, tend to be a very black and white process. At the end of the quarter, we’ll ask, “Was the goal achieved or not?” and the answer, typically, will either be, “Yes, we did” or, “No, we did not.”

CFRs, short for Conversations, Feedback and Recognition, allow you and your team to go beyond “yes” or “no” questions, and, when combined with OKRs, can lift an organization to a whole new level. 

In Measure What Matters, John describes CFRs as:

• Conversations: an authentic, richly textured exchange between manager and contributor, aimed at driving performance

• Feedback: bi-directional or networked communication among peers to evaluate progress and guide future improvement

• Recognition: expressions of appreciation to deserving individuals for contributions of all sizes

CFRs champion transparency, accountability, empowerment, and teamwork — at all levels of your organization. If you think of Os as the goal posts and KRs as the yard lines, then CFRs are the huddles, plays, and coaching that carry a team from kick-off to touchdown. OKRs and CFRs are a complete delivery system for measuring what matters. As John eloquently says, “CFRs give OKRs their human voice.”

Use some of these questions to drive a meaningful conversation between you and your team in your 1:1 meetings:

• How are your OKRs coming along?

• What can we do as a team to support you?

• Are there any blockers that could stop you from attaining your Objectives?

• What OKRs need to be adjusted — or added, or eliminated — in light of shifting priorities?

I’ll be in touch at the beginning of March as we approach the end of the quarter. We’ll talk more about continuous feedback as well as how to handle OKRs that may need recalibration. 

Our momentum for the year begins here. Let’s get started!

The Measure What Matters OKR Certificate on Coursera 

Looking to level up your OKR skills in 2024? Now is the perfect time to enroll in our newly launched Coursera course. Join the first ever cohort of learners, and over the course of four weeks, you’ll learn directly from us how to write and use transformative OKRs within your organization. It’s the most comprehensive OKR training ever made!

How to Give Feedback to Employees

What makes the difference between an ineffective work relationship and a great one? Sometimes it’s as simple as feedback. Feedback, and how it’s shared, can catalyze big changes in work experience, team dynamics, and company culture. Feedback does not have to be an elephant in the room.

The Equity Pause

More and more, we’re asked if OKRs can be used to help address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in organizations. OKRs can help you work toward any desired state you’d like to move toward, and we highly encourage you to include questions of diversity, equity and inclusion in your goal setting processes. Learn more about The Equity Pause, which we learned from Creative Reaction Lab.