Our OKR system
Where strategy & execution meet
Translate goals into the daily drumbeat
OKRs are not separate from the company strategy - they are the process by which the company strategy is translated into the day-to-day execution across your team.
However, much of the framework is left open to interpretation. Sometimes OKRs feel too rigid, other times not structured enough. Often organizations overindex on the upfront setting, and underindex on ongoing process.
Our system is simple & effective, providing structure and ongoing accountability without rigidity.
OKR white paper
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Our system: Activation + Alignment + Accountability
We’ve designed our OKR system to be your company’s operating system. We start with foundations - your people, missions & goals - and implement a simple process tailored to your organization. We create a deeper understanding of distilled number of KPIs that drive results. We support teams to ensure ongoing accountability and collaboration.
Foundation Building
A company is a collection of people who come together in a team structure to pursue common missions and goals. However, foundational mission statements, values, and longer-range plans are often not specific enough to serve as a bedrock of the daily operational strategy.
Foundation building is designed for leadership teams to go deep & specific, expanding and clarifying your organization’s foundational attributes.
Expanded Mission - we work with your team to flesh out your mission statement and key areas of focus. We distill your mission into a number of tight, clear sentences.
Core Values & Behaviors - this is the essence of your company culture. In order for core values to be meaningful, they needs to be exhibited in the behaviors of every team member and force true tradeoffs. We work with your team to translate core values into articulated behaviors that reflect your true culture.
5-year goals - after our workshop, long-range goals should be incredibly simple to articulate and distilled down to the essence of your mission and ambitions.
UKPIs - growth companies often have a lot of KPIs. We work with your leadership team to define an 'ultimate’ KPI, the health of which by definition means you are tracking to your long-range goals, and a key economic equation that will serve as input into your OKR cycles.
OKR implementation
Team & individual workshops - implementations are a combination of time together as a leadership team and various individual and group sessions. The kick-off is a live brainstorming day, followed by fleshing OKRs out in smaller, collaborative forums, and capped with another live day as a leadership team.
Org chart & role specs - is everyone clear on who they are accountable to, and their specific areas of responsibilities? Documenting and clarifying roles and responsibilities is a key component of transparency and the open flow of communication.
Communication & organizational drumbeat - your organizational drumbeat is your daily communications infrastructure. We help tune your cadence of meetings and communication to reflect the goals for the quarter. Mapping your drumbeat to your organizational goals is a key part of the ongoing dialogue to stay accountable for goals.
OKR cycle: coaching & tracking
OKRs are a process, not a deliverable. We support teams with goal tracking, communication & collaboration, and overall team development.
Illustrative timeline
Key benefits
We’ve seen the following benefits provided by our OKR system:
Renewed organizational focus & prioritization
Amplified cross-team collaboration & alignment
A sharpened understanding of the ‘key’ KPIs that drive business results
Defined accountability across the leadership team and beyond
Transparency and enhanced role expectations across the organization
True data-driven decision making
Visibility into tradeoffs and opportunities in resource allocation