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OKRs [🌟 New 24/3]

OKR Tracker [🌟 New 24/3]

Below I’ve outlined the structure from previous OKR process I’ve been apart of and helped facilitate combined with learnings done via research. When working in Berlin in our PMO we used a traffic light system but I found it too broad to really bring insights to the table. Having a confidence score for the Key Results then a Traffic Light system for status updates is more appropriate. Every weekly OKR sync is not about status updates however it’s focused on the at Risk OKRs and the learnings from the largest shifts in confidence scores [good or bad]. When assigned commits (one-offs) in Weekly Syncs there should be a 99% chance these tasks get done by the due date. You can run these as 1-off commits but I’ve also seen teams tie these directly to their Product roadmap through Epics via their Key Results.

I would like to highlight however one of the most efficient teams I had the pleasure to work with didn’t use OKRs at all. Instead the followed the simplified format of;

What did you ship this week? (technical, sales, partnerships)

What did you ship?

What will you ship next week?

In conjunction of following their product roadmap closely aligned with their EPICs and sprints.

This allowed them to back the smallest possible feedback loops as an engineering heavy team.

Setting

Estimated Time: 4-6 hr / quarter

1 Qualitative Objective

3 Quantitative Key Results

A Good Objective

[Deliver Benefit] for [Stakeholder] by [Tactic] by [Date]

This means the objective is;

Ambitious

Aligned

Prudent

Strategic

A bad strategic objective is something in which the opposite is obviously bad. There should be a smart and informed risk that occurs

Qualitative

A Good Key Result

[Target] [Metric] [Verb] By [Constraint]

Each Key Result is assigned a Steward (This is not a DRI) it’s someone that at any point of time should be aware of where the probability of success of the KR lies.

This means the Key Results;

Quantitative

Concrete

Info Efficient

Coherent

Stewarded

(Exclusive)

setting a KR as exclusive is optional but it’s also important in marketplace businesses like Hatch, because it allows us to go into more depth for a particular stakeholder.

Planning

At Hatch we do our OKR planning together as a team and in-person 2-3 weeks before a new Quarter. Usually the executive team will set company level OKRs and the team will define their own OKRs as a subset of this.

OKR Planner

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Copy Here⁠

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This is the copy of the OKR planner we will start with at Hatch, it’ll evolve as we have existing process and bring in new process with the team on how we operate efficiently.

Syncing

Make sense, re-orientate & leverage insights

Weekly Syncing Meeting: 1 hr / week

Objective

✅ Keep the company on track

Re-focus leads attention on the objective and capitalise on weekly insights

✅ Build Momentum

Weekly demonstrations of accountability

✅ Respect Constraints

with a KPI Chart and tracking towards KPI goals

✅ Surface Learnings

Uncover why changes in confidence scores occur and what we can learn from each team

✅ Assign Commits (or Epics if attached to your Product Roadmap)

Assign commits and DRI’s

❌ Status Updates

It’s not for general updates

Pre-work

All stewards should fill in their confidence scores and their status updates prior to the meeting

All commits should also fill in their updates and be ready to explain in 1-2 mins their learnings at the start of the meeting. (This also should start the meeting with momentum as these commits are things that should only be set if they can be completed 99% of the time).

Agenda

The agenda for each weekly meeting is to uncover where the biggest risks are currently in the business to correct. Where are the learnings in the shifts in confidence score as outlined in

OKR Tracker [🌟 New 24/3]⁠

week on week.

(3-5mins) The previous weeks commits (from DRI) (Were they completed + what did we learn)

(45 mins) Ask the stewards to give their confidence score from 1-9. What are the odds we are going to complete these Key Results.

Go to the largest confidence score change [good or bad]. What did we learn?

Which one of the key results has the biggest gap between where we are and where we want to be.

Leading question: Ask the steward what would have to be true to increase our confidence score from a 2 to a 5?

(5mins) Blockers (Only if needed can’t be solved outside of the meeting)

(5 mins) Assign Commits

Notes:

You don’t have to go through every Key Result for it be a successful meeting

Ad-hoc Tasks: Take notes of all the commits at the end of the meeting agree it’s something

Absolutely can be done by next week

Has a DRI attached to it

Meeting

The meeting should essentially be 1 slide with the everyone having the OKR Tracker or a Google Document open for that week.

The slide should extremely simple and look like something below

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Reflection

“Uncover the truth + key insights” and shape culture

Estimated Time: 2 hr / quarter

When reflecting on OKRs for a quarter at Hatch it’s important to reflect if we hit the Key Results but it’s not the most important factor. We set ambitious targets. More importantly;

What did we learn?

Were we aiming in the right direction?

Agenda

1. (15mins) Outcomes: What were the actual outcomes of the Key Results (Traffic Light)

2. (30mins) Trajectory: Was the Key Result a correct choice (Strategically and/or technically). Was their a better metric? Did it truly move the needle on our mission/vision?

3. (45mins) Insights: What were the Insights learned?

Growth Factors - Did we find a unique channel or feature

Limiting Factor - Low adoption, increase Complaints, Regulation/Legal

4. (20mins) Heroes: Showcase a Heroic Narrative. Outline 1 person that went above and beyond to ensure this succeeded

➡️ Next

OKR Tracker [🌟 New 24/3]⁠

Referenced: