Introduction
OKR (Objectives and Key Results) have become the go to framework for organizations to set a clear and measurable direction to their teams and individuals. Almost all companies are solving traditional goal setting challenges like dilution of seriousness of the business objectives and priority set by the business teams with the help of OKRs. OKRs bring in clear and measurable goals which ensures the transparency of where the organization is moving and ensures proper cascading of the goals into products and teams that sets the tone to help them prioritize their work. When it comes to OKR as a framework, it not only sets the goals but helps organizations monitor, track progress and inspect and adapt. It marries output of teams with the business outcomes planned and is thus popular across the board..
A standard OKR consists of an objective (A high-level one line goal that an individual, team or organization aims to achieve) and a set of key results(specific, measurable outcomes that track progress toward that objective). While the structure looks simple, we will need some handholding when we start (check Benzne OKR implementations service offering) and additionally some simple yet powerful ready to use templates.
This blog aims at understanding the below pointers and help you in setting OKRs within your organization:
- What is an OKR Template?
- How do we get started with an OKR template?
- Different templates and how to use them?
- Some standard OKR template excel which you can use readily?
- What are the benefits of using OKR Framework templates?
What is an OKR Template?
OKR template provides an easy way to start your organization’s OKR journey. OKR templates provide a common structure for teams and products within an organization to set their goals and help them monitor them. OKR templates are readily usable and can help teams remove entry barriers in their journey. They provide a common format which can be used by individuals and teams/organizations which helps everyone in the organization to be on the same page and talk the same language. There are several OKR templates in the market but all OKR templates usually consists of the a few basic pointers like:
- An objective
- Set of Measurable Key results
- Weightage
- Score of the OKR
- Owner
- Timeline
A standard OKR format consists of two parts, an Objective which is a high level direction or a goal aimed to achieve and a set of Key Results which are specific and measurable outcomes that can be tracked and monitored against an objective.
OKR Example:
Objective: Improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn across all services
Key Results:
- Achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 70 or higher by the end of the year
- Reduce customer churn rate by 20% over the next two quarters
- Increase customer support satisfaction ratings to 90% or higher by Q4
- Implement a customer loyalty program that engages at least 40% of existing customers within six months
How to use the OKR template?
There are several readily available OKR templates in the market which can be used. Teams can start using one of those which suits their business and later customize based on their needs. OKR templates help give a basic first hand direction to the teams who may be using it for the first time. Based on the context, there are OKR templates available for lets say presenting the OKRs or tracking the OKRs, reviewing the OKRs, OKR reporting etc. Here is how you can start using an OKR template:
- First understand the context of the template. That defined the purpose of the template. Example you want to monitor the OKRs defined
- Download the template for that purpose. Either with the help of readily available OKR template excel or tools which are in the market
- Fill in your data within the template
- Launch it/present it and collect feedback if that is working
- Pivot and customise the template based on the inputs you have received
Customizable OKR templates
As mentioned above, there are ready to use OKR framework templates available in the market for different contexts which should give a first hand direction for teams which are rather new to the framework. Let’s have a look at some of the templates which can be used.
OKR Document Template
This OKR template excel can be used to derive your teams and multi teams objectives under a portfolio or a program. This template has all the basic information any OKR will need like company parent objective, child objectives and key results, period of the OKR, and the weightage of the key results and objectives. This is a very simple template which can be downloaded and used straight ahead.
OKR Tracking Template
OKR tracking is one of the most important steps. Once the OKRs at organisation, team and individual levels are derived, use the excel template below to track and monitor the progress. This template consists of keys that can give insights on the progress made on every key result and the overall objective progress in percentage of completion as well. You can further modify the template to track key numeric values against targets and also scores.
OKR Goal-Setting Template
This OKR excel template can be used by the organization during the initial days of OKR planning to help them derive OKRs based on all the important information like vision of the company, customers they serve, solutions and services they provide, Key KPI metrics they capture. This template helps organizations derive OKRs keeping all the necessary information within the same template. Different portfolios can also use this template to derive their OKRs which are specific to their portfolio which is a sub set of parent organizational level Objectives.
OKR Reporting Template
This OKR template excel can be used to visually summarise the progress of all the objectives and key results with graphs and charts within a specific timeframe. If you are not using any tools to track and monitor OKRs, this OKR reporting template can be used as a simple substitute which provides a high level view of achievements. This OKR dashboard template gives detailed insights of which objective needs more attention and helps organizations remove bottlenecks.
OKR Review Template
The above OKR template excel can be a very handy tool in reviewing the progress and performance within an OKR cycle. This format helps teams and organizations to validate if the objectives and key results are met, surface up challenges and get insights to continuously improve. This template includes the objectives and key results associated with it, along with weightage it carries. Can also include the target numerical value and what teams have achieved against it. At the end of the cycle, this template can automatically calculate the final score and weightage of achievement against each objective and key results.
OKR Presentation Template
When you or your teams have to present the progress of the objectives and key results, this template can be very useful. When it comes to presenting the OKR progress, it is vital to showcase the hierarchy of the OKR(Organization OKR > Portfolio level OKR > Team level and Individual level OKRs). OKRs are fulfilled with the help of initiatives or tasks. This template also gives an option of showcasing them against key results. In addition to that, this OKR template can bring up the progress made against each key result and the overall status of the OKR.
Benefits of Tracking OKRs using OKR Framework Templates
OKR framework templates provide an easy way to start for any organization. Also, they provide uniformity in implementing the OKR frameworks and help teams talk the same language in harmony. Below are a few benefits of using OKR framework templates:
- Helps reduce time with predefined fields and structure so that the teams can concentrate on execution and learning curve is less
- Common structure of the templates helps bring in harmony within teams. This helps everyone in the organization to understand what, how and why part of it
- Templates make it easier for the teams to monitor and track the progress without putting too much manual effort
- Most of the templates can be customised based on team/project/organization size and needs
- Reduces manual effort and entry block in implementing the framework
Which company actually needs an OKR consultation?
With almost all companies moving towards the OKR framework for their goal setting, they could also face a number of challenges during the implementation. Also, there could be a lot of tipping points to even decide to implement the framework, some of them include:
- Organizations who do not have in house capabilities in training, coaching and implementing the framework
- Companies who are scaling and want to streamline their goal setting framework
- Where organizations might have burned their hand and missed opportunities because of conventional goal setting framework
- Where there is no alignment between companies goals and what teams are delivering
- Organizations who are transforming with new digital innovation and ways of working like agile
- Organizations facing resistance from people because of internal dynamics
- Companies who are trying to scale and are need external support in bringing in best practices
- Organizations who want to customize OKR implementation based on their business needs
Conclusion
OKR is an effective goal setting framework for most of the organizations who want to streamline their goal setting. It brings a method to madness in aligning your organization’s goals, promotes accountability, and drives measurable success.
There are several tools and applications that can be used to derive, track and report OKR in the market. These templates are practical and efficient tools to streamline the OKR implementation. These templates provide contextual, structured and pre-defined fields and ways to define, measure and track the progress of OKRs. Predefined OKR templates reduce time, manual effort and give teams a head start in their OKR journey. Reach out to Benzne OKR implementation service if you want to explore how we can help you in your OKR journey.
With this, our blog on “Downloadable OKR Template: Simplify Your Goal Setting Process” comes to an end and we sincerely hope you made best use of it. Write to us at “consult@benzne.com” for any feedback, suggestions or support.
Frequently Asked Questions About Downloadable OKR Templates
1. Who will create the OKR template?
Ideally OKR consultants or any stakeholders like PMO, Leadership and executive teams, who are driving the initiative play a vital role in creating OKR templates which best suit their business needs. While they take the charge, they can also consult other departments like, HR, Finance and other commonly shared teams to take their inputs.
2. What is the best OKR process?
OKR framework is a very strong and efficient way of setting and monitoring goals. While it is very simple to understand the framework, it can get complicated to derive them and get it in place. Most challenging part is to derive measurable metrics which can help us understand the progress. Below are a few pointers which could help teams get started with OKRs,
- Awareness of the framework itself – Get a formal training on what OKRs are , what is the structure
- Align OKRs with Company Vision and Goals – Understand the company’s priorities and roadmap and ensure you have clarity on the goals
- Start Small – Derive 1-3 OKRs with 3-4 key results for every objective, do not stress on perfecting it yet
- Set SMART results – Ensure the key results are not generic and tasks, they should be time bound and measurable
- Ensure OKR Transparency – OKRs must be visible for everyone in the team and organization. This encourages accountability and transparency, allowing teams to see how their goals align
- Get a buy in from the teams – OKRs set must be aligned with the team members
- Set up a review process – OKRs should be regularly tracked and revisited, typically on a quarterly basis. Set up a system to check in on progress weekly or bi-weekly
- Learn from the reviews – After each OKR cycle, review what worked and what didn’t. Use those insights to improve the next cycle’s objectives and key results
- Cross Pollinate the success – When objectives are achieved or progress is made, celebrate those wins. Recognizing the achievements fosters motivation
For further information please refer to our detailed blog on how to do OKR planning.
3. What is the OKR format?
A standard OKR format consists of two parts, an Objective which is a high level direction or a goal aimed to achieve and a set of Key Results which are specific and measurable outcomes that can be tracked and monitored against an objective.
Objective: Improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn across all services
Key Results:
- Achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 70 or higher by the end of the year
- Reduce customer churn rate by 20% over the next two quarters
- Increase customer support satisfaction ratings to 90% or higher by Q4
- Implement a customer loyalty program that engages at least 40% of existing customers within six months
4. What is the success formula for OKR?
OKR is a powerful framework which can help organizations set directions as to what they want to achieve and how. Success of OKRs depends on:
- Defining a clear objective which is not vague but specific and inspiring
- Key results to be measurable not action items
- Align the objectives to strategic direction the organization wants to move in
- Clearly defined time frame for the OKR
- Assigning ownership to the OKRs
- Frequently check the progress and collect insights on what needs more attention
- Inspect on the outcomes from a cycle and pivot based on that
5. How do I create an OKR for my business?
Below are a few steps to follow to create OKRs for your business:
- First get a clear understanding of the framework
- Understand the business priorities and roadmap
- Define 1-3 specific objectives for your business
- Clearly derive 3-4 measurable key results for the objectives defined
- Get alignment with other team members and stakeholders
