As the companies’ main challenge, they have to elaborate and execute the strategic actions having agility and precision. One of the reasons for that is the fact that the high level of competitiveness demands fast decisions so that a corporation may keep the level of services that satisfy the target-public. In what way is reaching this objective viable? A good answer is through the OKR methodology.
It grants companies of any size conditions to develop initiatives that are simple and practical since it allows the specification of the objectives in a very clear way. This contributes to the insertion of every sector of an organization in the management of the results, what favors engagement, the augmentation of productivity and the improvement of development.
In this post, we are going to show a definition of this method, how it works and the reasons why companies must use it. Check it out!
Get to know what an OKR is
A model directed to any companies that need to have a focus to fulfill goals and obtain results that are more and more expressive; that is a denomination that may be applied to the methodology OKR (Objectives and Key Results).
This method was created by the ex-CEO from Intel, Andrew S. Grove. However, it started to be spread in 1999, when John Doerr, one of the investors of Google, exposed this practice to the staff. This initiative was one of the factors that allowed the company to grow in an exponential way, increasing the number of collaborators from 40 to more than 60 thousand, these days.
It is possible to highlight that this formula to establish goals involves 2 factors:
- objectives (O): it shows the directions that the company wants to follow with clarity and concision. The personnel must understand how a determined objective is fundamental for the corporation to evolve.
- key-results (KR): the goals that are directly related to a relevant objective for the company.
Each objective presents a qualitative character. As for the KRs, they are quantitative and are inserted in a determined objective.
With a clearer definition of the objectives, the personnel has a greater involvement with the corporate actions. That avoids things to be too convenient and stimulates the collaborators to get out of their comfort zones and to have their focus turned to innovation and improvement of performance.
Understanding how it works
In order to act in a faster way in an ever-changing scenery, various organizations have opted for this methodology. This aspect causes the goals to be constructed through an integrated process, having two different ways: top down and bottom up. Thus, actions are created to involve the entire corporation together with activities to be developed by the collaborator.
An OKR allows development parameters to be established together. In general, the employee must stipulate 60% of the objectives and results that are desired to be achieved. This process is fundamental so that the employee has a broad view of the business and is incorporated into the business strategy.
In order for this methodology to be correctly applied, the goals must have a shorter expiring period. The intention is to establish something that is doable and create a favorable environment to the fast correction of possible mistakes when executing the duties.
It is also recommended that meetings are held for a weekly follow-up of the key results. This activity makes possible to verify how the works are being carried out and adopt measures that will make the company achieve goals, even when the indicators have not been initially favorable.
If these attitudes don’t result in the predicted objectives by the end of the trimester, for instance, they will help the company in order to have a better learning of the OKR. This is indispensable to obtain a performance that is above the average.
Before applying this method, the organization must do a strategic planning to consider the internal and external factors that may favor or hinder the growth. This activity should also analyze the needed resources so that the goals are viable and may motivate the personnel.
Confer the reason why companies need this methodology
Since it incentives the participation of employees in the construction of goals, the OKR characterizes itself by creating more favorable conditions for the engagement of the collaborators. As a corporation involves the employees in the actions to be developed, there are greater possibilities that the members of the group grasp the institutional objectives and work in a more focused way, in order to achieve them.
The method also favors a bigger transparency in the management. That is because the goals will be spread in a clear and objective way to all the members of the company. Besides, the monitoring of the results will be available. This attitude shows that the company wants to share its actions with the collaborators.
Another positive factor is that the OKR stimulates group work and reinforces the role of the leaders in the management of goals. The integration of the employees and a more active participation of the managers are two essential aspects of the organizational culture to contribute to the constant innovation and improvement.
For that to be properly completed, the ideal would be that there is a police of people management that prioritizes the training of the group and the creation of tools (awards, position, and salary plans, among others) that would stimulate productivity and the elaboration of ideas directed to the growth of the company.
This methodology may offer lots of advantages to the organizations. The most important are:
- provide unpredictable results (more engaged employees produce to a greater extent and may overcome their own limitations, what allows them to reach an ever-growing performance);
- make the team have a broader vision of how the company works (the simplicity of the method allows the employees to be clear about the objectives and have a notion about how to achieve them);
- create an environment of constant learning (the goals must be achieved in shorter periods. That favors an analysis of the mistakes made and makes auto-evaluation possible for the staff, what helps in the professional development);
- focus on the growth (the company adopts a culture in which the changes and objectives are seen as fundamental in order to evolve and overcome competition).
No doubt that this methodology offers conditions for a corporation to be more attentive to the market trends, and present a performance that makes it more agile, efficient and relevant for the target audience.
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