Every sector, including HR, is rapidly adopting AI in 2024. As of early 2024, about 38% of HR leaders are actively piloting or have already implemented generative AI technologies within their operations, showing a significant increase from 19% in mid-2023. This is in line with another survey where 61% of CHROs planned to invest in AI in 2024.
Giving feedback is usually considered to be a manager’s responsibility. But giving your manager feedback, called upward feedback, benefits the manager and the company in many ways.
Did you know that a recent survey has discovered that employees who do not feel comfortable giving manager feedback are 16% less likely to stay at their organizations?
When employees know they are being heard and their suggestions are being acted upon, they feel more invested in the workplace. Consequently, this boosts morale, job satisfaction, and productivity.
In fact, a Gallup survey discovered that managers who received feedback from employees lead teams that are 8.9% more profitable than those who don’t.
Offering upward feedback can be awkward at the best of times, but it has proven advantages.
Harvard Business Reviewsuggests that when offered correctly and thoughtfully, manager feedback improves your working relationship apart from helping your manager improve his leadership skills.
Why should you share manager feedback?
As an employee, you’ll want to share manager feedback under two circumstances:
1 Things are NOT going well with your role/working relationship:
If your manager is unaware of the difficulties you’re facing, she can’t help you. A first step to making things right is to bring them to her attention.
If your comments are valid, you will not only earn your manager’s respect but she may well come to value your opinion.
Example: “I know you’re really busy with back-to-back meetings, but I miss our regular one on one meetings every week. I think I have progressed a lot from the last time we met and set some goals. I’d really like to meet more often to check in on my progress.”
2 Things are going well with your role/working relationship:
An affirmation that you appreciate what your manager does will help your manager stay engaged and will strengthen your working relationship with her.
You may be top of her mind when new opportunities arise.
Example of positive feedback: “I was really struggling with my sales pitch last week with the new client. I should have come to you sooner for help, but I thought you might be busy. Thank you for guiding me through it and giving me tips to make it more impactful!”
Four key topics to share manager feedback
1 Workload:
Don’t feel like you need to take on every task assigned to you if you cannot handle the workload.
Burnout is a medically recognized phenomenon, which will leave you feeling not as productive as you can be.
Speak to your manager about reassigning projects or shifting deadlines. Be honest about how much you can reasonably work on.
Example: “I’d be happy to take this up, but we may need to push the deadline by another two weeks.”
2 Miscommunication:
Even though we all know that clear communication is important to the success of any project, it is surprising how often things are miscommunicated.
Ask your manager for more information or context instead of making your own assumptions.
Example: “May we discuss the guidelines for this new project in more detail since the client has been changing them frequently? I want to make sure we are in agreement over everything.”
3 Project management:
If you’re having trouble with structuring a project or feeling overwhelmed, ask for your manager’s advice.
Example: “I’m having trouble with this new project because I don’t have experience executing such concepts and there is a lack of resources. Could you please help me structure it?”
You’ll want to align your thoughts to avoid running into trouble later.
Example: “I thought we could execute this project in this manner, but it looks like you have a different opinion. Can we please discuss this?”
So far, we have discussed why it is important to get over your hesitation and speak up when you’re facing challenges at work.
But we have still not answered the important question as to how to go about it properly.
Remember: It may be stressful to share manager feedback, but ultimately it will help you both.
Your insights will enable your manager to become better at her job, and consequently support and guide you better.
How to share manager feedback?
We have a few actionable tips for delivering constructive manager feedback:
1 Consider the state of your relationship
Does your manager encourage feedback from direct reports?
And, does she view you as a valuable member of the team?
Before you approach your manager to offer feedback, consider the following factors:
How often you interact with her
How long your working relationship has been
What is the history of your success
The most important consideration in giving upward feedback involves the leader-member exchange theory (LMX).
In short, the theory says that managers form different relationships with each direct report.
When a manager and her direct report have a high-quality relationship or a high LMX, the manager provides resources to the direct report to help him work better, encourages his development, and values his feedback.
So, if you have a decent LMX with your manager, you can consider sharing what’s on your mind.
However, if you’re still unsure, ask yourself these questions:
Does my manager seem like a person who would retaliate if she does not like the feedback I offer?
Do I have quality feedback to share? How badly do I want to share this feedback?
Can my manager actually fire me?
If the environment seems right after you have considered all these things, you can move ahead.
Let’s face it!
Not all managers will be comfortable receiving feedback, especially if it is constructive feedback.
In an ideal world, you should be able to sha re your opinion without worrying about any sort of backlash.
However, reality is quite different. Hence, there is no reason for you to risk your relationship with your manager.
PRO TIP: Remember, the manager-direct report relationship comes first. Don’t destroy it for the sake of upward feedback.
If the relationship is already strained or the subject of your feedback is sensitive, don’t lay your job on the line.
In a situation like this, it is advisable to lay low until you find the right opportunity.
One on one meetings can be a great platform to gauge your manager’s intent and prepare you to take the step towards sharing that feedback you have been waiting to share.
But be aware that anonymity may not have the same impact as a face-to-face interaction.
2 Determine the appropriate time to give manager feedback
No matter how good your relationship is with your manager, no one likes to be called out in public.
You will come off as confrontational, and this will harm your cohesion within the team and undermine your manager’s authority.
The best time and place to give manager feedback is NOT:
at a team meeting or a company-wide meeting,
when your manager is discussing a new project or explaining a company policy, and
when in a meeting with a client.
Choose wisely. It should be a space that is private, dedicated, and unhurried. This can be:
A one on one meeting
A check-in session before or after a meeting
A performance review
You don’t want to pull your manager aside to give feedback when she is rushing into another meeting or during a conversation with several other pressing agenda items.
She is also not likely to be receptive if she is dealing with stressful events in her personal life.
Your manager should be in the right headspace for you to deliver your feedback with maximum effect.
PRO TIP: Your regular one on one meetings are the most appropriate and psychologically-safe space to share upward feedback.
If you aren’t having these meetings often enough, you can ask for them or request a separate meeting to be scheduled for upward feedback.
You can learn how to request a one on one meeting here.
3 Focus on how the behavior impacts YOU
An important thing to remember is to talk about how the concerning behavior impacts you instead of discussing what others are doing.
You can use a feedback framework such as the SBI model (Situation, Behavior, Impact). This will help you focus on the facts and experience, instead of making it personal.
An example is given below.
Situation: Yesterday, at our meeting…
Behavior: You announced that we would focus on a new project exclusively for the next 2 weeks…
Impact: I had to change my priorities and put aside other important work. When this happens too often, my productivity gets hampered.
PRO TIP:Ensure that you’re making assessments based on evidence, not emotions or stereotypes.
Don’t allow your unconscious biases to reflect in the language you’re using to give feedback, especially stereotypes around gender.
Also, instead of pointing a finger at your manager, talk to him about how his actions are impacting your productivity and motivation.
For instance, your manager may not be too forthcoming about her schedule and priorities for the day. This forces you to re-jig your own tasks to align with her priorities.
Consequently, you find that you cannot focus properly on any single task and all remain unfinished by the end of the day.
Even if you do manage to finish a task, you aren’t able to deliver the kind of quality you’re aiming for. This leaves you feeling unhappy and dissatisfied with your work, and demotivated about the next day.
You can speak to your manager about the issue in two ways:
Solution 1: “You’re never clear about your priorities for the day. I never know what task will land on my desk next. I can’t work like this!”
Solution 2: “I am having trouble concentrating on and completing my tasks satisfactorily because of conflicting priorities. Would it be possible to have a quick conversation before we begin work to determine the importance of each task?”
Put yourself in your manager’s shoes and decide for yourself which approach would yield better results.
4 Prepare your remarks ahead of time
Your manager may be aware that she needs constructive feedback, but that doesn’t make it any easier for her to hear it.
So you’ll need to present your feedback properly to ensure it is received in the right way.
Think about how you’ll approach the discussion, what you’ll say, and which specific points you’ll put forward. Jot down notes to remember relevant points.
Just like you set an agenda for your one on one meetings, it will help to build one for sharing manager feedback as well.
You can also include upward feedback as a talking point when building a shared agenda for your next one on one meeting, as exchanging feedback is one of the primary purposes of having these meetings.
5 Focus on your own perspective
Don’t offer feedback from the perspective of “Were I the manager, I would do it this way.”
Such feedback is not likely to be received well, no matter how close you are to your manager.
Also, you don’t know your manager’s reality, since you don’t get to see the whole picture.
Instead, focus on what you have observed. Use statements like “I noticed that you spoke only about one aspect…” or “When you talk about productivity, I feel…”
Offering feedback from your perspective communicates that you respect the management hierarchy and helps your manager look at things from a different viewpoint.
You can clearly state your concerns, whereas your manager gets to make their own decisions.
Example: “We have been increasingly focused on a single client for the last two months, and I feel other clients may feel ignored. Since you have a broader perspective, what do you think?”
6 Support your statements with data. Be specific.
You have a much better chance to be heard and understood if you voice specific concerns instead of stating general opinions.
If the issue is about an incident or an event, talk about what happened and who was involved.
Speak only the facts and talk about how the incident affected you and your ability to get work done.
Don’t speculate about your manager’s motives or make assumptions about others.
‘Effective’ Example:
“When you were talking about the project delay yesterday, you seemed to have lost your temper. It made me upset and I could not focus on what was being said at the meeting. Can we please discuss how to deal with the issue more calmly?”
‘Not effective’ Example: “You got angry yesterday because you thought I was being lazy at work. It’s not my fault. Sarah did not turn up for days!”
7 Don’t make accusations. Use “I” statements
When you’re offering manager feedback, resist the temptation to point fingers at your manager.
Watch your tone — don’t make it accusatory, inflammatory, or harsh.
Use polite and professional language at all times.
A good practice is to describe how the behavior affected you by using ‘I’ statements. Be honest, empathetic, and factual.
Remember that your manager is human, too, and she will respond to criticism much like you do–defensively.
Example: “I would appreciate more autonomy in my current project as I feel tied down.”
Example: “I’m happy with the way we’re connecting over this project. But I’d like more feedback on how I’m executing it in sections. I feel the internal expectations on this are shifting and I’d like more clarity.”
8 Start with affirmative feedback, then offer constructive feedback with suggestions
Positive manager feedback:
Managers rarely get any positive feedback, so you’d do well to start with an affirmation of what is going well for you and what you’d like to continue doing.
Appreciate them for things like clearly setting expectations for a project or pushing back unrealistic deadlines.
‘Not effective’ example: “You’re a great manager! I love working with you.”
‘Effective’ example: “I appreciate that you heard my concerns about the unrealistic deadlines for my project and got them pushed to a more comfortable date.”
Constructive manager feedback:
Remember not to link positive statements and constructive statements with words like ‘however,’ ‘but,’ or ‘although.’
This makes manager feedback sound false and your manager may not be receptive to your suggestions.
Don’t just state the problem; think through solutions as well from your perspective.
When you share potential solutions, your manager feels that you are invested in the success of the team.
It sends the message that you and your manager are united towards a common goal.
‘Not effective’ example: “When we meet during our one on one meetings, you are never prepared.”
When giving negative manager feedback, it is a good practice to use the ‘three plus, one minus rule.’
This means that you offer three positive remarks along with a negative statement.
If your positive statements are perceived as candid and factual, your negative remark will be considered valid as well.
Example: “I have clear goals, realistic timelines, and adequate resources for this project. I think we can improve things by making our customer interaction more prompt and engaging.”
Finally, offer feedback on one thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm your manager with a litany of complaints.
Allow her the time and space to think about and act on your feedback before tackling another issue.
One on one meetings: Best platform to manage up
Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, says:
One on one meetings are quiet, focused collaboration time for employees and bosses to connect.
It is an employee’s time, not manager’s. That’s why it is a manager’s most important chance to hear from their direct reports.
Usually, one on one meetings are held weekly for around 30 min – 60 min, so it is ideal to pass on feedback in a timely manner instead of letting it sit for when the employee can find an opportune moment.
They are a psychologically safe and private space for dedicated conversations between managers and direct reports.
They offer a platform to exchange candid and constructive feedback and have open, in-depth conversations.
Also, since the employee mostly controls the agenda, she can include manager feedback as an exclusive talking point.
She can use this time to discuss concerns about work, co-workers, or work environment that are uppermost in her thoughts.
If you aren’t having one on one meetings already, you can request your manager to schedule them regularly. You can also suggest the use of a one on one meeting software to streamline these meetings.
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I'm glad that we partnered with Peoplebox.ai for our company-wide OKR rollout. Thanks to its simplicity, we achieved significant adoption within two quarters
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How to Roll Out OKRs for First Time: 7 Steps Startegy
How to Roll out OKRs for the first time is a question common among organizations just introducing OKRs.
Imagine a scenario-
You are rolling out OKR for the first time.
One thing goes wrong and… Boom!
Your employees are already hating the process- even before it took a pace.
You certainly wouldn’t want that to happen in your organization. OKRs can surcharge and accelerate your organizational growth. But the key is to get this done right.
That’s why a well-planned rollout is significant for the success of an OKR system.
Introduce the new goal-setting approach strategically but not in a mechanical process. Every organization is unique and can face unique challenges while implementing OKRs.
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How to roll out OKRs: Here are 7 Best Practices for a successful OKR rollout
1 Communicate the OKR Methodology to all the teams
Get everyone in the organization on board with OKRs. Present the concept clearly and precisely. Educate everyone on the OKR language.
While some people will embrace the changes with open arms, there are also going to be some skeptics into the bargain. You must let them express their concerns and provide answers to their “why, how, and what?” questions.
Explain to them the benefits of implementing the OKR framework. Highlight how it’s going to impact the business and the individual success of the employees.
Organize workshops, training, discussions, introductory presentations, and seminars to help your employees’ design quality OKRs. Transparently explain to them the strategic execution, alignment, expectations, and tools they will be required to use for the purpose.
To help everyone speak the same language, document your company OKR framework
2 Inspire with success stories
List the names of reputed companies like Google, Netflix, Intel, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. which have successfully implemented OKRs. Narrate their success stories to help them visualize how OKRs can cater to their individual success.
For example, OKRs helped LinkedIn become a 20 Billion Company. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, describes OKRs as, “something you want to accomplish over a specific period of time that leans toward a stretch goal rather than a stated plan.
It’s something where you want to create greater urgency, greater mindshare.”
You can either go for an organization-wide rollout Consider running an OKR Pilot first, depending on what fits you best.
If you have a culture that’s open to change and a flexible structure of functioning, an organization-wide rollout will work best for you. But it’s always best to take small steps. Start from one part and gradually move to others.
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Crafting and implementing OKRs across the entire organization can seem overwhelming especially if you are a large organization. Instead, choose a particular part of the organization and run a pilot project.
“If you concentrate on small, manageable steps you can cross unimaginable distances.”
It’s also important to decide “how often?” will OKRs be reviewed. Will it be done quarterly or annually?
4 Go for the Top-down approach
A top-down approach to OKRs was the first pattern attempted. The top management has a significant role in setting the overall direction of the company. Starting from the top provides clarity for the rest of the organization.
“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”
For example, you can start with the senior leadership team. Make them an example to roll out OKRs to the departmental heads. From there you can move on to team leaders, and to the rest of your teams.
5 Get aligned
You can’t just sit with a blank sheet in front and magically start crafting the perfect OKRs. You need to understand the context. Make the company mission and vision your starting point and tailor your OKRs accordingly.
Buy-ins are critical for OKR success. The success of OKRs depends on the collective effort of each team member. You can imagine it as a group dance performance where everyone needs to perform their parts well to make it a masterpiece.
Thus you need to align the efforts of the workforce, executive leaders, and company heads both horizontally and vertically. This will help you foster transparency, smooth cross-functional communication, and reduce overlap among departments.
6 Track and monitor progress
Tracking OKRs are important to evaluate and measure the progress and understand which teams are falling short.
You can identify any issues and make course corrections as required by Monitoring progress.
Leverage technology to track OKRs. It will make the process transparent.
Using OKR software will also automate the calculations and save your time as you are no longer required to manually update the progress of each team member.
Bonus tip: Remember to celebrate whenever you Hit the nail on the head through OKR win meetings and shoutouts to keep
7 Do frequent check-ins
To stay on top of OKR progress, you need to do regular check-ins. Employees might feel overwhelmed with concerns and doubts, especially in the initial days.
Regular check-ins will give your employees direction. And provide them the required assistance and guidance. Frequent Check-in meetings will also identify the overlappings, increase accountability and ensure execution.
Define your preferred frequency of Check-in meetings. You can do it weekly or monthly as per your organization’s needs. Although weekly check-ins are most recommended to keep track of the progress and evaluate continuously.
Have OKR Champions
Consider having OKR champion who starts implementing the OKR framework with a strong war cry. Build a team of champions who will work as ambassadors to head the change. And make the OKR framework run smoothing across the organization.
They work as mentors and internal OKR experts. And can help you adopt and execute OKRs at all levels of the organization. These OKR enthusiasts will make sure that every concern is addressed, every ‘whys and wherefores’ are explained.
Too many objectives and key results: Less is more. Don’t set more than 5-7 Objectives and 3-5 key results.
Fill it, Forget it: Don’t set OKRs just to forget in a few days.
Mixing KPIs with OKRs: KPIs aren’t a substitution for OKRs. They have separate roles and outcomes.
Rigidity: Rigid adherence to rules can lead to disengagement. Instead, move forward with a flexible and intuitive OKR approach
Link OKRs with Recognition: Don’t make the mistake of making OKRs a base for your reward and recognition program. It can negatively affect performance. And compromises the business output.
The start is never perfect
You might struggle when you are just starting. But after a few OKR cycles, you are sure to hit your stride.
To end, OKR’s success depends on consistency. So, remember to continuously reflect, learn, and refine the process.
Hope we were able to answer all your queries in our blog How to roll out OKRs for the first time? If you have questions feel free to comment below.
Pooja Pooja
Types of OKRs: Aspirational OKRs vs Committed OKRs
Every organization wants to grow, but how do you set goals that are both achievable and visionary? The answer lies in the types of OKRs: committed and aspirational.
Whether it’s near-term performance or long-term innovation for your business, you’ll know just how to leverage the power of committed and aspirational OKRs effectively to unlock new levels of success for your business.
Committed OKRs are about clear, attainable targets that teams can confidently deliver within a set timeframe. This type of OKR delivers accountability and is important for day-to-day business success.
Aspirational OKRs, on the other hand; push teams to be bigger and challenge themselves. The moonshots: ambitious OKRs are meant to stretch an organization from its comfort zone, kindling innovation and long-term growth.
In the rest of this blog, we will take the difference between these two types of OKR apart and see how to balance them in such a way that they enable performance as well as inspiration.
What are Aspirational OKRs and Other Types of OKRs?
A committed OKR is a stretch goal that the team has to achieve or complete before the cycle is over. A committed goal pushes the team to reach, but still achievable attainment. All metrics of the Key Results must be completed fully and on time. Consider a situation like this:
Daniel’s organization and his teams have agreed to execute certain OKRs and have mapped a precise action plan on how they are going to do so.
These are called Committed OKRs.
An aspirational OKR sets the bar for success further out, and by design will exceed a team’s ability to execute in a given quarter. When they set such a high bar as to be seemingly impossible they are called 10x goals, or “moonshots.” While most aspirational OKRs are never fully achieved, they exist to push a team to think bigger than a committed OKR. Consider the following case:
Martha’s organization is more visionary. They have stretched goals. And her teams are not likely to fully achieve these ambitious goals.
These are called Aspirational OKRs.
Understanding the distinction between aspirational and committed goals is crucial for effective goal-setting and team motivation within the OKR framework. Aspirational goals encourage ambitious thinking and long-term vision, while committed goals focus on immediate, measurable outcomes.
Learning OKR focuses on the acquisition of knowledge, new skills, or insights rather than a direct achievement of business outputs. Extremely helpful when entering new areas or uncertainties and requires experimenting, learning, and developing new skills, Learning OKRs distinguish between usual output measuring of success and measuring acquisition of knowledge, that will later add value for future objectives. For example:
Jerry wants to gain a deep understanding of machine learning to drive full product development. He wants to finish three advanced courses and test his skills by building a model in sandbox.
These are called Learning OKRs.
Aspirational OKRs and Committed OKRs: Key differences
When you aim for the stars, you may come up short, but still reach the moon.
– Larry Page
Read on to find out the key difference between Committed OKRs and Aspirational OKRs.
Objective
Aspirational OKRs are meant to push the boundaries and encourage employees to achieve visionary objectives. Committed OKRs, on the other hand, focus on committed objectives that offer a more realistic vision of goals with fully achievable results.
Aim
Committed OKRs help companies achieve their goals through individual and team achievements. Aspirational OKRs are often beyond the current capacities of the organization but help in pushing boundaries.
Timeframe
Aspirational OKRs are usually created to focus on long-term strategic vision while Committed OKRs offer short-term operational priorities to guarantee progress in the short term.
Committed OKRs are supposed to have a 100% success rate as each key result comprises fully achievable targets. Aspirational OKRs are usually found to have a success rate of 60-70%.
Committed and Aspirational OKR examples
The difference between committed and aspirational OKRs is subtle. Committed objectives are meant to be fully achievable, requiring teams to concentrate on straightforward priorities without taking unnecessary risks, ultimately serving as motivational tools to foster small wins and consistent progress.
A standard example in the sales team scenario might be like:
Committed OKR
O: Expand to the US market
KR1: Close first 6 start-ups
KR2: Get a meeting-to-close rate of 6%
KR3: Reach average deal size of $200
Aspirational OKR
O: Capture the entire US market in one quarter
KR1: Get onboard 95% of big customers in the US market to grow over competitors
KR2: Get a meeting-to-close rate of 30%
KR3: Reach average deal size of $2000
In the managerial team, these OKRs can manifest like such:
Committed OKR
O: Improve customer satisfaction with the existing solutions
KR1: Increase customer satisfaction score (CSAT) from 85% to 90% by the end of the quarter.
KR2: Reduce average response time from 15 minutes to 10 minutes within the next three months.
KR3: Train 100% of the support team on the new customer service tools within six weeks.
Aspirational OKR
O: Become the market leader in AI-powered customer service solutions.
KR1: Achieve a 30% market share in the AI customer service industry by the end of next year.
KR2: Launch three groundbreaking AI features that no competitor currently offers within 18 months.
KR3: Secure a partnership with at least two top-tier companies by the end of next year.
In a tech context, OKRs like these can come up:
Committed OKR
O: Improve the performance of the app and reliability
KR1: Reduce app crash rate from 2.5% to under 1% within the next quarter.
KR2: Decrease page load times by 30% in six months.
KR3: Fix 100% of the top ten reported bugs within the next two sprints.
Aspirational OKR
O: Revolutionize the user experience of our mobile app.
KR1: Increase daily active users (DAU) by 100% within 12 months.
KR2: Develop and launch a fully AI-driven recommendation system that personalizes the user experience by the end of the year.
KR3: Achieve a 4.8+ rating across app stores by introducing five innovative features within the next 18 months.
How to decide between Committed OKRs and Aspirational OKRs?
Committed OKRs will work best if your organization is newly introduced to the framework or is still in the rolling-out phase.
With each goal achieved, your team’s motivation and engagement will rise higher. In addition, teams easily get into the habit of running Committed OKRs and make it part of their work culture.
But if you have already used the framework in the past, aspirational OKRs can do wonders for you.
Creating a result-driven work culture takes time. It demands discipline, continuous effort, and a mindset shift of employees and management. So you should start simple and focus on learning the methodology first. And set up the necessary processes to make it work.
Setting aspirational OKRs in the very beginning would make your teams feel overwhelmed and over-pressurized. Extremely ambitious Key Results soon become too much to handle. Learning a new methodology takes time. Once your teams are used to the framework and it becomes a part of their work-life, you can consider aspirational OKRs.
With the later process, you can have objectives and a combination of committed and aspirational key results. While some key results will be easier to achieve, others will aim higher. Understanding the distinction between aspirational and committed goals is crucial for better goal-setting and team motivation.
Choosing the Right Type of OKRs
Choosing the right type of OKRs depends on the organization’s goals, culture, and priorities. Committed OKRs are suitable for organizations that need to achieve specific, measurable outcomes within a set timeframe. They are ideal for teams that require a clear direction and a sense of accountability. Aspirational OKRs, on the other hand, are suitable for organizations that want to drive innovation, creativity, and excellence. They are ideal for teams that want to push the boundaries and strive for something bigger.
When choosing between Committed and Aspirational OKRs, consider the following factors:
What are the organization’s goals and priorities?
What type of culture do we want to foster?
What kind of outcomes do we want to achieve?
What level of risk are we willing to take?
By considering these factors, organizations can choose the right type of OKRs that align with their goals, culture, and priorities. Whether you opt for committed or aspirational OKRs, the key is to ensure that they are aligned with your company aims and internal communication processes, fostering a balanced approach to achieving both immediate and long-term objectives.
How to balance Committed and Aspirational OKRs?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but where OKRs are aligned with company strategy, teams are well educated, open communication exists, and performance is reviewed regularly, it will help keep the balance between aspirational and committed OKRs intact.
However, the first step in finding equilibrium between the two forms of OKRs is that there has to be a knowledge of the difference. It needs to be apparent from the outset that everyone involved makes it clear the distinction between the two OKRs.
Teams and employees may have suitable insights that will assist in determining what is realistically achievable (committed) and what is a stretch but possible (aspirational). This can help determine what the balance ratio for the OKRs is going to be.
A very critical element to succeed with OKRs is reviewing and tracking the progress. With weekly check-ins, teams can go through their OKRs regularly and update the same performance data. It becomes easy to track how they have progressed on the outcome of the OKR in the OKR review process.
The grading of OKRs is very clear on the distinction between committed and aspirational goals. Committed OKRs are things to be accomplished within the cycle, and grading is binary: pass or fail. That is, an OKR is said to be successful if 100% of it is accomplished; otherwise, it is regarded as a failure. Aspirational OKRs, on the other hand, are graded along a more nuanced scale.
Common mistakes to avoid while setting up Aspirational OKRs
Here are 6 common mistakes organizations commit while setting up aspirational OKRs-
1️⃣Ignoring organizational structure and needs
A common mistake most organizations commit while writing aspirational OKRs is to write something like, “What can be done more if we have extra resources and luck favors us ?” Instead, you can pretend to be a genie and strive to understand “What our customer needs at present moment?”
2️⃣Unrealistic aspirational OKRs
Aspirational OKRs don’t imply setting unrealistic goals. It should be achievable, with the understanding that your teams won’t have any clue about how to achieve these OKRs. Aspirational OKRs demand overuse of resources. They are fluid and flexible. But still helps your teams focus on well-defined goals.
3️⃣Writing a low-value objective (LVO)
Moving forward with a “Who cares?” attitude is a common pitfall among organizations. Low-value objectives go unnoticed even after the successful completion of the key results.
4️⃣OKRs should be framed to gain tangible benefit
OKRs are a tool for organizations to work for big goals in the long run by breaking them into small chunks that can be achieved within a shorter cycle.
5️⃣A committed OKR must deliver a 1.0
It makes the framework stiff and doesn’t leave scope for improvement.
6️⃣Too many OKRs
How many aspirational OKRs you should set for one cycle will depend on your company’s resources. But never aim for too many Objectives and key results. As it can easily divert your focus altogether.
Best Practices for Implementing OKRs
Implementing OKRs requires a structured approach to ensure success. Here are some best practices to consider:
Align OKRs with company goals: Ensure that OKRs align with the organization’s overall goals and priorities.
Make OKRs specific and measurable: Ensure that OKRs are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Set ambitious yet achievable goals: Set goals that are challenging yet achievable, and provide a clear direction for the team.
Establish clear key results: Establish clear key results that indicate progress towards achieving the objective.
Track progress regularly: Track progress regularly and provide feedback to teams and individuals.
Foster a culture of transparency and accountability: Foster a culture of transparency and accountability, where teams and individuals are held accountable for their progress.
Provide training and support: Provide training and support to teams and individuals to ensure they understand the OKR framework and how to use it effectively.
Review and adjust OKRs regularly: Review and adjust OKRs regularly to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with the organization’s goals.
By following these best practices, organizations can implement OKRs effectively and achieve their goals. Regularly reviewing and adjusting OKRs ensures that they stay aligned with the evolving needs of the organization, helping teams to maintain focus and drive continuous improvement.
Conclusion
Now that you know the difference between committed and aspirational OKRs and how they can impact your organization’s success, it’s the decision time. Choose the one that will best suit your purpose.
And don’t forget it’s a trial and error method. Have regular OKR check-ins and reviews. Collect feedback during and after each cycle. And use your learnings to avoid further mistakes in the next OKR cycle.
Pooja Pooja
Quarterly OKRs: 5 Tips for Successful Wrap-Up
Imagine a scene! the quarter is about to end and it’s time to review and wrap up quarterly OKRs.
The clock’s ticking. Everyone is in a rush. And you are busy evaluating which goals are yet to be achieved. And what has already been done. It’s also time to think about your priorities for the next quarter.
There are so many checklists and questions going in your head.
Have my teams found ways of closing out quarterly OKRs? Will my teams beat the clock and tick all the boxes? Have they reflected on their OKR progress? How will I deal with this end-of-quarter OKRs rush?
Feeling overwhelmed!!
Here is a step by step guide to help you prepare best to wrap up your quarterly OKRs–
Before you start to review and wrap up quarterly OKRs- remember that wrapping up quarterly OKRs is teamwork. And to see the best results every team irrespective of their department have to come together.
Track your team’s OKR progress and gather the key results scores. You can score your OKRs on a scale of 1 to 10 on the basis of how far the objectives have been achieved.
This will help you evaluate your progress in a truly data-driven manner.
If the scores are low this might suggest that your OKRs were unrealistic. On the other hand, if the score is too high it may suggest that your OKRs were not ambitious enough.
Whatever learning you made from this process. It will help you to form the basis for designing your next set of quarterly OKRs.
Make sure everyone is up to date
It is important to ensure that your teams have clarity about their OKR status. At the same time, they have visibility into what other teams have been doing. It can be achieved through regular check-ins with your teams. Check this ebook on OKR handbook.
This step will help you check if your teams are aligned or not. When everyone in your team is on the same page taking decisions based on priorities becomes easy. As you have the data in hand to rely on instead of guessing.
Organize OKR check-ins
The importance of check-ins for OKR success cannot be emphasized enough. OKR check-ins provide you an opportunity to have 1 on 1 discussion in all OKR matters.
With OKR check-ins you can discuss with your leaders and team members about – what went well, what didn’t work for them, what needs to be dealt with immediately, what problems they are facing etc. at an individual as well as team level.
OKR check-ins will help you understand what’s holding teams back. You will further get the chance to push priorities that might have shifted midway.
Dig into opportunities
Organize Quarterly OKRs review meetings to dig into opportunities. During these meetings, go through each key result with your teams. Find out what went well and what needs to be done better.
Let the OKR leaders from each team present their learnings and achievements before everyone. Here teams can give a small presentation highlighting the most important lessons with context.
So that other teams can benefit from their learnings and experiences. And use them in designing their OKRs for the next quarter.
If you are a large-scale company working with multiple departments. The OKR review meetings can be held at the departmental level.
Plan the future
Now that you have gathered the data and matrix you need through OKR check-ins and OKR review meetings. It’s high time to plan for the next quarter.
OKRs have the power to build the future of your organization. But OKR failures can cost you a fortune.
Hence it’s important to find out the core reasons behind your OKR success or failure for the present quarter. And use it as context while designing OKRs for the next quarter.
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Do you need to plan new OKRs every quarter?
“Should OKRs change every quarter?” is a question often left unanswered.
Even after an OKR is achieved, you can roll it forward for the next quarter if necessary.
For example, if your OKR was to increase customer satisfaction by 20% in the present quarter. This could be relevant even for the next few quarters.
In case, of missed OKRs, you need to take a call. And decide whether you want to carry it forward or set new OKRs based on the data gathered.
When should you review and wrap up Quarterly OKRs
You should preferably wrap up the quarterly OKRs at least a week prior to the beginning of the next quarter.
But the preparation and discussions for the next quarter should be initiated almost a month before the new quarter begins. This is because designing OKRs takes dedication, time, and effort.
Bonus Tips:
Maintain Transparency from day one. Keep data transparent so that everyone knows how it’s going.
Create a culture of critical feedback. Be honest when it comes to feedback. At the same time be open to getting feedback from your teams as well.
Celebrate wins– even the smallest ones. Recognize your teams for their achievements more often.
Over-communicate. Communication is the key when it comes to wrapping up quarterly OKRs.
Take a moment
Wrapping up end-of-quarter OKRs will allow you to pause and take a moment to think. It provides you time to reflect on your wins, failures, and setbacks. It’s a stitch in time to make sure that your OKR framework is a success.
Follow the steps given to close out quarterly OKRs and make the most out of the process.
