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How to Manage Remote Employees Effectively?

Written by:
Rohitha Rohitha

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May 20, 2020
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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.

The dawn of 2020 brought about a new wave in workplace dynamics and corporate culture. 

Right now, remote work has become the backbone of our economy and its functioning.

Managers need to adjust to these new developments and learn to manage remote employees effectively to continue getting the required results. 

As per the report, around 43% of the total US workforce worked off-site. 

This number has risen dramatically in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Naturally, the biggest challenge for the managers presently is to adapt themselves to work with remote employees. 

Handling employees who share your office space and managing remote workers require you to adjust your approach from being method-oriented to result-oriented.
 

You may need to get more familiar with technology for communication and coordination. 

To put it simply, a manager needs to realign herself for getting accustomed to new practices for leading and managing remote employees.

So, whether you’re transitioning your employees to remote work as a result of a pandemic or are planning to hire remote workers for diversity, you are required to adopt a different perspective. 

In this article, we throw light on ways that can help you manage remote employees effectively. 

But before divulging into this matter, let us first address a few common challenges that you may face while managing remote employees.

Common challenges faced by remote employees

1. No face to face contact

Meeting your direct reports every day has many benefits which you would realize only when working with a remote team. 

The ease of just dropping in to clear a doubt or have a quick update session vanishes with remote work.

Now, you need to send an invitation for a virtual meeting and it feels more formal than it actually is.

Moreover, meeting an employee every day also helps in understanding their mood, motivation level and productivity without having to indulge in verbal communication. 

Virtual communication leaves less or no scope for non-verbal cues. 

2. Barriers in digital communication

How often do we end up missing out on an important email because it went to the spam folder? 

With all its benefits, digital communication has quite a lot of bottlenecks which can hamper coordination.

When you work with remote employees, you cannot peer over their cubicle and discuss an issue with them. 

Simple bottlenecks may require you to take multiple calls which depend on external factors like internet bandwidth and equipment. 

Hence, change in communication methods may take a while to get used to. 

3. Distractions and disturbance

Meetings with remote employees come with their own background noise. 

You may hear a toddler crying or perhaps, a waiter asking for the order if they’re working from a coffee shop. 

You’re no longer in a conference hall with noise-cancelling doors and windows. 

managing remote employees
Source – The New York Times

Moreover, your remote employee is not restricted to your office premise. 

She may work as per a different schedule and you would have to get familiar with it. 

In case of a situation like the present Covid-19 crisis, most of your employees are dealing with much more than just work-related stress including uncertainty about future and health-scare. 

4. Isolation and loneliness

When an employee works in an office space, they are surrounded by their office colleagues who often become their social circle. 

As they resort to remote work, they lose touch with human interaction and are glued to their screen without a break.

This isolation due to remote work may even lead the best of your talent to become sluggish, uninterested and prone to mistakes. 

In a situation like present when social distancing has become the norm, forced isolation has even led to anxiety and mental fatigue. 

Just like every other benefit, remote work too has bottlenecks. 

However, with the right methods, you can find a way to make the best of any situation and manage remote employees with ease. 

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12 tips to manage remote employees effectively

1. Set a routine of morning check-in

In an office, an employee’s day begins with her ride to work and casual banter with her colleagues. 

Some organizations have a routine of a daily stand-up where they discuss tasks and a plan for the day. 

These quick meetings and customary greetings help one switch to work mode.

Despite its perk of saving you from the morning traffic, remote work devoid us of these little things that help one focus on the workday.

So then, how does a manager ensure that her remote employees are set for the day? One way is to replicate the daily stand up meeting/ scrum call/ status update meeting virtually. 

You can have a group call and discuss the plan for the day with everybody. 

You can also switch to starting the day with a “good morning” text on your group chat. The idea is to keep in touch with your remote employees throughout the day and remain available if and when they need you. 

These small gestures go a long way in helping remote employees remain focused, productive and more importantly, engaged. 

2. Find a suitable way of communication

When we work from home, the quality of communication largely depends upon the tools you’re using. 

Some theories encourage video communication while some experts swear by the effectiveness of text messages. 

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

You need to find a tech tool which works best for you and your remote employees. 

Make sure that you test it and see how it works for a few days.

Once you have found a common tool and method, your communication will feel more effortless and organic. 

PRO TIP: Let your direct report suggest the tool they prefer. It would mean that they’re already comfortable with it and will ease the remaining process. 

3. Use video calls, but only when necessary

If you start googling for ways for keeping your remote employees engaged, video conferencing will probably be the topmost tip.

And, why not? It helps you bring a personal touch to the conversation. It also ensures that your direct report is attentive and focused on the meeting. 

However, in recent times, there has been a new thought process in this regard. 

After the coronavirus pandemic hit us, most of us had to resort to remote work. 

As a result, video conferencing became a huge part of the day. Every minute conversation has become a reason for a long video call.

On average, an employee spends more time in video meetings these days than working for real. 

Today, most of us can vouch for the fact that we feel more tired these days than we felt before. 

This tiredness has been coined as a new term called ‘Zoom fatigue’ which refers to the mental exhaustion caused by video calls.
 

In a video call, we are constantly looking at a screen without any option of relaxing yourself or averting your gaze. 

Does this mean you should completely avoid video calls? And if yes, then what are the other options?

Well, the answer lies in moderation. 

You need to find a middle ground where your video calls do not become intrusive or burdensome for your direct report. 

Here are a few tips to help you find the right balance – 

  • Reduce the duration and the frequency of video calls. A weekly video check-in for a few minutes can prove to be a good refresher instead of a daily call.
  • Always ask your direct report if they are up for a video call. Give them an option to choose an audio call instead. 
  • If you’re not familiar with an employee, it is best to give them time adjusting to video interactions to avoid any awkward feeling. 

4. Make one on one meetings a ritual

The fact that one on one meetings are crucial for management is well-established. 

However, these meetings become even more important when you’re working with remote employees. 

When your direct reports work from home, their communications tend to become routine and only task-related. 

There are no chances for you to meet them in the hallways or get to know them over a team lunch. 

The lack of these informal conversations leads to an adverse impact on interpersonal relations between a manager and remote employees. 

This affects how an employee perceives herself, her self-esteem and her productivity.

One on one meetings can help you hold your remote employee’s hand and guide them towards a better performance.

These meetings can become your aid in establishing a deeper bond with your remote employees.

As we discussed before, employees tend to feel lonely and isolated.

In the words of Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor: 

Probably the most important thing you can do to build trust is to spend a little time alone with each of your direct reports on a regular basis.

When you take some time to listen to them, they feel valued and cared for. 

They realize that their voice and concerns are being heard at the organization.

While working remotely, an employee might feel lost and abandoned. 

A one on one meeting can help you assure them that their role is important and their tasks form an essential part of the great organizational goal. 

The benefits of one on one meeting are plenty; all you need to do is strike the right conversation ( and do it regularly). 

Pro Tip: If you’re unsure of how to begin the right conversation during your one on one meeting, you can always take help from online one on one meeting tools. 

From setting an agenda to reminders for follow up, they can help you improve the quality and output of your one on one meetings.

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5. Be mindful of the time zones

The biggest perk of a remote job is getting to work with talent from across the globe. 

When you hire remote employees, you can move beyond geographical boundaries and can choose your team based on sheer talent. 

While it is great to have a mix of diverse employees from different backgrounds, it can become a little daunting to manage them.

In most cases, when a manager’s day ends, the day for her direct reports’ begins. 

The challenge here is to ensure that you remain in touch with your direct reports while making them compromise on their schedule by working in ungodly hours. 

You are their role model for right behavior; hence, you need to respect their schedule and consider their time zone.

Managing remote employees from a different continent may take you a few days of early morning wake-up calls but their result is always satisfactory. 

Here’s how you can ensure that your remote employee from a different time zone is always in the loop with you. 

  • Once in a while (say, a week), wait for them to log-in and drop a casual hello.
  • Always pre-schedule your meetings and decide on a time mutually.
  • If they stay up late for you, ensure that you ask them to relax late the next day.
  • Turn your stand up meeting into an email conversation and send it daily. 

6. Focus on employee development

Be it a remote employee or otherwise, career progression is important for everyone. 

People work with you because they want to alleviate themselves with learning and find the best possible opportunity for their talent. 

In fact, employee development has been touted as one of the major factors for higher retention rates. 

Often, the development of remote employees takes a backseat as they ‘re not within your vicinity. 

managing remote employeesRemote employees are bereft of the training opportunities your organization may be providing and may miss out on career opportunities on account of less communication. 

In unprecedented times like the present pandemic, career conversation and employee development may even seem like a futile discussion.

What managers don’t realize is that employee development may help them unlock the unseen potential of their direct reports.

Your interest in their development can motivate them to be more efficient and result-oriented. 

When you help them envision a growth path for themselves, they become more inclined to cooperate with you and give their best. 

PRO TIP: There are many online training and courses that can benefit your remote employees. Encourage them to enroll themselves in them. 

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7. Recognize their efforts

The best way to engage and manage employees is by letting them know that their work is valued and their efforts are appreciated. 

In the words of Dale Carnegie, a famous leadership guru –

People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.

For remote employees, recognition also leads them to the realization that their contribution is visible and being noticed at the workplace. 

You don’t meet them every day – this means you can’t pat their back, give them a thumbs up or a quick “good job” in the team meeting. 

Remote employees also miss out on the excitement of celebratory lunches and get-togethers.

Hence, a manager should figure out ways to make them feel included and recognized. 

At present, the situation has become even more draining due to the constant pressure of delivering goals and living under the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

During such times, a little praise and recognition can go a long way in lifting the spirits of employees working from home. 

If you have run out of ideas on praising employees in a remote work setup, here are a few tips – 

  • Send a mail appreciating the good work of an employee across the team. 
  • Mention their achievements in group meetings. 
  • Make sure you mention feats in the group thread. 
  • Conduct a ‘reward & recognition’ virtual event once a month. 
  • Dedicate a good amount of time discussing their good work during your one on one meeting. 

8. Give regular feedback

Feedback and constructive criticism help a manager in building a team which is open to change, ready for challenges and adaptable to changing requirements. 

Feedback is also a pillar which can help you establish a connection with your direct report while helping them to improve their performance.

For a remote employee, feedback is a way of knowing that her manager cares about what she does. 

Lack of feedback may mean disinterest or even worse, apathy on the part of the manager.

Hence, you need to make feedback a regular part of your conversations.

Giving honest feedback to remote employees, which can often be constructive, is a mucky area you would want to avoid.

feedback for managin remote employee
Source: Discoveryaction.com.au

In a virtual set up, conversations lack the support of non-verbal cues and its context may get lost in translation. 

Here’s how you can ensure that you provide feedback to your remote employees in the right way-

9. Provide autonomy

The main difference between managing remote employees and on-site employees is working in the same vicinity as them.

You cannot walk up to them to clear a doubt or have an impromptu discussion.

As a result, many managers end up either having no coordination with their remote employees or being too intrusive. 

However, efficiency comes by giving enough autonomy while being available for providing support and checks.
 

The idea is to trust your remote employees’ sincerity and capability and avoid micromanaging them.

Do not focus on the process, concentrate on the result.

However, you can always set some rules to ensure that the workflow is continuous. Some of them can be –

  • Make a rule to compulsorily respond to messages within 24 hours. 
  • Any delay should always be communicated.
  • Never cancel your one on one meetings except in the case of emergencies. 
  • Make status updates an essential part of daily tasks.

 10. Align their goals with team objectives

Your remote employees are a significant part of your team. Studies reveal that remote workers are often more productive than their regular counterparts. 

Yet, their role in the bigger picture often gets sidelined by those whose presence is more approachable and tangible. 

Sometimes, their opinions are overlooked in the team meetings and their contribution seems to be limited to filling talent gaps. 

This behavior may lead them to dissatisfaction. 

As a manager, you need to make them feel included and important for your team. 

You should let them know that their role is crucial to your team’s overall success and is an important block in the overall organizational goal.

When they understand the correlation between their tasks and organizational objective, they feel motivated to contribute better.

PRO TIP: Speak about how their work led to better results in quantitative terms, i.e, increase in sales, better reviews or more site visits. 

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11. Understand their expectation

It is not easy to assess your remote employees’ needs and expectations. 

You often speak about work assignments and indulge in small talk occasionally. 

In the absence of regular meetings, many things are left unsaid.

Nonetheless, these small things are important as they help you understand and set the right expectations with your direct report. 

One of the simplest solutions to this problem is having a detailed one on one meeting. 

You must consider these meetings as a chance to discuss everything you wouldn’t regularly. 

Try to keep them casual, light-hearted and discuss personal goals as well. 

This practice will help your direct report become flair with you and lead to more honest discussions. 

Detailed one on ones are also required right now when our teams are forced to work from different locations. 

All of them might be facing different problems and expecting unique support from you.

Thus, make one on one meetings a regular event on your calendar.

12. Be clear, concise and conclusive in your communication

When you remote employees, the success of your management strategies will boil down to effective communication.

Since your direct reports are not physically present with you, you need to be in constant touch with them to ensure that they feel part of the team. 

What is even more important is the clarity of your messages. 

If you’re communicating a lot but the message is not correctly received by the remote employees, your efforts will fall flat. 

Thus, your communication needs to be clear, concise and conclusive. 

Here’s how John Eades, CEO of LeanLoft, described these three qualities 

  • Clear: Is the task clear? Have the direct reports acknowledged the task? Do they understand their responsibility?
  • Concise: Is there a way to make my message as short as possible while including all the essential information?
  • Conclusive: Do remote employees understand the implication of the task? 

 

Wrapping up

Remote work is here to stay. It is our new reality and will only take up a bigger space in workplace culture in the times to come. 

Hence, learning how to manage remote employees is the kind of upskilling you need at the moment.

Managing remote employees comes with its unique sets of challenges and perks and you need to find a way to balance them judiciously in your favor. 

The easiest way to do so is by walking in the shoes of a remote employee and understanding her perspective. 

Once you know what situations they may undergo, you will know how to manage them effectively. 

And, there cannot be a better time to understand this than right now. 

So, as you brace yourself for the new world waiting for us, learn how to manage and win with a remote team. 

After all, the future is definitely remote.

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Top Picks

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.

Click Here to download ready to use OKR templates for your organization

How to roll out OKRs for the first time

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.”  

To read more OKR success stories, click here.

3 Decide on your approach and framework

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.  

Also Read: Essential Guide for OKR Champions in 2022

What to avoid?

  • 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. 

Success rate 

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:

  1. Align OKRs with company goals: Ensure that OKRs align with the organization’s overall goals and priorities.
  2. Make OKRs specific and measurable: Ensure that OKRs are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
  3. Set ambitious yet achievable goals: Set goals that are challenging yet achievable, and provide a clear direction for the team.
  4. Establish clear key results: Establish clear key results that indicate progress towards achieving the objective.
  5. Track progress regularly: Track progress regularly and provide feedback to teams and individuals.
  6. Foster a culture of transparency and accountability: Foster a culture of transparency and accountability, where teams and individuals are held accountable for their progress.
  7. 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.
  8. 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–

Click here to read champions guide for tracking OKRs

How to wrap-up 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.

Here’s the ultimate quarterly OKRs review and wrap-up checklist for you:

Track and gather the metrics

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. 

Click Here to download a 15 minutes read handbook on OKRs

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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:

  1. Maintain Transparency from day one. Keep data transparent so that everyone knows how it’s going. 
  1. 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. 
  1. Celebrate wins– even the smallest ones. Recognize your teams for their achievements more often.
  1. 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.

Pooja Pooja