Business Objectives are about setting the right goals and understanding how your team can achieve them. To make them rallying Business Objectives for everyone to work towards, they need to be inspiring!
Key Results are the quantitative measures that determine if you have achieved your Business Objectives. They should be relevant and measurable. Allocating Key Results keeps you on track, ensuring you remain motivated and focused on completing your Objectives.
Introducing Objectives and Key Results to your organisation will help bring focus, energy, alignment, and accountability for all.
Here are our top five tips for creating inspiring Objectives and Key Results:
1. Create clear and measurable goals
Your Objectives should relate to your company’s vision and strategy. Take the time to clarify accountabilities, Key Results, and time frames.
2. Break your Objectives down
To keep your strategy on track, have both annual and monthly Objectives.
3. Limit the number of Objectives and Key Results
Most businesses we work with have limited resources. Having too many Objectives will almost certainly result in failure to implement. A good rule of thumb is no more than six Objectives at one time. If they can focus on less, that’s even better.
4. Measure your progress through well written Key Results
Use the SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound.
5. Be Transparent
Make your Objectives and Key Results visible to everyone in your organisation. By creating visibility, it alleviates any confusion with accountability and the organisation’s vision. It will also keep your employees engaged and motivated to be part of the team and progress towards these goals.
There is ample research on the internet about writing Objectives and Key Results (OKR’s) that you can access to educate yourself. Our ADAPT Coaches challenge their customers with questions like:
- What does it feel like to achieve that Objective?
- Why do you need to improve your turnover?
- What does it do for XYZ company?
While you can read all the theory, the best way to write great OKR’s is to practice, practice, practice! And practice some more!
A common mistake people make is to write a Key Result as an Objective. By definition, Objectives are goals and intents. They need to be engaging and inspiring statements. Key Results are time-bound and measurable milestones.
Example Objective:
To effectively steward our business
Example Key Results:
We finish meetings on time
Meeting outcomes recorded in the platform
Our average rating for meetings is greater than 8
Increase in Effective Stewardship score from orange to green
When customers first start formulating Objectives, they tend to overdo it and end up with dozens of things they want to achieve. It is better to achieve three or four Objectives, not start and fail on 12!
Get in touch if you would like to meet with one of our coaches and discuss the power of good Objectives and Key Results for keeping your strategy on track.