For every business, irrespective of which industry it belongs to or the size of the business, having well-defined goals and targets is absolutely vital. Without strict goals and targets in place, running a business would be extremely difficult. These goals and targets provide the businesses with a sense of direction and guidance on how to proceed toward growth and success. In order to set the right goals and targets, businesses rely on Objectives and Key Results software, or OKR software as it is more popularly known. Several top companies like Netflix, Google, Adobe, etc., have achieved amazing successes with the implementation of OKR software. Read on to find out more about OKRs and take a look at some of the top OKR examples for different departments in your organization.
Table of Contents
What is OKR?
OKR is the process of setting definite goals wherein there is a clear objective of what needs to be achieved along with 3-5 measurable key results to measure how the desired objective will be achieved. This goal management methodology is one of the best methodologies to ensure the success of your business. Whether you need to outline the goals for your next quarter or you are in the process of restructuring your business, having well-defined OKRs will help you ensure that you succeed. Let’s take a closer look at what objectives and key results mean.
OKR – Objectives
The objectives in OKRs refer to the ‘whats’ – this means that you need to express in a clear, tangible, actionable, and motivational manner what you as an organization or team want to achieve. Your objectives can either be company-wide or team-wide. In order to ensure that your objectives are achieved successfully, you must make sure that your objectives and their importance are crystal clear, and your objectives should be easily understandable by others and guide them in achieving the key results.
OKR – Key Results
The Key Results in OKRs refer to the ‘hows’ – this means that your key results should be in a measurable form or in the clear result of effort form. Some of the questions that you need to focus on while determining the key results include what should the individual/team deliver to fulfill the objective, what are the metrics that will measure the objective’s success, etc. Rather than using words like ‘maintain’, ‘participate’, ‘strive’, etc., you must use actionable verbs which can be verified and quantified.
Examples of OKR for Different Departments in your Organization
The primary intent of every organization is to ensure that all the teams and departments are aligned with the company’s goals and objectives. In order to achieve this, each department has its own OKRs that will help them to succeed. In this post, we have listed some of the top OKR examples for different departments in your organization. We recommend you keep this list handy and use it whenever you want any help in getting started with the OKRs for any department.
Company Level
Objective: Grow the business globally
Key Results:
- Achieve a global sales target of $100 Million.
- Reduce churn via customer success to <5% annually.
- Achieve 100% YoY growth in sales in the APAC region.
Objective: Build an amazing corporate culture to keep your employees happy and engaged
Key Results:
- Launch quarterly town halls and open Q&A sessions between CEOs, senior leadership teams, and employees.
- Achieve a weekly score of 8+ for Employee Satisfaction / Pulse.
- Recognize any achievements/wins on a monthly basis.
Objective: Expand operations in the Latin American market
Key Results:
- Conduct in-depth market research in the LATAM area, prepare SWOT analysis report, and submit it to the management by the end of January.
- Train 4 bilingual sales executives by the second week of February.
- Launch the Spanish-language MVP version of the product by mid-March.
Marketing
Objective: Improve closing rate by boosting the end-to-end sale process
Key Results:
- Achieve $10M in marketing-generated pipeline by Q2.
- Implement 6 targeted lead campaigns by Q3.
- Acquire 800 new MQLs for sales by Q1.
Objective: Increase brand awareness and reach in areas outside the current geography
Key Results:
- Increase newsletter signups by 100 per week.
- Publish 1 new leadership article every week.
- Increase the website traffic from the new geographies by 10%.
Objective: Launch a podcast program campaign successfully in (quarter and year).
Key Results:
- Write 10-15 promotional blog posts for the podcast.
- Prepare a list of 30 potential guests by (month).
- Achieve 3,000 podcast subscribers by the end of the first month of the launch.
Sales
Objective: Improve the sales performance across the entire team
Key Results:
- Improve the close rate from 25% to 30%.
- Increase the scheduled calls for each sales representative from 4 per week to 6 per week.
- Boost the average deal size from $8K to $12K.
Objective: Create better and improved quality sales leads
Key Results:
- Create the list of lead metrics and questions to be collected in the CRM.
- Ensure that at least 80% of the leads complete the mandatory questions.
- Make the data collection from the backend to CRM automatic.
Objective: Boost our Sales Analytics Process
Key Results:
- Review the Sales Activity metrics and send out a weekly report to the team.
- Implement a sales analytics platform.
- Review the Sale Pipeline metrics and send out a weekly report to the team.
Business Operations
Objective: Enhance the Engineering team’s delivery speed
Key Results:
- Boost the sprint capacity by attaining 90% sprint commitments.
- Put in 50% more time for QA.
- Ensure unit testing covers all the major processes.
Objective: Improve the levels of the current application performance
Key Results:
- Boost the speed of the app response by 1-2%.
- Reduce the downtime of the app by 1-2%.
- Perform 3-4 code audits on a monthly basis.
Objective: Boost the number of employees working from home from 20% to 50%
Key Results:
- Achieve 90% response in the company-wide remote working survey.
- Plan and finalize compensation plan for remote working employees based on their location.
- Implement VPN and multi-factor authentication security protocols for remote employees.
Customer Success
Objective: Improve the Customer Success team members’ capabilities and training
Key Results:
- Design personal development plans for the entire team.
- Boost the success rate of tasks from 75% to 90%.
- Provide 5-6 training courses and coaching opportunities.
Objective: Provide assistance to customers and guarantee them that their inputs help in driving the business ahead
Key Results:
- Contact 20 customers every month and offer them suggestions on how to better use your products and services.
- Reduce the product/service-related complaints from 30 to 15.
- Get two Customer Success Managers onboard.
Objective: Boost customer subscriptions by 15%
Key Results:
- Optimize the on-demand learning courses, which will boost customer learning and confidence.
- Increase the customer support team capacity so that you can easily handle the growing customer base.
- Reduce the churn of enterprise-level customers by 10% in order to boost the profit margins.
Product
Objective: Increase product learning across various departments in the organization
Key Results:
- Schedule four informal learning sessions to display the new product features before the actual launch date.
- Increase the learning time with each of the departments from 10% to 20%.
- Conduct cross-functional knowledge-sharing sessions on a monthly basis.
Objective: Increase the NPS score to retain existing customers and acquire new ones
Key Results:
- Reduce the load time of the pages from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
- Decrease the customer success response time from 24 hours to 12 hours.
- Collect 200 responses from customer surveys to understand the top five reasons why customers love us.
Objective: Develop a new product in Q3
Key Results:
- Interview 30-40 customers and gather feedback from them.
- Conduct UX mockups from 20-25 prospective clients and get a usability score of 8/10.
- Gather internal feedback and get a score of 10/10 from the sales team.
Human Resources
Objective: Improve communications related to employee policy updates
Key Results:
- Create engaging 2-3 minutes videos explaining the policy updates and increasing awareness.
- Design one unified communication channel for all employee policy updates by the end of Q2.
- Reduce the number of help tickets from 20% to 5%.
Objective: Design and launch an engaging diversity and inclusion program
Key Results:
- Design and implement three events promoting diversity and inclusion.
- Increase the diversity within the company from 5% to 15%.
- Get a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) onboard.
Objective: Provide career growth development plans for all employees
Key Results:
- Launch 12 career roadmaps for every quarter.
- Maintain employee retention rate above 85%.
- Offer free learning courses and online professional programs that are available 24/7.
Finance
Objective: Decrease the time taken for budget approvals from 45 days to 30 days
Key Results:
- Design, develop and demo three budget approval processes by the end of January.
- Decide the final budget approval process by mid-February.
- Launch the new budget approval process by March.
Objective: Ensure accurate bookkeeping at all times.
Key Results:
- Reduce the uploading time of contracts and payments from 3 hours to 1 hour.
- Achieve a score < 89 in external audits.
- Reduce the amount of time spent on backtracking receipts and logs from 2 weeks to 1 week.
Objective: Reduce dependency on third-party vendors for 100% tax compliance services
Key Results:
- Develop an in-house team and provide them with complete knowledge transfer.
- Build a playbook once knowledge transfer is complete and test it.
- File monthly GST returns and ensures 100% accuracy.
Design
Objective: Increase customer engagement by revamping the website.
Key Results:
- Shift to a new CMS platform.
- Revamp the website with new content like 3 product videos.
- Use A/B testing for the design page layout.
Objective: Support the sales and marketing team
Key Results:
- Design 5 infographics every month.
- Prepare 10 product brochures by the end of Q2.
- Design 1 e-book for the marketing team in Q3.
Content Marketing
Objective: Write and publish informative blog posts
Key Results:
- Interview 10-15 industry experts
- Drive 1M organic visitors to the website by the end of Q2.
- Achieve 500 PDF downloads on a quarterly basis.
Objective: Optimize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for every blog post
Key Results:
- Every article should include at least seven internal links.
- Each blog post should achieve an SEO score of 80-100.
- Every static image and GIF in each blog post should include descriptive alt text.
Objective: Enhance the documentation of the blog process
Key Results:
- Audit the current blog process once a month.
- Reduce the feedback time from different departments from one week to three days.
- Eliminate 100% bottlenecks by creating a blog process dashboard.
Customer Support
Objective: Implement a standard training plan for promoting career growth and development
Key Results:
- Prepare clear documentation featuring three core responsibilities – Lead, Manager, and Specialist.
- Provide a detailed development growth plan and organization chart by 31st March.
- Launch certification programs to ensure continuity of skill-building and training.
Objective: Boost the efficiency of the support team in responding to customers and resolving their issues
Key Results:
- Create positions and promote two leads.
- Launch a team reorganization plan by mid-Q1.
- Boost the support tickets resolved percentage from 50% to 80%.
Facilities
Objective: Maintain a state-of-the-art office
Key Results:
- Introduce relevant training for facilities staff on a quarterly basis.
- Boost the office satisfaction rating from 80% to 95%.
- Decrease the percentage of office supplies spending from 30% to 15%.
Objective: Facilitate a smooth ticketing system for management and tracking of requests from various departments
Key Results:
- Reduce the amount of time spent between accessing inboxes and voicemails from 15% to 5%.
- Reduce the resolution time from 24 hours to 8 hours.
- Create a knowledge base of the top 20 frequently asked questions to resolve issues without the need to raise a ticket.
Events
Objective: Establish a high-performing events team
Key Results:
- Schedule 3-5 events and training classes every quarter.
- Hire three new event coordinators by the end of March.
- Track 5-10 individual contribution tasks by the end of Q2.
Objective: Set up an in-person industry conference successfully in (year)
Key Results:
- Register 20,000 participants.
- Achieve a top rating of 10 for attendees.
- Scan 1,500 badges during the event.
Information Technology
Objective: Optimize the cost of the software.
Key Results:
- Identify the top three business systems and track and manage their pricing terms.
- Suggest 4-5 target operating models be adopted by (date).
- Reduce the monthly spending on software from $15K to $8K.
Objective: Enhance your work model and become a mobile-first workplace
Key Results:
- Research and identify one mobile-friendly platform by the end of Q1.
- Reduce the average time of ticket response through mobile from 1 hour to 10 minutes.
- Provide 4-5 training videos and materials.
Public Relations and Communications
Objective: Increase the brand awareness
Key Results:
- Schedule 20-25 media meetings by the end of Q1.
- Book two speaking spots at industry-related annual conferences.
- Schedule 10-15 meetings with top industry influencers.
Objective: Enhance and establish improved partnership pitches
Key Results:
- Create a creative collateral kit template by (date).
- Audit the assets on a quarterly basis and check for any required updates.
- Boost your outreach activities from 25% to 50%.
Social Media
Objective: Improve the content on LinkedIn and increase engagement
Key Results:
- Publish 15-20 leadership posts in a month.
- Increase the audience impressions from 1,000 to 5,000.
- Publish 15 video content in a month.
Objective: Enhance your social media strategy
Key Results:
- Boost your customer satisfaction score from 80 to 90.
- Get three social content specialists on board by the end of March.
- Develop 3-4 content strategies by the end of Q2 to improve the promotion and distribution of content.
Talent and Development
Objective: Increase employee engagement
Key Results:
- Interview 50% of the team members to gather feedback about learning opportunities.
- Allocate dedicated time of 20 hours/month for every team member for training compliance.
- Design, develop, and launch a performance-enhancing program by March.
Objective: Build a more robust employer brand
Key Results:
- Conduct weekly employee satisfaction surveys and achieve a score greater than 8.
- Survey 50 existing employees and 50 new employees to gather feedback about the required improvements.
- Work in tandem with marketing and creative teams to revamp the popular brand collaterals.
Creative Operations
Objective: Increase the productivity of the creative team
Key Results:
- Reduce the time taken for approving department requests from 1 week to 2 days.
- Understand meeting relevancy by auditing the team calendar on a monthly basis.
- Boost the completion rate of on-time tasks from 60% to 95%.
Objective: Establish a company-wide process for creative requests
Key Results:
- Identify the top 20 common requests and build suitable task templates.
- Reduce the requests backlog by 50% for all departments.
- Improve the team satisfaction score from 60% to 90% by the end of Q2.
Engineering
Objective: Decrease the number of bug report tasks from customers after major launches
Key Results:
- Identify 50-60 volunteers across the company to test all the features before the actual launch.
- Improve efficiency by auditing QA testing on a monthly basis.
- Reduce the time taken for fixing critical bugs in production from 24 hours to 8 hours.
Objective: Apply Agile management to all engineering teams in the organization
Key Results:
- Gather individual feedback and results through a pilot project in the first three months of implementing the Agile management.
- Establish automated performance reporting by the end of Q3.
- Design and develop a communication dashboard for all the issues by the end of Q3.
Conclusion
As you can see, defining clear-cut objections and key results (OKRs) for each department in your organization is a sure-shot way of ensuring that your company grows and succeeds. We hope these examples help you to develop ideal OKRs for your various departments. Also, remember that writing OKRs is only half the job done; the rest depends on how well you implement them. To know more, check out our in-depth blog on OKR Strategy.
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