In a world filled with data, and with the cacophony of charts, tables, and lists that creep into every corner of every workplace in the country, it may be time to step back and decipher which actually matters.
Used by some of the world's leading organizations to set and enact their strategies, one of the most useful ways to stay on track is via the use of a well-written list of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
Differing from the better-known Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) which measure within an existing framework, OKRs are a goal-setting framework in themselves and are used by individuals, teams, and organizations to define measurable goals and track their outcomes.
The development of OKR is generally attributed to Andrew Grove who introduced the approach to Intel in the 1970s, and it has since proliferated companies the world over. This simplistic, black-and-white approach uses specific metrics to track the achievement of a goal. Typically, an organization will have three to five high-level objectives and three to five key results per objective.
Once set, the OKRs should be achievable goals that can be measured regularly (typically as a percentage between 0 and 100) and aligned with business goals and enterprise initiatives so they fold into the bigger picture. Undertaking regular check-ins to gauge progress throughout the business quarter, these ambitious goals should be a challenge and stretch the ‘norm’ to push operations forward. They need to be a challenge. Each organization may then define its own success criteria, with many regarding 75% or more as success, and sub 30% as ‘attention needed’.
In leading automotive companies such as ADIS Tachov s.r.o. the OKRs fall into their much broader continual improvement cycles, and indeed into their mentoring of employees so that each individual has a goal to chase and the euphoria of achieving it. The result of which is having a injection molding manufacturing operation that is second to none, and forever forward looking.
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