Tracking performance of a Project Management Team sometimes feels like a whirlwind since there are so many projects to keep track of and they are all important. Each project has its own set of needs, and the challenge for project managers is to maintain a steady and functional workflow for every project.
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a collaborative goal-setting process used to set ambitious goals that have measurable results. With OKRs, you can track the progress of your team, align them towards the same objective, and even drive engagement.
OKRs continue to be a hot topic, now more than ever given the current climate of remote work. Organizations continue to look for the best way to use OKRs to improve their employees’ performance and execute their strategies successfully.
Unlike KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), OKRs focus more on establishing what you want to achieve and determining how you’re going to do so. Considering you want to encompass a full project management process, it’s only logical to set OKRs to measure project effectiveness and gather performance data.
To create great and efficient project management OKRs, you need to follow one simple formula:
“We will [Objective] as measured by [Key Results]”.
Your objectives should be clear, actionable, and time-bound. The common time period to achieve them is a quarter, but depending on the objective you can set a longer or shorter period. Key results are the ones that determine whether an Objective has been achieved or not, not necessarily relying on your usual project performance metrics. They are quantifiable, time-bound, and measurable results making it easier for the team to track progress. Contributors on the KRs should measure progress regularly since okrs must be evaluated continuously, and then at the end of the OKR period that’s been set, there’s usually an OKR meeting to determine how well the team did, to assess and discuss if there should be a change in the strategy to ultimately achieve project effectiveness. You can also track overall project progress as and when each task is completed.
To start crafting your project management OKRs you can hold a meeting to make this process in collaboration with your entire project team. Meeting with your team and having a brainstorming session provides a sense of ownership, employee engagement, and accountability. You want to empower your team to create their own challenges and motivate them to really feel capable of achieving what they set out to.
Today we want to provide you with some OKR examples for your Project Management Team that will serve as a guide to set your own Objectives and Key Results.
KR 1 - Launch customer internal feedback tool by (date)
KR2 - (#) of customer-requested features launched by (date)
KR3 - (#) of customer interviews completed by (date)
KR4 - Run Prospective customer roundtable (date)
KR1 - Gather (#) product complaints (date)
KR2 - Fix (#) of Open Bugs by (date)
KR3 - Send Customer NPS (date)
KR4 - Check published product reviews and scores on G2/Capterra (date)
KR5 - Push customer account growth (date)
KR1 - Fix (#) known bugs on product launch (date)
KR2 - Maximum (%) of features delayed (date)
KR3 - (%) usage of newly launched features and internal processes (date)
KR1- Attend weekly coaching sessions
KR2 - Participate in product vision update workshop
KR3 - Complete product manager certification
We hope this article helps you in creating the proper prompts to give your project management team a nudge in the right direction and achieve your organizational goals. Remember that Hirebook’s software helps remote and on-site teams link their day-to-day actions to strategic organizational outcomes by implementing OKRs!
Photo credit - Ken Tomita