How to apply OKR in a Startup [My case study — 2023]
I want to make this “guide” practical, I am an engineer I have to optimize processes not write pretty long copy 😄
First and foremost, it is essential to understand that OKRs are not just another tool for goal-setting. They are a framework that aligns your team’s objectives with the company’s overall mission and vision.
OKRs help you measure progress, identify gaps, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
If you want to understand them better I recommend this article.
😕 What’s my problem and maybe yours as well
In my own startup journey, I struggled with setting and achieving meaningful goals. I found myself frequently getting sidetracked by urgent but ultimately inconsequential tasks. OKRs provided the structure and focus that I needed to prioritize and drive results.
Index of this article:
- Define Your Company’s Mission and Vision
- Set SMART Objectives
- Identify Key Results
- Cascade OKRs
- Monitor Progress
- Software to track and work
🚀 The steps to implement OKRs
1. Define your company’s mission and vision
Stop, don’t make fun of me. now I’ll explain why.
As an engineer, I believe in being practical and specific when it comes to defining a company’s mission and vision.
It’s not just a philosophical statement to put on your website, but a clear understanding of what you want to achieve in the long term. Your mission and vision should provide a framework for your OKRs and guide your decision-making.
When defining your company’s mission and vision, consider what problem you’re solving, what impact you want to make, and how you can make a difference in the world. This framework will help you set meaningful and effective OKRs that align with your broader goals.
Being clear about your mission and vision also helps new team members understand your company’s goals and target market. It sets the foundation for a shared understanding of what you’re working towards, and helps everyone stay aligned and focused.
2. Set SMART Objectives
Set the company’s goal now by remembering mission and vision, here our long term objectives:
“Establish Stema as the go-to platform for engineers seeking information and job opportunities, with a goal of attracting and serving 5,000,000 active users in Europe within the next 5 years.”
By setting such a SMART objective, the company can work towards achieving its mission and vision while also providing a valuable service to its target audience.
3. Identify key results
Key results are the specific, measurable outcomes that indicate progress towards achieving an objective. They provide a clear picture of whether or not you’re on track to achieve your objective. In the case of Stema’s goal of becoming the go-to resource for every engineer to find the right job, some possible key results could be:
- Increase website traffic by 50% in the next year by implementing SEO strategies, social media campaigns, and targeted advertising.
- Expand the database of job listings by 25% in the next year by partnering with new companies and strengthening existing relationships.
- Achieve a 90% satisfaction rating from registered users through surveys and feedback mechanisms.
- Increase revenue by 20% in the next year by offering premium services to both job seekers and employers.
These key results are measurable, specific, and relevant to Stema’s overall objective. By regularly tracking and reviewing progress towards these key results, Stema can adjust its strategy if necessary to ensure it stays on track towards achieving its goal.
actually these are not our real okr but to simplify the concept I preferred to use these examples 😅
⚠️ And now (in my opinion) the real crucial part
4. Cascade OKRs
Cascading OKRs is the process of aligning the goals and objectives of each department or team with the overall goals of the company. This ensures that everyone is working towards the same objective and helps to increase collaboration and coordination across the organization.
For example, if Stema’s overall objective is to become the go-to resource for engineers to find their ideal job, the marketing team’s OKRs could include increasing website traffic by 30% and generating 500 new leads per month. The engineering team’s OKRs could include reducing product development time by 20% and increasing customer satisfaction ratings by 10%.
By cascading the company’s objectives down to each department or team, everyone is working towards a common goal and can see how their contributions fit into the bigger picture. It also helps to identify any misalignments or gaps in the organization’s strategy and allows for adjustments to be made to ensure the company is on track to achieve its overall objectives.
5. Monitor Progress
Monitoring progress is a crucial step in achieving objectives for any company, including Stema.
In Stema, each department can have weekly or monthly check-ins to review progress towards their OKRs. During these check-ins, team members can report on their progress and discuss any challenges they’ve encountered.
In addition, Stema can leverage data analytics tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to its objectives. This could include tracking website traffic, social media engagement, and user engagement on its platform. By doing so, we can identify areas where it needs to improve and adjust its strategy accordingly.
Data-driven decision-making is crucial in making informed decisions, and Stema can benefit from leveraging these tools to monitor progress. By regularly measuring everything, Stema can ensure that it stays on track towards achieving its objectives. As an engineer, I understand the importance of measuring and tracking progress towards achieving goals.
And I hope I can convince you as well 🍺
5. Software
Keeping track of OKRs, initiatives, and daily tasks is crucial for achieving your company’s objectives. As an engineer, it’s essential to have a tool that helps you manage your workflow efficiently. At our company, we use ClickUp and have found it to be an excellent solution for tracking our OKRs and tasks.
ClickUp allows us to set up our OKRs and key results easily. We can then break down these OKRs into initiatives and daily tasks, assigning them to the appropriate team members. ClickUp’s dashboard provides us with a clear overview of our progress towards each objective and highlights any areas where we may be falling behind.
Additionally, it has a range of features that make collaboration between team members easy. For instance, we can leave comments and feedback on specific tasks, attach files, and track time spent on each task.
If you’re interested in how we set up ClickUp to manage your workflow or something else, feel free to reach out to me, and I’d be happy to share my experience.
