{"id":5459,"date":"2021-06-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bwblogdev.wpengine.com\/?p=5459"},"modified":"2022-11-21T23:51:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T07:51:42","slug":"four-best-practices-for-managers-to-ensure-okr-program-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betterworks.com\/magazine\/four-best-practices-for-managers-to-ensure-okr-program-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Best Practices for Managers to Ensure OKR Program Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The engine behind a well-oiled objectives and key results (OKRs) program is management. Managers are key to an OKR program\u2019s<\/a> success. That may seem like a huge responsibility to shoulder, but rest assured that others have gone before you. Here are four best practices that can help you achieve OKR success.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set Priorities With Your Team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you believe Google\u2019s findings that developing a clear strategy for your team is foundational for good managers<\/a>, you can look to your quarterly OKR setting process as a fantastic tool. Built into your OKR guidelines should be a period at the beginning of the quarter (no longer than two weeks) for managers to review top company objectives, develop their team strategy aligned with those objectives, and then work with their direct reports in helping them set their own aligned objectives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That starts with you clearly publishing your objectives (team strategy), explaining them to your team, then scheduling individual time with each team member to write and finalize objectives. This meeting can take the place of an existing one-on-one meeting, but the important thing is to finalize the checklist in order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Review top company objectives<\/li>
  2. Set your objectives <\/li>
  3. Communicate strategy with the team (via email or team meeting)<\/li>
  4. Set time with each report<\/li>
  5. Coach individuals on their objectives and help them align<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Monitor Progress on Priorities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Avoid micromanagement by monitoring the risks. A benefit of using Betterworks is having multiple ways to track and monitor progress across all of your team\u2019s objectives. But monitoring progress doesn\u2019t mean you have to read every comment on every key result. It means effectively understanding progress and risks at a glance so you can successfully intervene as a manager. I recommend a few strategies to this end:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. The weekly review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Many important tasks in our lives can be finished in 10 minutes, but we often still don\u2019t do them consistently<\/a>. Why is that? One reason is the human brain is not very good at holding and organizing all the information we need for quick retrieval, and it\u2019s easy to forget to do something valuable simply because the file cabinet in our mind is cluttered. This is why external organization systems are so powerful, and one of my favorites is the checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Checklists are a simple tool, but they\u2019re so reliable that airline pilots and surgeons rely on them in life and death situations. We can use checklists to our benefit by scheduling a recurring time (10 minutes every Monday or Friday) to address a list of tasks. That will make sure nothing slips through the cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Consider this checklist for your Monday mornings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n