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As the business world changes rapidly, the introduction of agile strategies is becoming increasingly important for company success. Objectives and Key Results (OKR) have established themselves as a central component here.
In an interview with Vera Geier, a certified business coach with a focus on agile strategy development, we explore the future of OKR in everyday business life.
Vera Geier is of the opinion that conventional management concepts are no longer able to cope with the dynamic challenges presented by new technologies and business models. With her insights, she emphasizes the crucial role of transparency for all employees in the context of corporate strategy.
Will OKR take a permanent place in everyday company life in the future?
In my view, agile strategy development, such as that offered by OKRs, is a central component of successful corporate management. I think that classic strategy and management concepts will no longer be tenable. The dynamics in companies due to new technologies and business models are too great. This increases competitive pressure enormously and companies that manage to continuously adapt their goals and results in an agile manner will be successful.
The days of annual target agreements are over. In addition, employees want to understand why which strategies are being pursued, which goals are being worked towards and why their own work is important. This creates a bond with the team, the organization and the common cause. In this context, I am particularly impressed by the drivers for intrinsic motivation described by Daniel Pink in his book “Drive”: 1. Purpose: I understand how and why I contribute to the success of my company, 2. Mastery: We set ourselves ambitious goals that are important for us are not too easy and not too difficult to achieve, so that I learn from them and develop further, and 3. Autonomy: We (as a team) and I (as an individual) have the freedom to determine how we achieve our goals. In the OKR context, this means what results we want to achieve and measure. I find that the OKR concept meets these needs of individuals and teams very well.
What are the reasons for the increasing acceptance of OKR in companies?
Working on the company’s goals with Objectives & Key Results (OKR) creates transparency for all employees – and puts the strategic direction to the test in a structured and continuous manner. This supports a consistent focus on results, so that organizations notice much more quickly when topics or goals need to be adjusted and can therefore react to the high dynamics in the market. At the same time, a change process is initiated to increase agility in the company. It benefits from more transparency and better cross-departmental communication as well as the promotion of empathy and team spirit.
What current trends are shaping the development of OKR methods?
I don’t know of any current trends that can be transferred to every company, because every OKR introduction has to be adapted to the structure and process organization of a company. So there is no secret weapon and certainly no quick successes based on the watering can principle. However, from my work with companies, I can say that OKRs are of course easier to establish in small and medium-sized companies than in large companies. I observe that the quarterly re-planning of OKRs is more popular with smaller companies, while larger companies stick to their annual goals, but then break them down into quarters and prioritize them using the OKR methodology. Both paths are successful as long as the OKR implementation is carried out with discipline, participation and approval at all levels.
What new challenges or opportunities do you expect in connection with the implementation of OKRs in companies?
The most common difficulties that I observe in the context of my work as an OKR coach or consultant are 1. lack of approval from management, 2. the agile maturity level of the organization is not taken into account, for example employees cannot with the self-responsibility that the concept offers 3. lack of discipline and no focus at the TOP management level (why not integrate the OKR introduction into the vision/mission?), and 4. – very important: strategic goals are not well differentiated from operational goals, 5. OKRs are not developed participatory in workshops, but by individuals who then present them. I’ll stop here because I can think of many more challenges. Nevertheless, the opportunities outweigh the risks – and, as already indicated in the first question, I am convinced that companies of the future will only be successful if they promote more participation and self-responsibility among teams and individuals.
The most important success factors of OKR are therefore: 1. Promoting self-organization and the intrinsic motivation of employees (agreement to common goals), combined with higher job satisfaction, less downtime and a stronger commitment to the company, 2. Focus on faster and better results and thus also an improvement in reporting, combined with a better understanding of opportunities and risks.
How can companies prepare for future OKR developments?
What is probably meant is a future introduction of OKR – here I would always precede a so-called scoping phase, which makes it possible to see what the best implementation approach would be for the respective company. It is also helpful to train employees who can then act as OKR coaches and accompany/moderate the teams in the first cycles.
How does artificial intelligence influence the development of OKRs?
I myself have no experience of how AI-supported tools and algorithms could help set OKRs more effectively, measure progress and optimize goal achievement. At Gründer.de some factors are listed: e.g. Chat GPT could help with the formulation of OKRs, but you would have to reveal company data so that organization-specific OKRs can be formulated – and I see that critically. More importantly, the development of OKRs is a collaborative, creative, organization-specific process that, in my opinion, cannot and should not be covered by an AI!
To what extent will remote work or hybrid working models impact the implementation of OKRs and what adjustments are required?
From my point of view, it doesn’t matter at all whether a team meets for OKR planning or reviews in the office, virtually or in a hybrid format. The only important thing is that there is a good collaborative environment and that the workshop is moderated in a participatory and creative way so that everyone can participate. I work a lot with teams on virtual whiteboards and use classic design thinking methods to let employees be strategically creative. Strategic work is unusual for many people and a big challenge. I think it should be fun to work strategically and the team should be empowered to really understand topics strategically.
How does ongoing training in the area of OKR affect the development of an organization?
I wouldn’t describe it as continuous training, but rather as “learning by doing”. With each OKR cycle, teams learn to think more strategically, to formulate better, to work together more agilely, to take responsibility for their own results and to better understand the overall strategic context. Classic further training, such as OKR online training (as convenient as it may be) cannot achieve this.
To what extent do social and organizational aspects play a role in the development and implementation of OKRs, particularly with regard to team collaboration, leadership and employee engagement?
In my opinion, the use of OKR is only successful if strategic (vision/mission, mission statement, goals and results) and cultural (values & principles of cooperation) changes are balanced. Ultimately, every team can start working according to the OKR concept and thus improve team collaboration – even if other areas do not work with OKRs. The team will automatically act in accordance with the agile values: courage, openness, self-commitment, focus and respect become increasingly important and this automatically changes cooperation and the understanding of leadership.
By qualifying as an OKR coach at the CyberForum Academy, you can specifically use the strategy development method, OKR, in your company. You can find further information about the workshop here.