OKR’s: an essential tool for start-ups
For some who have encountered OKR’s (Objectives and Key Results), the acronym could just as well have stood for “Our Kabbalistic Reasoning”. According to the Collins Dictionary, something that is ‘kabbalistic’ is something that is a “secret or occult doctrine”, and poorly done OKR’s can certainly seem incomprehensible and disconnected from the day-to-day work in a start-up. That said, OKR’s can also be an incredibly useful or, in my opinion, essential tool to guide work and ensure minimum time waste in the rapidly changing environment of a start-up. Here I share my key learnings on how to make them work.
Starting with the basics
Without going into to much detail, as there are loads of resources online explaining what OKR’s are, OKR’s are a way to set goals for an organisation and evaluate progress towards those goals. I was first introduced to them by an angel investor a few years into my first business, and my initial scepticism turned to enthusiasm when I understood the benefits.
Basically, over a certain time period (e.g. quarterly) you decide the 2–4 main objectives you want to achieve are, and for each objective you commit 3–5 key results that feed into that objective. Key rules include that OKR’s should be as objective/quantitative as possible, and they should be stretch goals while also achievable.
