Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a collaborative goal-setting tool that teams and individuals can use to set goals with measurable results. Essentially, using OKRs is a way of tracking progress, aligning values, and encouraging engagement around a set of measurable goals.
OKR software enables users to track objectives and key results and monitor goals more transparently. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when looking for the best OKR software for your needs. So, let us discover 3 tips that can help you to choose the right OKR software.
Look Beyond the Software Itself
It is no secret that OKRs can be great tools for managing your goals. However, it is all too easy to fall into a habit of setting OKRs and then forgetting all about them. Consequently, it is important to find OKR software that is engaging and encourages your team to frequently review their goals. Some companies even find it helpful to look for tools that can be used to track initiatives using a weekly planning component. By checking in with your goals on a weekly basis, you can see incremental progress that is being made towards your long-term goals.
Weekly planning might seem intuitive, but it is necessary to break down what this actually means before investing in any new software. Weekly plans are in essence a way for managers and teams to communicate on a regular basis and stay up to date. Each week employees should discuss future plans, progress from the past week, and any current problems. Doing so can actually save time in the long run, allowing you to make better decisions based on transparent data so that you can spend less time on reporting and more time on things that make employees happy such as generating profits.
Onboarding is Everything
If you are new to the OKR framework then regularly setting goals and measuring them can be difficult to adjust to at first. Learning a whole new approach to working understandably takes time to master. For instance, it is not uncommon for some companies to take anywhere between two to four months to get OKRs right. Some mistakes are natural and are to be expected during this adjustment period. Correspondingly, a comprehensive onboarding plan is crucial. The best OKR platform should, therefore, provide customer support to help you to set up, learn the best practices, and get your team up to speed.
As part of the onboarding process, your software provider should supply materials so that you can learn the basics. This might include a guided tour of the software and a basic introduction to OKR methodology. Training to set up your company structure, users, weekly templates, and integration tips can also be useful at this stage. Following on from this it is well worth researching whether your OKR software provider offers to review your OKRs or provides feedback on how to improve them. Above all, frequent communication with your software provider allows you to get better insights into how you and your team are engaging with and comprehending your OKRs.
Discuss Options with Your Team
When choosing the right OKR software it is important to discuss your options with your team. It is highly likely that they will have opinions about which software could work for their needs and therefore it makes sense to involve your employees in the decision-making process. Besides, your team will also be using the software that you eventually decide to invest in, so they should play an active role in the testing phase. It might seem intuitive, but it is easy to forget that your team needs to be happy with a tool if they are going to be motivated to enjoy using it.
People like to feel included and your employees will be much more likely to feel happier and work productively if they are involved in deciding which software they will be putting to use. If you want to increase engagement and decrease dissatisfaction, then working together to find the right OKR software is fundamental. Furthermore, as it is your team members that will be vital to implementing your OKR strategies, talking to them about the goals that you want to accomplish through your software now can ensure that you can get immediate feedback and can, therefore, achieve success in the long run. You can learn more about setting goals using OKR software by checking out some of the resources on the Profit OKR software website.
Ultimately, no matter what OKR tools or software you choose, there are plenty of useful resources out there that can help you to set and monitor your goals. By putting measurable goals in place, you can achieve and celebrate your successes while at the same time identifying areas of improvement.
One huge benefit of using an OKR framework is that it can be fully integrated with your customer relationship management software. To learn more, take a look at this guide to the key benefits of using CRM software.
