O.K.R. for small businesses

What is the O.K.R. framework?

O.K.R. is a goal-settings framework. In the 70s, the framework was invented. In the 90s, O.K.R. helped Google grow from a few dozen employed people into the giant it has become today. Many words were written on the topic, and many software products were created to help with O.K.R. implementation for businesses.

O.K.R. is an acronym for Objectives and Key Results. In simple words, with O.K.R., you will define a goal and measurable success criteria to check whether you have achieved the goal. The criteria are a few key results.

For example, in your business, one of the objectives could be to increase revenues, and the key results are:

• increase sale size by 10%
• increase leads by 5%
• increase lead-to-sale conversion by 3%

You will agree in advance that if all key results are achieved, you will reach the goal.

Does OKR suitable for any small business?

In short, the answer is yes, but don't be fanatic about the framework. Every business has goals. Also, your business has goals regardless of whether you have written form of them or they are only in your head.

O.K.R. will help you to turn the business goals into an action plan. Break your vision of the business into a few objectives. Then you should define ahead of what success is. Here is a tricky point, the success criteria have to be S.M.A.R.T, Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related. These will be your key results.

The next step is to extract the day-to-day tasks from the key results. You follow your plan as long as you ensure the tasks are related to the key results.

You already have goals and tasks in your business. O.K.R. is a way to direct tasks and goals in the same direction. With simple steps, you will have a plan that you can execute.

Does OKR guarantee success?

In short, the answer is no, but adapting the O.K.R. framework can increase your chances of success. The chances of hitting a target are much higher when pointing to the target.

You can have the best plan, but if, in the day-to-day, you are not focusing on the goals, you will execute actions that are not on the plan. You must track the progress of each one of the key results and adjust along the way.

You don't have to read books, take courses or buy dedicated software to start today with O.K.R. All you need is to free some time for planning and to set the objectives and key results. Every week track the progress and ensure you are focusing on the plan.

If you want help set the goals, extract the tasks, keep yourself accountable, and keep your focus on the plan, you can use dedicated OKR software for small businesses so you will use all best practices for O.K.R. without being an O.K.R. expert.