What Are The Main Features Of OKR – Objectives and Key Results?
OKR is the acronym for Objectives and Key Results that an organization uses to measure its success. OKRs ensure both quality and quantity of the goals. In other words, the objectives define the quality of the tasks at hand while the Key Results define the success rate in numbers or metrics.
One may get confused between OKRs and KPIs. In the battle of OKR vs. KPI, there is no winner as such as both have their benefits and risks involved. While OKR focus on both quantity and quality, KPI gives the success rate and which area of the tasks needs more attention in order to reach the goal.
It is necessary for an organization to customize their OKR to meet their specific requirements so that they can get the best out of their OKR- Objective and Key Results software. Since modifications are made to the OKR, there are some main factors to take into consideration while choosing a tool.
Tailor-Made
As specified earlier, this is one of the primary must-haves of an OKR as each organization has a different set of goals, strategies, and methods of implementation. If an organization chooses a generic software, then it would be of no use.
In other words, the OKR cannot be used to its full potential as some of the features may not be required or features that are necessary may not be present. There is no determining when a deviation from the goal is taking place.
Flexibility Or Ease-of-Use
Managing the software should not be difficult as it majorly affects the productivity and time of the person using it. OKR should not be a project itself since the person would be spending most of their resources and time understanding it rather than working on the job at hand.
Additionally, there may be slight or minor modifications that are necessary as the projects go further. A flexible OKR is very helpful that helps the organization make the required modifications and change the timelines. The user interface should be, and an employee should not take much time to understand its working.
Easy Integration
Many companies use various software or tools that are necessary for their projects. A good OKR should possess the functionality to be able to integrate with those tools and applications. For example, if an organization uses both OKR and KPI, then the OKR should be able to work alongside the KPI as the employee requires both, hence enabling them to have full visibility and control over both the tools.
Visualization
Visualization includes both alignments of tasks and results as well. Alignment is one of the key features of OKR as it may cover many hierarchical levels from the managerial roles to the junior most employees.
OKR should be able to help an individual visualize the alignment, be it a complex one to make it easy for the tasks to complete on time and measure the progress. Additionally, it should also be able to show or track the development of the work against results in real-time.
Affordable
An OKR should be affordable, and a company should be able to buy it at a reasonable cost. Just because it contains tools that help in the faster achievement of the goal, it does not necessarily do all the work.
Prioritization
Since the main aim of using an OKR- Objectives and Key Results is to complete goals in less time, it should be able to help an organization prioritize its short-term, long-term, immediate, and important goals. By prioritizing activities, targets that need immediate completion can be achieved and also there will be a proper order in which the tasks are being done.
