Dear Andy,
Can you share some examples of OKRs for non-CEO executives? For a CEO, it is clear to me that their OKRs should be what drives the business forward. For a non-CEO, they may have many functions reporting into them but they can’t, on their own, drive the business. If I have many functions reporting to me, should there be a KR for each function or do some functions get “ignored”? For example, a COO may own a span including production, supply chain, engineering, IT, marketing, etc. Should there be a KR for each function?
Sincerely,
Tim
Hi Tim!
Thanks for writing in.
For non-CEO executives, look to your CEO’s organization-wide OKRs for inspiration. What have they deemed a top priority? Ask yourself, how can I contribute the most to making that Objective come true this cycle? Use those answers to craft 1-3 Objectives that matter most. Then bring your team together to discuss what benchmarks (Key Results) will prove you’ve accomplished them. At the C-level, there’s a good chance these benchmarks can be shared across all divisions you manage.
Avoid having OKRs that mirror your organizational chart. If company growth is a top priority, the COO’s OKRs may be more marketing focused. If creating a new product is the priority, the COO’s OKRs may be geared more towards engineering and proof of concept.
Remember that OKRs are not the sum of all things. Some aspects of your work (or perhaps some departments) won’t be covered by your OKRs. Those may be either “keep the lights on” work, or work that doesn’t require reframing or doing things differently.
If a team truly doesn’t see a connection to any high-level OKR for the cycle, you have two options. First, have a discussion to make sure there’s really no link. Is your IT team grappling with AI deployment? Are there any risks to your supply chain that merit elevated collaboration? Does a new product or audience warrant a new approach to content creation? If there’s still no link to org-wide objectives, look to the mission. Craft OKRs that you think have the greatest impact on achieving it.
For an example of this, look to Google as they were developing the Chrome browser. One top-level/CEO Objective was “make the web as fast as flipping through a magazine.” To help achieve that Objective, the product development team chose “Turbocharge JavaScript” as their Objective. Suppose the CEO chose a different tactic, and their Objective was “make the web a safer place”. The CTO’s Objective may then have been “Strengthen browser security to safeguard user data.” In other words, the non-CEO executives’ OKRs should directly support top-level/CEO’s OKRs.
For more examples for how executives and departments can align with top-level OKRs, you might also find this article helpful.
Thanks for writing in, Tim, and best of luck to you on your OKR journey.
Sincerely,
Billy from the What Matters Team
