Leadership Buy-In
OKR needs buy-in from the leaders of the company. If they believe in it, it will be easier to implement, adopt and get the value out of it.
OKR Retros
Run OKR retros by making them part of the existing Bi-Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly reviews. Discuss them in depth and ask the team for status updates on OKRs during the review meeting.
Focus on Usage, Not Quality
Don’t focus on the quality of the OKRs at the start. With continuous usage, the quality will automatically become better.
Training
Slowly train your team on what OKRs are, how they work, and why they are needed. How does the work of an individual align with the company OKRs? Train managers and everyone above them in the hierarchy. Ask managers to train their teams slowly.
OKR Champions
Create OKR champions within the company. OKR champions mostly know the ins and outs of the industry and can help people draft good OKRs, and run quality reviews, thus reducing the friction and making it easier for the company to adopt OKRs.
Implementation Priority
- Points 1, 2, and 3 are the most impactful and enough to start with.
- Points 4 and 5 are optional but help in getting a lot more adoption and hence alignment. However, doing so many things at the start may make people feel it’s a lot of work, which it is, without actually seeing the value upfront.