OKRs – the Secret Superpower of the High Performing Teams

Bogoy Bogdanov, Agile Coach

01.06.2020

Poll!How does your Team set Goals?

BogyDobrich

Bogoy – Agile Dude• Agile Coach

• 9+ y. experience with Agile

• Agile Coaching & Consulting

• Trainings, Teaching and Lecturing

• Conferences

• Technical Background

• Computer Science Bachelor

• Master degree on E-business

The Ultimate Challenge:Growing in the VUCA World(Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous)

Tough times don't last, tough Teams do

More Velocity!

45 – 64%of the Delivered Features

are NEVER used

Jimmy Johnson Standish Group

400% More Garbage?

Agile promises aHigh Performing Team

Reality

• 15% Can identify the organization's most important Goals and Top Priorities

• 19% Say they are passionate about the goals.

• 49% Time spent on the Goals

• 51% Do not understand what they are supposed to do to help the

organization achieve its goals

The Harris Poll Group

The Execution Gap

“Why don’t you leave me alone and let me write code?”

The High Performing Team

1) A Team that delivers products that matter in the real, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.

2) A Team where every single individual finds meaning to his or her (work) life and knows they matter.

The Magic ofOKRs

The Father of the OKRs

Andy Grove, CEO of Intel

OKRs were first used in Intel in early 1970s.

1 OKR = 1 Goal

Objective

Key Results

Objective:Where do I need to go?

• Significant in terms of value

• Concrete, easy to understand

• Action - Oriented

• Inspirational

• Time-bound (usually a quarter)

• Vague in terms of “How to do it?”

Key Results:How would I know if I got there?

• Specific Outcomes, not tasks

• Measurable

• Time-bound (usually a quarter)

• Aggressive – hard to achieve

• Realistic – you can achieve them

• Verifiable

• 2 – 5 for an Objective - less is more

“Do the Key Results describe what success looks like?”

OKR Example

Objective:

Our product is the best on the market

Key Results:

1. Our product ranks first on the marketplace in its category

2. Our product has 30% better performance, compared to the 3 top competitors

3. The user’s satisfaction rates have increased by 60%

4. The number of unique users that use our product daily has grown by 80%

5. The number of user’s complaints has decreased by 70%

Poll!What does your Team commit to?

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Planning

Product Backlog

Sprint Backlog

Scrum Framework Overview

Sprint Implementation

PO SMDev Team

Scrum Team

Sprint Goal

Commitment?

Daily

Working Increment

Review

Retrospective

Scrum with OKRs

• Define the Sprint Goal as an OKR

• Power the Product Roadmap with OKRs

• Team Growth with OKRs – embed OKRs in your

Retrospectives

OKRs

Product VisionOKR OKR OKR OKR OKR OKR

timeline

Product Roadmap with OKRs

Value

OKR-System’s Nested Goal Setting and Tracking Cycles

Set & Adjust the OKR-based

Product Roadmap(every Quarter)

Inspect, Adapt and TrackObjectives

every month Value

Inspect, Adapt and Track

Key Results every Review Value

The Two Buckets

OKR

The Outcome

you want to achieve Features

Things you’re

going to do

Team’s OKRs for Growth

Define and Adjust

Team OKRs

Sprint Implementation

Team Retrospective

Track Team’s OKRs

Team OKR Example

Objective:

We are a team of cross-functional specialists.

Key Results:

1. For any given task, there are at least three people who can do it

2. All team members score above 80% of team’s skills assessment

3. Team holds one 1-hour internal training session every Sprint

Advice for Success

Define only 1 OKR

per team per Quarter

OKR Tools• Sprints OKR Template

• Product OKR Roadmap Template

• Team Growth with OKR Template

Source:

https://www.agilepool.com/future-and-past-events-materials-and-shared-

resources/

Advice for Success

Visualization is key!

Print your OKRs and place them somewhere where you can see them everyday.

Use the OKRs as a screen saver on your phone or computer ☺

Grading Objectives is Simple

1. Score each Key Result on a scale 0 to 1.

• “0.0” means Failure

• “1.0” means Completely Achieved

2. The average score of all Key Results is the final score of

the Objective

Committed vs Aspirational OKRs

Aspirational OKRs

• Aspirational OKRs are how we’d like the world to look.

• They are sometimes called 10x goals or “moonshots.”

• No real knowledge of what resources will be required.

• May also roll over from quarter to quarter, or year to year "If you set a crazy, ambitious goal and miss it, you’ll still achieve something

remarkable.”

- Larry Page

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

We failed to make real

progress

Not great,

not terrible Success!

Committed OKRs

• Committed OKRs are goal-setting commitments

• They are things that an individual, team, or organization has agreed and committed they will be achieved

• Resources and schedules should be adjusted to make sure they get done

• When graded, the expected score for a committed OKR is 100%

Advice for Success

Start with Committed OKRs

till you’re ready for Aspirational.

OKR Common Mistakes

Objectives:

• Too many Objectives

• Low - Value Objectives

• Too easy to achieve

• Set it and Forget it

• Bound to bonuses and salaries

Key Results:

• Defined as tasks, not outcomes

• Not Measurable

• Too many Key Results (more than 5)

• You can’t achieve them

OKRs give your Team SUPERPOWERS!

Focus & Commit to Priorities

Superpower #1: Superpower #2:

Align and Connect for Teamwork

Track forAccountability

Superpower #3:

Stretch for Amazing

Superpower #4:

Achieving Greatness

Stephen Covey, Author

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

To achieve goals you’ve never

achieved before, you need to start

doing things you’ve never done

before.

Want to learn more about OKR?

www.agilepool.comJohn Doerr,

Chairmen of Kleiner Perkins

Questions?

Thank you!Контакти:

Следващо събитие:

Практични Agile проблеми и решения

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Email: bogoi.bogdanov@gmail.com

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