Station10 at our Annual Gathering

Marga Lenten General Manager at Station10 created a retrospective of the knowledge gained at the past gathering. She reviews how we can contribute to the international network around OKRs (Objectives & Key Results), the strategic goal-setting method. 

Her expert guidance, will guide us through valuable insights and actionable advice from the in person sessions, including:

• OKR Methodology Check-ins

• The power of the Retrospective 

• Implementing OKRs in Your Organization

• OKR Roles and Responsibilities

Let's dive into it: 

OKR Check-ins are key for effective alignment throughout the organization

An important aspect of the implementation is conducting regular team check-ins. Check-ins vary depending on the level at which they are performed: strategic, tactical, operational, but also vary depending on the structure of the OKR; value stream, cross-functional or per team. This diversity in check-ins provides a holistic picture of progress and helps bring focus. 

• Team check-ins are essential to monitor the progress and focus of individual teams. They allow team members to keep each other informed of their progress, identify obstacles and come up with solutions together. This close collaboration at the team level ensures a sense of engagement and ownership, which is essential for achieving the objectives.

• In addition, the optional check-ins for the organization OKR owners with all related team OKR owners are of great value for aligning objectives and identifying dependencies between teams. These check-ins provide the opportunity to discover synergies and ensure all teams are working together toward the overarching organizational goals.

• The check-ins with the OKR Lead & Champion are valuable to evaluate the process and identify additional focus areas. They gain an overview of progress at all levels and can address any bottlenecks or challenges before they become problematic. 

By including these different check-ins in our OKR implementation, not only is communication and collaboration strengthened within teams, but also between teams and at the organizational level. This ensures seamless execution of the strategy and contributes to achieving the organizational goals. 

Learning: This structure is integral to our implementation, but we don't always explicitly name them! To effect real change within an organization and anchor the new way of working, it is crucial to consciously make these check-ins a new habit. Also emphasize their value to the organization, as it promotes engagement at all layers of the organization.

Now deeper into the power of Retrospective.

Harness the power of the Retrospective in the development of organizations and teams.

Each OKR cycle, usually lasting a quarter, concludes with a Review. 

A review consists of an evaluation and a retrospective. Review is about the results, the opportunity to dive into hard numbers & Retrospective consists of the soft skills and learnings.  The purpose is to evaluate what results have been achieved and to use the lessons learned for any adjustments in the next cycle. Adjustments can relate to the way of working, results, collaboration, and process improvement. 

Each quarter offers new learning opportunities, allowing the organization to gradually improve. The ultimate goal is to find an optimal way of working that suits the organization and the team.

There are different ways to structure the Evaluation & Retrospective. For example, the Evaluation and Retrospective can take place in one session, with the focus on the achieved result of the OKR during the Evaluation, and the Retrospective aimed at looking back and learning from collaboration and the process, among other things. 

Another option is to separate the Evaluation & Retrospective into two separate sessions, each with its own purpose but with different participants. Some organizations hold a Retrospective with all OKR stakeholders, while others organize a Retrospective per OKR team. And of course, a combination of both is also possible.

It's important to consider the needs and context of the organization, including factors such as culture, team size, and maturity of the OKR process.

• If the organization already has a strong culture of open communication and collaboration, it can be efficient to organize the Evaluation & Retrospective session jointly for the entire group. This ensures transparency and promotes a sense of community and shared responsibility. 

• However, if there is still room for improvement in team dynamics or if certain teams have specific challenges, it may be more effective to organize a Retrospective per team. This gives teams the opportunity to discuss specific issues and find solutions without the distraction of other teams.

• In addition, the size of the organization can play a role in choosing how to structure the session. In larger organizations, it may be more practical to organize separate sessions, while in smaller teams a joint approach may be more effective.

Learning: The main lesson is that an extra Retrospective with the team can be effective if, for example, there are specific issues that require extra attention. This principle applies to every layer in the organization. 

Crawl, walk, run & rock it!

An OKR implementation means a change in the way of working. It brings more focus and a greater sense of ownership in realizing the strategy. By implementing OKRs, you bring about a change in the entire organization. This change takes place at:

• 🚀 Executive/Management Team level: With OKRs, the executive/MT brings focus and translates the strategy into ambitious and measurable goals, so that the organization understands what is expected of them.
• 🧭 OKR roles and responsibilities: This change brings new roles to implement and secure the process, reducing the risk of 'set and forget'.
• 💡 Team level: Teams may be newly formed (outside silos) for OKRs, or they need to adapt to new expectations, which requires flexibility.
• 🚀 Shared organizational goal: OKR implementation starts with the executive team. Without their dedication, an organization-wide rollout is not possible in our opinion. Translating strategy into OKRs leads to valuable discussions, promotes focus, and provides direction. 

The executive team is not expected to determine HOW the strategy should be executed; that's what the experts in the organization, for whom it is daily practice, are for. It also requires letting go and trusting the teams that make contributions.

🧭 OKR Roles and responsibilities 

Change takes time and doesn't happen by itself. As Ikea says, 'attention makes everything more beautiful', and that also applies here. Pay sufficient attention to the organization involved in OKRs. Assign OKR roles in the organization and ensure these employees are trained to guide the change. See below for an overview of the roles.

• Sponsor: Responsible for establishing vision, mission and strategy and provides meaning to the strategy and direction during the year to the Objective owners.
• OKR Lead: Responsible for the OKR rollout, process owner of the OKR process at the organizational level, coordinates training, communication and execution, is responsible for stakeholder management and is the point of contact for the Objective owners and the teams.
• OKR Champion: Responsible for facilitating the OKR process at the team level, is an expert in setting up OKRs, is the point of contact for the Objective owners and the teams and is a substantive sparring partner for Objective owners.
• Objective owner: Responsible for establishing and progressing the Objectives and for assembling or appointing team Objective owners / team members.
• Team member: Actively contributes to the OKRs by participating in the associated sessions, provides input for setting up Objectives and establishes Key Results with the team. Is responsible for shaping the activities to achieve the Objective.

💡 Team level

The organizational OKR is 'cascaded' to teams. A free translation of this is that the organizational OKR is divided into smaller pieces across teams that will contribute to it. The team determines HOW they contribute and also sets up an OKR for the team goal.

As the OKR process progresses, you often start on a small scale and gradually grow with teams per quarter. This evolution in dealing with OKRs results in increasing maturity within the organization. 

Growth

How do you precisely measure where you stand and where your needs lie as an organization?

When we look at the growth in the adoption of the OKR process, we can analyze this at four levels within the organization, set against three organizational layers. It is important to note that the degree of maturity in the implementation of OKRs does not always run parallel throughout the entire organization. This can result in different maturity levels within various parts of the organization. To accurately assess this, it is essential to look deeper into the organization and provide support where needed.

Some factors that can influence the status within the organization include:

1.  Scaling up with teams: When you move up with teams each quarter, there may be a diversity of maturity levels between teams. It is crucial to give new teams a good landing in a safe environment amidst more experienced teams.
2.  Increase in the number of OKR Champions: As the number of teams grows, new OKR Champions will join. It is important that these Champions gain sufficient knowledge and skills, both in terms of content and process, to effectively support the teams and work together with the OKR Lead.
3. Annual translation of spearheads to Organizational OKRs: Each year, the strategic spearheads are translated into Organizational OKRs. During this period, new members in the Management Team (MT) may not yet be familiar with OKRs. It is therefore important to guide them well, so that focus can be brought and there is a good translation to the organizational OKRs and to the teams.

Learning: Measuring the maturity of an OKR implementation is crucial for identifying areas for improvement and setting goals for further growth. By looking deeper into the organization and taking into account specific scenarios, organizations can respond more effectively to changes and challenges within the OKR process.