OKR vs. KPI: How they compare and how they work together cover image
Strategic Planning

OKR vs. KPI: How they compare and how they work together

Unlock organizational potential with OKRs and KPIs: Learn how to balance ambition and performance.

Profile image of Henrik-Jan Van Der Pol
Henrik-Jan Van Der Pol
May 24, 2021 • 9 min read
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Intermediate
Organizational Alignment
Organizational Learning
Performance Measurement
Strategic Options
Transparency In Communication

Summary

Explore the essential roles of OKRs and KPIs in driving organizational success. Understand how OKRs help achieve ambitious goals and KPIs monitor ongoing performance. Learn through examples and analogies how these frameworks work together to propel your company forward. Discover the synergies and conflicts between OKRs and KPIs and avoid common mistakes. Dive into real-life applications and gain actionable insights to enhance your strategic planning. Embrace this dual approach to maintain operational excellence and foster innovation.

Takeaways

  • Avoid using OKRs to measure routine business activities; use KPIs instead.
  • Both OKRs and KPIs are necessary for a balanced and effective organizational strategy.
  • Ensure KPIs are established before implementing OKRs for optimal strategic alignment.
  • KPIs are crucial for monitoring ongoing business performance and health.
  • OKRs are essential for driving innovation and improvement within organizations.
  • An activity-driven organization executes processes and initiatives without revisiting if those are the right things to do or if they help realize the ambition. At the same time, results-driven businesses focus on what the daily processes and initiatives are supposed to deliver. They use KPI and OKR to measure how the company is performing and if progress is being made respectively.
  • KPIs and OKRs are value-driven goals, they create and measure the outcome that the processes and initiatives are trying to deliver.
  • Organizations are groups of people. Just like people, they have ambition as reflected in the organization's ultimate goal.
  • Organizations have processes that they execute on an ongoing basis to maintain the status quo.

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