Planning Work with OKRs

OKRs help us build prudent, evidence-based decision making into the way we plan our work - but won't give you predictability or consistency.

Jeff Gothelf

Oct 18, 2021 • 5 min read

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OKRs

Goal Setting

Goals

Agile

Business Agility

Summary

Jeff Gothelf talks about the best approach to leveraging Objective Key Results (OKRs) while planning work and their limitation when not used probably citing that, teams may face unpredictability if they measure outcomes with OKRs rather than outputs. He suggests that OKRs come in handy when the product backlog is reduced and executed in short cycles. He defines this as "Agility" and notes that it is the organizational ability to change course based on newly discovered backlog items thus ensuring it deploys people and resources in the most viable direction.

Takeaways

Agility is the organizational ability to change course based on newly discovered evidence. It reduces the risk of committing to ideas that don't work and ensure the organization increasingly deploys its people and resources in the direction it mostly likely succeeds.
The best way to plan when working with objectives and key results is in short cycles with a high tolerance for ambiguity and not just a willingness, but an appetite for course correction.
The organizational teams may face unpredictability while planning work when they start targeting outcomes with their OKRs instead of outputs.