Common OKR mistakes

Those are the most common mistakes we encounter in OKR implementations, starting with the most basic ones:

• Setting non-measurable Key Results: Remember John Doerr’s formula. Every Key Result has to be measurable.

• Too many OKRs or Key Results: OKR is not a laundry list of everything you do. It is a representation of your top priorities. Less is more here.

• Including tasks as Key Results: A Key Result is not something that you do. It is the successful outcome of what you did.

• Setting OKRs top-down: OKRs do not cascade. Trust your team and help them understand how they can contribute.

• Creating OKRs in silos: Teams have to talk to each other when setting OKRs, otherwise achieving alignment will be impossible.

• “Set it and Forget it”: Don’t treat your OKRs as new year’s resolutions. OKR has to be part of the culture of your organization and has to be tracked at a regular cadence.

• Including OKRs in a compensation formula: OKR is not an employee evaluation tool. OKR is a management tool.

• Trying to copy Google blindly:  There is not a single way to adopt OKR. Even inside Google different teams use OKR in a variety of ways. Understand the principles involved and adapt your implementation to your organization.