Agility in practice: successfully implementing OKR in the company

Today's fast-paced working world is characterized by constant change, challenging organizations in their flexibility and adaptability. If you want to remain competitive, you need to be able to react quickly to external and internal changes. The OKR method is one way that organizations can use to remain agile and adaptable and to respond to these changes. Although the principles of OKR are easy to understand, there are always hurdles to overcome during implementation. At linkyard, we have been working successfully with OKR for years and at the same time strive to continuously improve and pass on our know-how. We will show you how the introduction of OKR can look and not only sound innovative, but also actually succeed in practice. Together with our experienced experts, we create and design your agile ecosystem and make your company fit for change.  

The basic principles of OKR

OKR is a modern management goal-setting system. It is an effective method for companies to set goals and monitor their achievement. OKR is based on two fundamental elements: objectives and key results. The first step is to formulate an objective, which is a qualitative description of a goal. To make these qualitative objectives measurable, they are linked to the key results. The key results provide information on the extent to which the achievement of an objective is progressing and make this process measurable. We have explained exactly what goal setting can look like as part of the OKR method and everything else you need to know about it here summarized for you here.

Set ambitious goals to evoke innovative ideas  

The OKR method offers many advantages for companies, which is why we at linkyard also successfully use the principles of OKR in our agile team structures. By setting clear objectives, we benefit in our collaboration from a common focus on our goals and thus more clarity and focus in this process. Another crucial point is that we can evoke even more commitment and motivation through our ambitious goals. As with the OKR method, we also assume that innovative ideas can only emerge when goals are deliberately set high. The primary goal of the key results is therefore not to be able to achieve them one hundred percent. Instead, we strive to use ambitious goals to stimulate new and creative ideas and approaches that would never have come about without them. We therefore aim to achieve around 60-70% target fulfillment for the key results. Constant monitoring is required to ensure that targets are met. At linkyard, we have a defined plan for tracking our OKRs, checking their progress and reacting to changes. The right tools are very useful for this. We use Jira to record and manage our OKRs.

‍Agiletransformation in your company - integration into a functioning management system

At linkyard, agility is put into practice and we work effectively with the appropriate methods. However, creating an agile ecosystem takes time and planning, as no company becomes agile from one day to the next. In addition, existing and well-functioning processes do not have to be abandoned just for the sake of change. Our advice on agile transformation is therefore based on the idea of integration. For example, we consider it relevant to success that companies retain proven management system principles, such as the consideration of KPIs and PDCA cycles, when converting to OKR. Accordingly, KPIs continue to provide information about performance and OKRs support an effective and efficient change process in terms of continuous improvement. Together, we evaluate which processes work for your company and where we can generate additional added value with agile methods.

As part of an agile transformation, a company faces various challenges. On the one hand, the introduction of agile methods is associated with high expectations, which often cannot be directly fulfilled in reality. Although agile methods can demonstrably generate added value, they are not a magic formula for guaranteed success. Agile transformation can also fail due to a company's lack of adaptability. Every change brings both benefits and costs. A company and its employees must be prepared to bear these costs and develop a fundamental willingness to change. A strong corporate culture is therefore seen as a necessary condition for an agile transformation. The change to agile methods alone cannot bear fruit if the human factor is forgotten to be included in this process and placed at the center as a decisive factor. To ensure that this succeeds, linkyard offers appropriate coaching services and training for your company to accompany you in the process of agile change. We also have the technical knowledge and experience to provide the necessary system support for this transformation.

‍Greatideas but little time? - Get to know OKR Big Room Planning at linkyard

Daily business is stressful and time-consuming, which is why other tasks are often neglected and pushed to the bottom of the priority list. To ensure that our employees' brilliant ideas no longer fall by the wayside, we at linkyard have set up OKR Big Room Planning. This creates a space in which large, cross-divisional OKRs can be taken up and developed. The impressions of our last Big Room Planning show that this is a collaborative planning process. We brought all the teams together with the task of jointly defining and coordinating the OKRs for a specific time period. For each project, it must be clear what purpose and benefits it has for us as a company and what impact it will have. This interactive process allowed ideas to be introduced, discussed and developed further. It is important that a collective opinion is formed regarding the priorities. In this way, we use big room planning to ensure that the prioritization of various projects is carried out together with all employees. At the end of the first Big Room Planning, three major OKRs were identified, which various employees from different teams will continue to work on in the coming weeks.

At linkyard, we benefit from big room planning in that our employees, who are based in different teams or different pillars of linkyard, can work together on major strategic goals. By having different teams working on the development of specific goals and their key results, we can improve our coherence and strengthen our common direction. Through the Big Room Planning process, we also benefit from greater collaboration, as mutual feedback and exchange regarding the OKRs is encouraged. Overall, this also achieves greater transparency, as all teams are involved in the development and achievement of our strategic goals. This enables us to achieve a clear alignment of our corporate goals across the various pillars of linkyard.

We accompany you throughout the entire agile transformation process

Do you want to use the benefits of OKR in your company too? We can help you and support you throughout the entire agile transformation process! An agile transformation presents a number of hurdles for a company and challenges its ability to adapt. However, together with our expertise, initial teething troubles can be overcome. We accompany you in the process of agile change by providing you with access to our consulting services, offering the appropriate training and equipping you with the necessary system support. Our goal is to strengthen your company's adaptability and build your agile ecosystem together. Benefit from the in-depth experience of our experts and discover the opportunities that agile management holds for your company. You can find more information on our page on the topic of agile management.