Objectives & Key Results (OKR) is a formidable, time-tested goal management methodology, and has been popularized the world over by very successful organizations like Google, Twitter, Intel etc. Even in India, the OKR bug is catching on in several top conglomerates.
OKRs are very simple to implement
But simple ≠ easy!
And statistics show that a good number of organizations face several roadblocks in the first 6 months of the implementations. The reactions sometimes could range from a total abandonment of OKRs to ‘brushing the issues under the carpet.’
At Deepa Nagarajan LLP, we have helped many organizations with OKR implementations. There may be several reasons why organizations fail with their OKR implementation. First and foremost, OKR implementation is like beginning a fitness routine at a gym. When you start doing weights, your muscles feel sore for the first few days. But that’s not the reason nor the stage to stop working out. Similarly, when you begin OKR Implementation, it is tedious – because it calls for a shift in the organizational mindset. If things don’t go as expected, we need to understand the root cause of why there’s a disconnect between the management prerogative and employee alignment.
When do you see missing alignment during OKR Implementation?
When the leadership layer is not serious about OKRs
This is the ultimate cause of disconnect between OKR Success and team involvement. Any organizational level program will have several choke points which need be addressed on-the-go. Transformative Initiatives like OKRs need patience and dedicated efforts during execution. And any of the blockades/barriers can be removed or overcome. Course corrections are part of an OKR project. However, none of these make sense if the key leaders in the organization “don’t care.”
It may foster a kind of feeling amongst employees like “if my managers don’t bother much about this, then it is not important for me either.” It spawns the beginning of a failure. Also, OKR is a business imperative. It is most effective when the business leader/head initiates and drives it. HR department can be an execution partner, but OKR is NOT an HR exercise.
Employees don’t understand OKRs or the importance of the OKR framework to their job roles
This is another crucial point why OKRs fail. During the initial stages of OKR implementation, many employees don’t understand the framework, the importance of it and the connection to their KPIs/deliverables. This can be frustrating for the employees and can cause disengagement. Disengaged employees are an organizational distraction, leading to unproductive working relationships between individuals. The alignment process becomes too cumbersome and finally, managers get OKRs done as a tick in the box.
The organisational mindset is not agile
In my paper on AOOS (Agile Organizational Operating Systems), I speak about agility in mindset and structures of an organization. A progressive organization builds networking structures and helps inculcate success mindset in employees. OKRs are not meant to solve problems in an organization but OKR is an extremely powerful framework which throws light on the problem areas and helps the leadership team bring back the focus on strategic imperatives. As they say, the ‘devil’ is in the execution and real-time problem-solving.