How to Prepare a Checklist Before Opting for a Reliable OKR Software

OKRs or in other words Objectives and Key Results can be defined as a goal-setting methodology that offers top-notch executives to identify, define and keep a tap on objectives and possible outcomes. Selecting the Best OKR Platform that can best suit your business needs can be a colossal task and that is why a good way to start is by creating a checklist of your requirements.

Before the implementation stage, it makes sense to first understand that the OKR that you would adopt would change the way your organization approaches work. To be successful, there are certain parameters that your company needs to meet. Understanding these parameters would help define the kind of OKR software you should go for.

For you to be able to implement any OKR software, you would need a blend of two things:

1. a) A good understanding of the OKR
2. b) Choosing the right OKR software to be able to bring it into practice

Here is a checklist of items you may want to consider while going for reliable OKR software:

Have You Determined Your Team Size?

You may not believe this but the size of your team is one of the most critical factors worth considering for any automated test tools. You can put it this way. It’s similar to managing five people in comparison to thirty people. The same applies to choosing the right OKR software. Each tool is designed to handle and address the needs of different team sizes.

While you set up your OKR, you may have thousands of questions. Once you start receiving responses to these questions, you would get a better understanding of how team size affects OKR implementation and its execution and why doesn’t one size fits all works.

Further, try to determine the problem you are trying to solve and what is situation you wish to address. By identifying the nature of the exact problem, you would be a step nearer to solving it and you would get a fairer idea of the OKR software your team would need.

Each OKT software helps you address specific issues and challenges. While some may be better at improving individual accountability, others keep track of progress made by remote teams.

Have You Identified Key Features You Need?

Whenever we go shopping and are willing to buy something that has distinctive features then we first make a list of features we actually need and then observe what the product has to offer. Say for instance while purchasing a new car, you would observe that different models have a different range of features. Depending on your budget and how useful the features are, you would then shortlist a car.

Say for example if you are living in Arizona, then a convertible roof makes sense as the state is blessed with summer’s most of the year, however, leather seats may not be a great choice. Features may look great but you really must consider those that will make your team’s life easier and will help you attain your business goals in minimal time. Once you get better control of the OKR software, you would then be able to make informed decisions on which software tool to go for.

How Ambitious Are You?

It has been seen that OKR enables companies to satisfy their hunger for ambition. Do you want to become digital and develop an innovative edge? Do you want to accelerate growth? OKR helps each individual to remain focused on their work and allows them to work more effectively. 

The OKR framework may look simple but it should not be underestimated. A lot of effort goes into starting and maintaining a successful OKR program. If you have ambitious targets, then it will pay off. If in case you want to maintain small iterative improvements then OKR may not be for you.

Have You Defined a Clear Purpose for Your Company?

Before you finally decide to embark on your journey to finalizing your OKR software, you should be clear about the existence of your company. What is the actual mission and vision of your organization? And what to envision for the future? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself while deciding on an OKR tool. Once put into practice, it would be like a NorthStar pointing you in the right direction at every step of development.

Are You in A Position to Offer Quality Time and Efforts to Your OKR Program?

If your company is unable to make the best use of the OKR tool that you had decided to use then most likely it could be due to lack of commitment and time. OKR always creates an ideal platform for learning and at times, it can take up to a year until your company starts experiencing the full effects. However, you and the team would have to put in efforts and maintain patience for the results. 

Are You Keeping Track of KPIs?

It would be difficult for you to set targets for team members unless you have in place tracking metrics. Without tracking and measurement processes put in place to measure performance, it would be a challenge to set key results and to measure progress. 

One great thing about OKR is that it enables you to think about success and how you should measure it. This would mean that you would need to find indicators to track newer and better ways to measure metrics to assist you to achieve business objectives.

Are You Ready for Something Like Transparency?

Most leaders often mention that they would accept transparency with open arms but some of them may not even know the true meaning of transparency. Are you willing to share KPIs linked to revenues and/or market share with everyone working in your organization? If you wish to unleash the true potential of any OKR software tool, then you have to make available all KPIs to each and everyone in the organization. For most companies, this can be a huge cultural shift and you would be shocked to see how productive and engaged employees become once they have specific insights into the organization they are working for.