Common mistakes you should avoid when making OKRs

Four common mistakes to avoid when creating OKRs (with examples)

Mistakes with OKRs should not be seen as entirely negative. In fact, they present valuable opportunities for learning and making enhancements in the subsequent attempts.

Let’s delve into each common mistake related to OKRs:

1. Misinterpreting Components

Misinterpreting the fundamental components of OKRs, such as mistaking objectives for key results or establishing vague goals that lack measurability.

For example, a team sets an objective to improve customer satisfaction. However, instead of defining specific key results tied to measurable outcomes, they simply list activities like “conducting surveys” and “addressing customer complaints.” Without clear metrics, the team may struggle to assess their progress accurately.

2. Overestimating Capabilities

Setting excessively ambitious key results that are beyond the team’s present capabilities can result in demotivation and the possibility of failure.

For example, a marketing team aims to double website traffic in one month. While ambitious goals can motivate, this particular objective may be unrealistic if the team has not invested in additional marketing channels or strategies.

Overestimating their capacity might result in a failure to meet the target and frustration among team members.

3. Objective Overload

When there are too many goals, it becomes challenging for teams to focus their attention and prioritize important outcomes, leading to difficulties in achieving significant results.

For example, a company sets ten objectives for each department in a quarter, covering everything from product development to customer support. The teams, overwhelmed by the sheer number of goals, struggle to allocate resources effectively and make minimal progress on most fronts. This dilution of effort can hinder overall organizational success.

4. Siloed OKRs

When departments fail to align their OKRs, it leads to conflicting priorities and a lack of synergy within the organization.

For example, the sales team sets a key result to increase monthly revenue by 20%, while the customer support team sets a key result to reduce resolution time by 30%. Without communication and alignment, these objectives may conflict, as increased revenue could come at the expense of longer resolution times. 

Cross-department collaboration and alignment are essential to ensure that OKRs contribute to the organization’s overall success

5. Treating OKRs Like Project Management

You should use OKRs to outline ambitious, strategic goals that stretch your team and inspire innovation, not a detailed breakdown of every task your team needs to complete. Don’t list minor activities – focus on the big-picture OKRs demonstrating progress.

Example: Instead of an OKR focused on “Launch the new marketing campaign,” aim for an objective like “Increase brand awareness by 20%” with key results like “Secure 50 placements in industry publications” and “Grow social media following by 15%.”

6. Setting Too Many OKRs

Trying to tackle too much at once is a recipe for failure. Limit yourself to a few, well-defined objectives per cycle (typically quarterly). This allows your team to focus their energy and resources on achieving the most impactful goals.

Example: Don’t set five separate OKRs for each department. Instead, prioritize the two or three most critical objectives for the company and translate those into departmental OKRs that contribute to the overall strategy.

7. Connecting OKRs Directly to Compensation

While performance should be considered in compensation reviews, directly tying OKRs to bonuses or raises can create a culture of fear and risk aversion. OKRs should be ambitious, and achieving them shouldn’t be guaranteed.

Example: Use OKRs as a development and progress tracking tool, not a punishment for missed goals. Celebrate exceeding expectations, and use learnings from missed targets to refine strategies in the next cycle.