Have you ever googled ‘OKR benefits’? The search engine spits out around 69,500 entries. And almost no matter which link you then click on, you get lists with countless benefits that sound almost like a company wish list to Father Christmas.
Don't get the wrong idea: The benefits that OKR brings to companies and teams are undisputed! However, it is important to take a closer look, as many of these so-called benefits do not simply arise automatically as a result of implementing the OKR framework.
Rather, they are requirements and consequences in equal measure: On the one hand, these areas must be in place for OKR to be successful at all - and on the other hand, they are the consequence of successful OKR implementation.
Interaction: OKR demands and promotes at the same time
It's like the question of the hen and the egg - which came first?
The advantage of ‘focus and clarity’: The strict limitation of goals and priorities leads to focus and clarity; at the same time, focus and clarity presuppose the strict limitation of goals.
Advantage ‘Transparency’: The visibility of all goals and results leads to transparency, but it requires the willingness of everyone to want to show these goals transparently at all.
The advantage of ‘motivation’: The independent development of goals promotes motivation; at the same time, however, it also requires employees who have the motivation to develop their goals independently.
Speed’ advantage: The short cycles and clear structure of the process increase speed, but teams first have to learn how to deal with the process and short cycles.
Advantage ‘Creation of meaning’: Linking daily tasks to a vision certainly creates meaning; at the same time, a meaning is needed to link tasks to in the first place.
The advantage of ‘ambition’: The joint development of solutions for ambitious and complex problems awakens ambition; at the same time, however, it also requires the necessary environment to be able to deal with highly ambitious goals.
If some of these requirements are not (yet) present in your company, this does not mean that you cannot or should not introduce OKR. It does show you in which areas more work is needed, but also where there is still potential.
As an entrepreneur, managing director or manager, it is now up to you to realise this potential with the help of the OKR framework. So let's work together to make your OKR implementation a success: We will work with you to identify those areas where development work is still needed and help you to develop them.
This test is a good basis for an initial self-assessment of your company: https://okr-institut.at/ressourcen#okr-standortbestimmung
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