First things first. It's totally OK to fail with OKR in your first quarter, so don't give yourself a hard time. Most companies who set out with OKR also find it a big challenge to get started with. It really requires a shift in thinking from focusing on outputs or doing more things, to outcomes, "what do I want to achieve, why, and how can I measure it?".
When you're setting your OKRs, make sure you give yourself adequate time to think. Your team Objectives should represent the top 3 or 4 most important things you want to achieve in the quarter. Ask yourself, "what do we want to achieve as a creative team"? Don't be afraid to think big!
It's hard to judge creativity quantifiably, measuring an expected outcome is easier. Here's an example that a product team might come up with.
O: Improve the "stickiness" of our product KR: Increase monthly active users by 10% KR: Increase new feature engagement by 8% KR: Increase new user onboarding flow completion to 90%
These Key Results are all user-focused and are the measures of the outcome the product team is looking to achieve.
When it comes to Key Results, ask yourself "how will I know if I've achieved my Objective"? Creative Objectives usually have an outcome in mind, whether that's for your company or your client, creativity is usually applied to solve a problem. Think about the problem you're solving and how you'll know when it's solved. This should help you come to your Key Results.
An important note worth mentioning, your Key Results should always represent something you influence, not something you do. For example, "create 25 client treatments" is a bad Key Result because you're only measuring output, not outcome. A better key result would be, "achieve 85% acceptance for all concept drafts this quarter". Acceptance is not something you do, but it is something you can influence.
"Proactive: 10 interviews about the new interface; Reactive: Click Rate improvement on the CTA button. It is healthy to get both as Key-Results"
@Rico T - The first Key Result is a bad example, for the reasons I outlined above. Even if you "do" 10 interviews, how does doing an interview make the interface better?
Always keep the "doing of things" separate from your Key Results. It's a common mistake many people make.
Finally, keep at it. OKR is not easy and takes time. Go search the web for resources and read up on best practice, and stick with it, failing is an important part of the learning process. If you can keep going for a year, you'll find by the beginning of year 2 you'll start to fall into the habit of creating good Objectives and Key Results, and will really start to see OKR paying off.
First things first. It's totally OK to fail with OKR in your first quarter, so don't give yourself a hard time. Most companies who set out with OKR also find it a big challenge to get started with. It really requires a shift in thinking from focusing on outputs or doing more things, to outcomes, "what do I want to achieve, why, and how can I measure it?".
When you're setting your OKRs, make sure you give yourself adequate time to think. Your team Objectives should represent the top 3 or 4 most important things you want to achieve in the quarter. Ask yourself, "what do we want to achieve as a creative team"? Don't be afraid to think big!
It's hard to judge creativity quantifiably, measuring an expected outcome is easier. Here's an example that a product team might come up with.
O: Improve the "stickiness" of our product KR: Increase monthly active users by 10% KR: Increase new feature engagement by 8% KR: Increase new user onboarding flow completion to 90%These Key Results are all user-focused and are the measures of the outcome the product team is looking to achieve.
When it comes to Key Results, ask yourself "how will I know if I've achieved my Objective"? Creative Objectives usually have an outcome in mind, whether that's for your company or your client, creativity is usually applied to solve a problem. Think about the problem you're solving and how you'll know when it's solved. This should help you come to your Key Results.
An important note worth mentioning, your Key Results should always represent something you influence, not something you do. For example, "create 25 client treatments" is a bad Key Result because you're only measuring output, not outcome. A better key result would be, "achieve 85% acceptance for all concept drafts this quarter". Acceptance is not something you do, but it is something you can influence.
@Rico T - The first Key Result is a bad example, for the reasons I outlined above. Even if you "do" 10 interviews, how does doing an interview make the interface better?
Always keep the "doing of things" separate from your Key Results. It's a common mistake many people make.
Finally, keep at it. OKR is not easy and takes time. Go search the web for resources and read up on best practice, and stick with it, failing is an important part of the learning process. If you can keep going for a year, you'll find by the beginning of year 2 you'll start to fall into the habit of creating good Objectives and Key Results, and will really start to see OKR paying off.
Good luck!