Objectives is a customisable feature; your business may have called it something else (e.g. Priorities, Goals)
How to create an effective objective with meaningful metrics
Overview
For each type of objective, we'll follow the same format. We'll look at the what, how and why of creating an effective objective. Effective objective-setting is critical to success so that everyone is clear on what performance output is expected. When objectives are created it's simple to have regular conversations to update on progress and empowers people to work independently towards common goals.
Some key principles:
- No more than 6 or less than 3 types of objectives/ OKRs
- Less is more. Shorter is better (think bullet point language)
- Be clear on the output and timeframe
- Link to the wider impact/ purpose/ aim of the org (it helps us know how we are making a difference in what we do.)
Some considerations:
- Is it meaningful?
- Is it priority focus area?
- Does it show a clear direction?
- Does it enable a significant change from where we are today?
- Is it inspiring?
- Is the objective easy to remember?
- When and who will review the objectives?
Creating an Objective without Milestones
Step 1: What
When creating objectives, the WHAT needs to be as transparent and clear as it can be- imagine someone reading the objective who doesn’t work in your organisation or area. Would the objective make sense? If so, you’re good to go!
Step 2: How
An easy way to ensure that you include enough detail is to follow the acronym S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound.
Being specific is outlining the aim of the objective. Objectives are best when they are succinct, single-sentence statements. Start with an action verb, like drive, create, or achieve and be careful with potentially vague options like improve or develop.
Rather than “improve customer satisfaction”, a more specific objective headline is “increase NPS satisfaction scores...”.
To define the objective, we consider how we measure it, defining the metrics we will use to review achievement of the objective.
So, we develop our example objective further:
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores... by 10% from 56%”.
We then must check how achievable the objective is. We do this by considering the capability / ability. Specifically;
- Skills
- Mindset
- Knowledge
- Network
- Ability to influence
Then we must consider how realistic it is. We do this by considering the context. Areas to consider:
- How much daily workload do you/ does the individual have?
- What change is likely to impact the role or team you / they are part of?
- What may drive change from external market pressures?
Bear these factors in mind and weigh up the capacity of yourself / the individual due to volume of workload in relation to the work required into achieving the objective.
The final piece of the puzzle is the timeline for the objective. This provides a framework for planning work and key sign off stages (as needed).
The clearer the better here. Define the day and date, to avoid misinterpretation.
Rather than:
“Increase customer satisfaction by end September”,
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10% from 56% by Thursday 30 September 2021.”
Step 3: Why
The WHY of creating an objective using SMART can be supercharged when the phrase “in order to...” is added at the end. This clarifies the impact and connection the objective has on/to the team and/or company objective and purpose.
Example:
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10 points from 56 by Thursday 30 September 2021 in order to drive our company target of annual satisfaction scores >55 points.”
Benefits:
- SMART creates clarity and a framework to work with
- Being specific reminds us to map the desired change and/or impact/ results needed
- Focus on measures ensures we are clear how we will assess achievement of the objective upfront
- Sense checks of achievable and realistic connect the objective to the individual’s context
- Timing outlines the deadline for delivery
Creating an Objective with Milestones
Step 1: What
When creating objectives, the WHAT needs to be as transparent and clear as it can be- imagine someone reading the objective who doesn’t work in your organisation or area. Would the objective make sense? If so, you’re good to go!
Step 2: How
An easy way to ensure that you include enough detail is to follow the acronym S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound.
Being specific is outlining the aim of the objective. Objectives are best when they are succinct, single-sentence statements. Start with an action verb, like drive, create, or achieve and be careful with potentially vague options like improve or develop.
Rather than “improve customer satisfaction”, a more specific objective headline is “increase NPS satisfaction scores...”.
To define the objective, we consider how we measure it, defining the metrics we will use to review achievement of the objective.
So, we develop our example objective further:
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores... by 10% from 56%”.
We then must check how achievable the objective is. We do this by considering the capability / ability. Specifically:
- Skills
- Mindset
- Knowledge
- Network
- Ability to influence
Then we must consider how realistic it is. We do this by considering the context. Areas to consider:
- How much daily workload do you/ does the individual have?
- What change is likely to impact the role or team you / they are part of?
- What may drive change from external market pressures?
Bear these factors in mind and weigh up the capacity of yourself / the individual due to volume of workload in relation to the work required into achieving the objective.
The final piece of the puzzle is the timeline for the objective. This provides a framework for planning work and key sign off stages (as needed). The clearer the better here. Define the day and date, to avoid misinterpretation.
Rather than:
“Increase customer satisfaction by end September”,
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10% from 56% by Thursday 30 September 2021.”
Step 3: Why
The WHY of creating an objective using SMART can be supercharged when the phrase “in order to...” is added at the end. This clarifies the impact and connection the objective has on/to the team and/or company objective and purpose.
Example:
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10 points from 56 by Thursday 30 September 2021 in order to drive our company target of annual satisfaction scores >55 points.”
Benefits:
- SMART creates clarity and a framework to work with
- Being specific reminds us to map the desired change and/or impact/ results needed
- Focus on measures ensures we are clear how we will assess achievement of the objective upfront
- Sense checks of achievable and realistic connect the objective to the individual’s context
- Timing outlines the deadline for delivery
Now to add the Milestones
Once we have a handle on reality and capability through our sense check, and the timeframes required, we can break down the objective into milestones. These are logical, bite size deliverables that lead to the end objective result. They are also points in time to review quality and progress.
Benefits of milestones:
- Milestones enable a larger scale objective to be broken down into manageable chunks
- They facilitate regular progress and quality reviews that keep us on track
- They enable a realistic view of what needs to be done over a period to anticipate challenges and plan accordingly
Where do you start, to create milestones?
Follow these steps:
- Start with the end timeframe and result.
- Consider logical break points. Working backwards, set the milestone delivery and review points
- Ensure each milestone has a clear metric
What do milestones look like?
Let’s work through our example:
“Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10 points from 56 by Tuesday 30 November 2021.”
Plan:
Step | Detail | End date | Start date | Deliverable |
1 | Main objective: Increase NPS satisfaction scores by 10 points from 56 by Tuesday 30 November 2021 | Tues 30 Nov 2021 | Mon 13 Sept 2021 | N/A |
2 | Milestone 1 | Mon 4 Oct | Mon 27 Sept | Run client event with >20 clients to understand & explore needs |
3 | Milestones 2
| Mon 11 Oct
| Mon 4 Oct
| Identify top 3 client needs |
4 | Milestone 3
| Monday 18 Oct | Monday 11 Oct | Work with service delivery to implement solutions to top 3 needs |
5 | Milestones 4 | Monday 1 Nov
| Monday 18th Oct | Survey impact of solutions. Launch comms on “you said, we listened” showcasing needs addressed with impacts felt by clients. |
6 | End Review: | Tuesday 30 Nov | Monday 29 Nov | Run client NPS. Measure: Achievement against target of 66 NPS
|
Creating an Objective using OKRs (Objective and Key Results)
What is an OKR?
The definition of “OKRs” is “Objective and Key Results.” The objective is the area of focus in words and the key results are the measure/s using metrics.
OKRs as a framework are a collaborative goal-setting approach used by teams and individuals to set challenging, ambitious goals with measurable results that enable you to track progress, create alignment, and encourage engagement around measurable goals. OKRs are an empowering approach to goal-setting as they define the desired result required, with the how of the approach being left to the owner/s to map out using milestones.
Step 1: What
An objective is simply what is to be achieved, no more and no less. By definition, objectives are significant and (ideally) inspirational. Key results (KRs) establish the desired output of the objective. Effective KRs are specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic. Most of all, they are measurable and verifiable. Where an objective can be long-lived, rolled over for a year or longer, key results evolve as the work progresses. Once they are all completed, the objective is achieved.
Step 2: How
How to create an OKR
There can be more than one objective, but always less than six. Fewer is better. Every objective should fit on one line. As for key results, you should aim to have no more than five per objective.
Example:
Objective: | Drive a new Go To Market Sales Strategy for APAC |
Key Results: | $1m revenue by 30 Nov 2022 |
Milestones: |
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At the most basic level, key results are the output of their objective. It must be clear how and when the key results deliver the objective impact.
Effective key results have some common characteristics to make sure they are doing their job:
- Are they specific and timebound?
- Is it plainly stated what needs to occur and by when?
- Are they challenging, yet realistic?
- Are they aspirational, yet not too stretching so that they could never be accomplished?
- Are they measurable and verifiable?
- Is it clear when the criteria for success will be met?
Step 3: Why
Why are OKR’s important to an organisation?
The inventor of the OKR framework, John Doerr, says there are five key OKR benefits. These five benefits spell out the acronym “F.A.C.T.S.” so that when using OKRs, we can say that OKRs give us “just the F.A.C.T.S.”
Benefits of OKRs:
- Focus: Focus is the first benefit of OKRs because when you set OKRs, you are limited in the number of them. There can be more than one objective, but always less than seven. Fewer is better. Every objective should fit on one line. As for key results, you should have no more than five per objective.
- Alignment: Once top-line objectives are set is when the real work begins. As they shift from planning OKRs to action. Managers, and contributors alike tie their day-to-day activities to the organisation’s company-wide vision. (Highly aligned employees are more than twice as likely to be top performers.)
- Commitment: After focus and alignment, come commitments. Commitments are OKRs that all have agreed will be achieved and tracking these commitments is done transparently.
- Tracking: Every OKR should be able to be tracked via the metrics established when they were written. And while OKRs don’t require daily tracking, regular check-ups—preferably weekly—are essential to prevent slippage. Are you on track to meet this objective or not? Why or why not?
- Stretching: “Stretching” is last, but not least. As John Doerr says, “Larry Page of Google is the high priest of 10x-ing everything, stretching further. He famously said, ‘I’d rather have the objective be to go to Mars, and if we fall short, we’ll get to the moon.’
OKRs inherently push organizations to strive further, to eke out a little more than what they thought was possible.
F.A.C.T.S. is why so many companies use the OKR system. The benefits of focus, alignment, commitment, tracking, and stretching have proven invaluable to so many.