Product Management OKRs

Product Management OKR Best Practices

Product management is a very versatile function. Since the product management team often works cross-functionally with different departments, having a common foundation for goal-setting is important.

Introducing OKRs is one of the best ways to maintain focus, boost team productivity, and achieve a company’s core goals through product development.

What are product management OKRs?

Objective and key results (OKRs) is a goal-setting practice that enables teams to achieve their goals by setting simple and measurable results.

The OKRs framework was first introduced in the 1970s by Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel. In this framework, Grove modified Peter Drucker's “Management by Objectives” or MBO approach to include key results. This framework allows teams to move forward in the right direction while knowing how much of the desired outcome has been achieved.

OKRs include two main elements:

1. Objectives: The objective is the bigger goal to be achieved. It is stated in aspirational or qualitative terms. Every objective typically has around three to five key results.
2. Key Results (KRs): Key results are the specific, quantifiable ways to measure the goal's progress.

Are product OKRs and product roadmaps the same?

Product OKRs and product roadmaps are not the same. A roadmap is a document that helps design, develop, and release products according to the defined timeline and budget. 

Product roadmaps focus more on the output generated in the process and not on outcomes. On the other hand, OKRs focus on work outcomes.

For example, while the roadmap focuses on a product update, the OKRs will outline the update's impact on the broader team or company goals.

Why do you need OKRs for product management?

Using OKRs in product management facilitates a cascading hierarchy of goals across a company and its teams. They allow employees to focus on what's important and align their individual objectives to team goals.

If teams are spread thin across projects, struggle to prioritize their work, or lack alignment, introducing OKRs can help by giving them clear goals and frameworks for measuring success.

Prioritizes what's important

Too often, teams end up moving on to the next step in their workflow without prioritizing what's important. Setting up OKRs puts the focus on priorities, not what comes next. It provides a clear direction for the team and the organization.

Increases operational agility

Many organizations prefer Agile product management as it lets them work from the current situation. OKRs are great as they don’t require redoing the entire strategy. Key results are flexible and can be modified at any step in the process.

Keeps teams accountable

By working with individual team members to outline and achieve their objectives and key results, they are happier, more engaged, and ready to take ownership of their work.

How to set up the best product team OKRs?

To avoid spreading your team thin, make sure to set up OKRs that consider people's productivity levels, recognize their focus topics, and inspire creativity.

Objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and tied to specific timelines. This is often referred to as SMART goal-setting. 

But how can teams set up product team OKRs? Start with the basic OKR model: “We need to achieve __________that’s measured by ________________.”

OKRs are not just a framework or model, but a culture that needs to be ingrained in the company. By implementing the following steps, you can set up product OKRs for team success:

Rolling out OKRs

Get the team involved in the process. At any level, meeting with a manager or supervisor to determine and outline specific OKRs can increase productivity and alignment. Align OKRs to broader organizational goals, then communicate and specify what metrics will be used to measure success.

Set up action plans

With the OKRs in place, start the brainstorming process to form the key results. Team collaboration is essential to ensure that every member is on the same page about the plans. Then it’s time to get to work.

Regular progress check-ins

Different companies may choose to have OKRs for every quarter, half-year, or year. Though there’s no written rule, quarterly OKRs are most common. Depending on how your organization operates, feel free to choose a time period that works best for your team.

Get things moving by having a regular check-in schedule. This way, teams can review unforeseen challenges, come up with inventive solutions, and make modifications to OKRs as needed.

OKR review

Schedule a comprehensive review and reflection meeting at the end of each OKR period. Review documents and encourage teams to reflect on the entire OKR exercise. Through this, you can gain insights that will help revise the process and make it more robust for the upcoming rounds.

Examples of OKRs

Wondering if OKRs are right for your company or team? With a flexible and open-ended approach, OKRs can be adapted for any business or department. Here are a few examples of OKRs that cascade down from the company to an individual.

Company OKRs

To outline the company's OKRs, consult your mission statement. For example, if OKRs are being set for a year, teams will need to whittle down the overall mission into smaller annual goals to be achieved.

Objective: Expand market share in Japan

Key result 1: Win 20+ new B2B deals

Key result 2: Increase sales by 25%

Key result 3: Launch a new product in Japan

Product team OKRs

Many times, product team OKRs are nicely aligned with the company's overall goals, so keep the focus on making the OKR quantifiable but achievable.

Objective: Launch a new product within six months

Key result 1: Design the product features in 45 days

Key result 2: Engage with customers to see if any feature needs to be modified/included/eliminated

Key result 3: Schedule product demos with 50% of active users

Individual OKRs

Product manager OKRs can be classified as individual OKRs. The focus here is to address user needs to ensure the achievement of business goals.

Objective: Help customers retrieve data faster

Key result 1: Design tag management system

Key result 2: Improve page speed times by 25% through page optimization

Key result 3: Target a 50% support ticket reduction

Best practices for product management OKRs

There are many ways to implement product management OKRs. Consider these five best practices for product management OKR success:

Build and cascade

OKRs can be implemented from the top-down or built from the bottom up. While both ways are appropriate, make sure to strike a balance. Cascading is a top-down process while building from the bottom is natural and gets the team’s buy-in faster.

Invite team inputs

Make the OKR foundation clear by onboarding the entire team. Apart from building engagement, it gives them a sense of purpose and enhances the quality of input.

Have regular check-ins

Measure OKRs to make them more effective. Schedule consistent check-ins to ensure things are on track with limited roadblocks. Proceed with what suits the team best — weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.

Boost collaboration

Ensure no unexpected silos are created in your teams. People should be free to interact, engage, and discuss goals with each other. Create a simple online group or space where team members can post updates, share issues, and brainstorm potential solutions.

Make it easy

Team members are already busy with their deliverables, so their OKR participation process should be simple and painless to execute. Use OKRs to create goal alignment, track progress, and encourage team participation. Help employees work with purpose by empowering them to set challenging goals with measurable results.

OKRs are a great way of bridging strategy and execution. To ensure a holistic implementation, use OKRs in all spheres of product management, from product strategy and delivery to product vision, roadmaps, and discovery.

Designing the perfect OKRs is a journey that needs frequent iteration, which can happen within or between OKR periods. A clearly defined strategy and robust teamwork can make this process a lot easier.