A Practical Guide to Using OKRs Product Management

If are you interested in knowing the guide to okr product management, then this guide is for you. To bring product managers in line with stakeholders and corporate objectives, it’s critical to set and implement the OKRs.

Let’s go into detail to know what OKR product management is all about, the different types, and its benefits.

What Does OKR Product Management Mean?

“Objectives and Key Results” is referred to as “OKR.” OKRs are a powerful goal-setting and leadership tool for expressing your goals and the key milestones you’ll need to hit to get there.

Some of the top organizations in the world set and implement their plans using OKRs. 

To develop tough, ambitious objectives with measurable outcomes, teams, and individuals employ this collaborative goal-setting process called okr product management. 

Using OKRs, you may monitor progress toward concrete targets while fostering alignment and engagement.

OKRs are effective for creating goals at many company levels, whether we’re talking about office management, software engineering, NGOs, or something else. 

It can utilize them to accomplish personal objectives and even by individuals to do tasks in settings where senior leadership does not employ them.

Types of OKR Product Management

There are three types of OKRs which are committed, aspirational, and learning OKRs.

1. Committed OKRs

Committed OKRs are commitments, as their name implies. A Committed OKR is anticipated to receive a passing grade when assessed after a cycle.

2. Aspirational OKRs

Stretch goals or “moonshots” are other names for aspirational OKRs. Since no one has ever reached an aspirational OKR, a path must be created to get there. 

To increase employee engagement, they may also be long-term, continue past an OKR cycle, or even be passed between team members.

3. Learning OKRs

When learning something new is the most valuable cycle outcome, learning OKRs is for that. A team could create a Learning OKR that addresses the question, “What is the most essential thing we’re aiming to learn in the next 90 days?”

 If they are unsure of how to continue. The outcomes can then influence an associated Committed or Aspirational OKR in the following cycle.

Implementing your Product Team’s OKR Cycle

There is no set rule as to how long an OKR cycle should last, however it often lasts one quarter.

Your OKR cycle will rely on how your organization functions, but you may still modify it to suit the needs of your product team. 

Remember that Key Results ought to be demanding and aggressive while also being reasonably time-bound.

It is advised that you often check in with your product team during your OKR cycle to assess how the execution is going, especially when you are just beginning to adopt this methodology. 

This will help you discover your own rhythm and make setting future OKRs easier as you go along in OKR product management.

How are OKRs Rated?

OKRs are designed to be rated at the end of a cycle and tracked often. There are several ways to grade (or “score”) OKRs.

The Andy Grove methodology for rating OKRs is a straightforward “yes” or “no” strategy. Did you fulfill it? Or didn’t you? 

The “Red, Yellow, Green” rating system, in which red indicates “we failed,” yellow indicates “we made progress,” and green indicates “we met our target,” is used by most companies because they desire a little more specificity in their grades.

The most thorough grading system is used by Google, which assigns a numerical score to each Key Result at the end of the cycle using a percentage scale (0.0 – 1.0).

The overall score for that Objective is calculated by averaging the Key Results scores.

Exemplary Measures Used to Illustrate the Effectiveness of OKRs

1. The conversion rate for a good or service.

2. NPS or a comparable mechanism used to measure customer happiness.

3. Product evaluations found on websites like the App Store.

4. The number of new users who finish an onboarding process.

5. Changes in the sales team’s behavior, such as the number of follow-up calls required or the procedures to demonstrate a product.

6. Data obtained from experiments or user testing sessions.

7. Metrics measuring client preferences through behavior (churn or retention)

Guides in Using OKRs in Product Management

No matter how outcome-focused your drafted OKR product management is, if you can’t use them in your daily decision-making, they are useless. 

1. Define the WHYs

The product vision and product strategy guide the long-term Why’s. Why is my business in existence? What do I believe in?

Why do I deserve to triumph in the market I’ve entered? 

The quarterly OKRs, which are a scaled-down version of this bigger WHY and can also be referred to as a “strategy in a nutshell,” can be generated from this in okr product management.

2. State the WHATs

In okr product management, the WHAT, in contrast, is comprised of specific product roadmap themes, discovery priorities, activities, as well as particular user stories and tasks. 

Themes and Discovery priorities frequently covered A medium-term time range.

They typically discuss more extensive projects or certain features that require more time to develop before having an effect on business users. 

User stories and tasks, on the other hand, have a shorter lead time because they are a part of Scrum sprints, which are short development cycles.

3. Ensure that OKRs and Product Roadmaps Don’t Create an Alternate Dimension 

One of the most divisive items in product management is product roadmaps.

Few Product Teams appear to understand their worth and necessity, even though everyone must use them in some capacity to express priorities (at the very least).

Additionally, the importance of Product Roadmaps in the context of OKRs increases without becoming any simpler to manage. 

They are one of the few crucial artifacts that serve as both an input for drafting OKRs and an output for communicating the priorities that must be followed to accomplish drafted and committed OKR sets.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the Feature-based Roadmap hinders rather than facilitates Outcome OKRs for Product Teams given that a roadmap is an essential input for the process of creating an OKR.

Benefits of Using OKRs in Product Management

Clarity, improved communication, and a consistent, transparent organization-wide approach are just a few advantages that OKRs offer.

1. Focus 

OKRs enable a team to unite around a manageable number of well-selected priorities.

2. Alignment 

Using OKRs, an entire organization may align all of its objectives with its overarching goals and key priorities.

3. Commitment

For OKRs to be successful, all participants must be equally committed to selecting and maintaining the prioritized tasks.

4. Tracking 

Using OKRs, a team or organization may keep tabs on their progress toward a goal and determine whether to switch up their approach earlier.

5. Stretching

OKRs give teams the freedom to create objectives that go beyond BAU, or “business as usual,” and bring about substantial, lasting change.

Product management is a challenging position. A variety of factors may impact your product strategy.

How can you ensure that your product remains relevant in the face of emerging competitors and shifting client preferences?

Even though product management is uncertain, using OKR product management, you can still forecast your success.