OKRs in Product Management
OKRs — objectives and key results — have experienced a renewed popularity in recent years. Consequently, I am regularly asked if and how OKRs can be applied in product management. This article shares my thoughts.
OKRs in a Nutshell
OKRs are a method for setting and tracking goals. An objective describes what is to be achieved. The key results state how we accomplish the objective. Let’s say, for example, that the objective is to “increase engagement.” The key results might then be “simplify user journey A” and “enhance feature alpha.”
OKRs can be used to create cascading goals — goals that are systematically linked. This is done by using higher-level key results as lower-level objectives, as the following example shows.
In figure 1, the key result “simplify user journey alpha” becomes an objective with two new key results, “remove user journey step two” and “improve performance by 10%” thereby connecting the two OKRs.
It’s worthwhile to note that OKRs were originally invented by Andy Grove at Intel in the 1970ies to facilitate “excellent execution,” that is, to help people set hard, measurable goals and to be able to clearly determine if these have been met. And that’s exactly how I experienced OKRs when I worked at Intel in the late 1990ies.
Goals in Product Management
As I explain in my book How to Lead in Product Management, setting the right goals is crucial to align stakeholders and development teams and to achieve product success. Does this mean that there is a natural fit between goals in product management and OKRs? In order to answer this question, let’s look at a set of product management goals. Figure 2 below shows the goals I recommend.
Figure 2 contains a set of cascading goals: vision, user and business goals, product goals, and sprint goals. The visionguides the user and business goals, which are contained in the product strategy. The user and business goals help select the right product goals, which I capture on the product roadmap. A product goal, finally, helps determine the right sprint goals.
At the same token, a sprint goal is a step towards a product goal; achieving a product goal helps you make progress towards the user and business goals; and the latter two finally help you move closer towards your vision. (For a more detailed explanation of the goals above, please see my article “Leading through Shared Goals,” and if you would like to learn more about goal setting in product management, then check out my book How to Lead in Product Management.)
Let’s now explore how the goals in figure 2 can be captured as OKRs.
Read On …
To read the rest of this article and access the remaining tips, please head over to my website: https://www.romanpichler.com/blog/okrs-in-product-management/
Learn More
You can learn more about about effective goal setting and OKRs by attending my Product Owner Masterclass and by reading my book How to Lead in Product Management.
Source: https://www.romanpichler.com/blog/okrs-in-product-management/
