Working Backwards from Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Have you heard “Agile does not work for us” and then observed all sorts of anti-patterns in Agile implementation that damage trust and impede outcomes? A similar situation exists with OKRs nowadays. OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework becomes more and more popular during the last decade. While for many companies OKRs become a successful drive of agility, more companies report that “OKRs do not work for them.” The root cause is that there are multiple OKR anti-patterns emerging. Have you heard about companies that use OKRs for performance reviews? Have you experienced top-down objectives that are unrealistic and unmanageable? Have you seen teams working at an unsustainable pace to meet overcommitted OKRs? Have you experienced OKR accounting when teams and divisions compete against each other to win the OKR scoring competition? Have you been on a team that met its OKRs and launched a product that no one is interested in using? As an OKR coach, I’ve seen it all. The goal of this workshop is to expose OKR anti-patterns and from my experience, share best practices and specific examples from my OKR coaching experience. We will use the Working Backwards framework to recognize OKR anti-patterns. During this workshop, we will play a game where we will match OKR anti-patterns with real case studies, discuss ways of changing poorly written OKRs, and finish the workshop with an OKR Jeopardy where we will gamify our learning. Workshop participants will learn how to recognize OKR anti-patterns and leave with tips and tricks for a successful OKR implementation.