You move forward with a business because you seek to obtain more value within your particular sector. The core point of a large corporation or small startup company is to use the skills of a collective group of people to tackle one specific problem and make substantial progress.
Indeed, the right progress ensures that you are becoming more of a thriving corporation that can have a healthy balance sheet and overcome the many obstacles that can stand in your way.
But the truth is that it is not easy to set the right goals. Many companies have grown and withered on the vine due to the lack of proper structure and goal setting. You quite likely want to avoid this fate and would rather be one of the companies that will succeed and grow like a tech giant.
The critical question will then become how you should approach your goal setting. Indeed, there are many different options, but many companies and firms seek to go with a goal-setting structure called OKR. While OKRs have a massive value, they also come with many pros and cons.
This article helps you learn a bit more about OKRs and how they can be a potential performance management tool for your organization.
A Primer on The OKR Performance Method
But what is an OKR? The term breaks down into “objectives and key results”, which gives you a simple overview of what this term is genuinely all about and what it means for your organization.
This performance management tool’s core point is to be deterministic and forge a path by having something to look forward to and allocating resources accordingly.
What does that mean? You will set your goals or objectives and focus on the key results you desire from your everyday actions. The idea is that you want to ensure success and progress with your current culture.
You will look at your goals from a thirty thousand feet view but will also make sure to set them up into simple tasks so that you can appropriately execute them.
It is not too hard to see why many companies are embracing this performance management tool.
But what are the positives and negatives of this concept?
The Positives Of This Performance Management Tool
Here are a few of the many positives of this particular performance management tool.
Ambitious Goals
Individuals treasure this concept because it enables them to push forward vital initiatives and elevate their organization to the next level. This concept is not about incremental progress but next level progress that can boost an organization to higher heights. The core point is to set challenging but achievable goals. If you select a goal but do not achieve it fully, that is fine because you have made much more progress than the year prior.
Regular Check-Ins
You may notice that one will review these goals and progress regularly. Leaders appreciate it because there is a level of accountability that is present within this concept. That means that you can check-in and measure your progress to what you stated you would do within a given timeframe.
The Negatives Of This Performance Tool
Here are some of the factors people do not appreciate about this concept.
The Approach May Be Too Intense and Rigid
Individuals may not like this concept because it can be too constrictive. For instance, if it is done properly, it will set out clear results, provide transparent steps, and lead you to the objective. That is great for some people and organizations but not so much for others. Employees may feel as if they have less autonomy and are but cogs in a machine.
Numerous Objectives Minimal Results
The issue with a few organizations and leaders is that they may set too many of these objectives and layout many plans. But the problem is that excessive goals and objectives lead to mass confusion. You want to ensure that you stay away from objective-overload and keep it as simple as possible.
Company leaders can do well by looking at this concept holistically and making sure to minimize overall problems.
