Quarterly OKRs - Covid Sensitive Resources
How often should you set goals for your business to survive and thrive?
Engaging Tweets
Set the right goals for your business in the right direction
Because your business matters to you, make sure you focus on the right things
What happens to your business when you focus on the right goals?
Make time to set the right goals for your business and survive, even in times of turmoil
Why risk the future of your business by not making time for goal setting
Help your business survive and thrive by focusing on the right things
Turn your ideas into reality by implementing OKRs in your business
Time to take the objectives of your business seriously by using OKRs
The results will speak for themselves when you use OKRs in your business
Are you focusing on the right things in your business?
Give your business and team a much-needed boost by using OKRs
How to achieve the objectives of your business
Time to make priorities a priority in your business using OKRs
13 weeks, 1 priority - make OKRS work for you
Execution is the key to the success of your business
Set the right objective and execute it using OKRS in your business
Focus on one thing every 13 weeks and be single minded like Google
Start using OKRs and secure the future of your business, like Google did
Focus on one single objective using OKRs like Google
What can you learn about OKRs from Google
What has Bono and Intel got to do with OKRs and the future of your business?
Stop focusing on many things and focus on the ONE, just like Bono did?
Bono used OKRs with great results, learn how he did this and how these same OKRs can deliver a future and growth for your business
Bono helped prevent disease using a business tool, learn how your business can benefit using the same tool.
What happens to your business when you learn from Bono and Intel how to use OKRs successfully?
What has a rock star got to do with the key objectives for your business?
Be the superhero of your business by using OKRs to survive and thrive
Grow your business by putting your superpowers to work
4 Superpowers is all you need for the future of your business
Why risk the future of your business by not putting your superpowers to work
Superpowers will bring single mined focus to the future of your business
How to be a superhero and help your business whether any storm
Make the most of your superpower by using OKRs to focus your team
Set the right objectives for your business and be a superhero
Secure the future of your business when you are single minded about its growth
4 tips for using OKRS in your business
Can you afford to ignore these 4 helping hands in your business
LinkedIn Updates
1. When you started your business, you’ll have had many ideas about the direction you wanted it to go in and what you wanted to achieve. You had dreams, ideas, goals and objectives. Click here to learn why even in uncertain times, maybe especially in uncertain times, setting goals for your business is just as important.
2. It’s difficult to find time to think about strategic goals for your business when more and more of your time is taken up with operational challenges. But what if you took time out and made a list of the top 3 (just 3) strategic priorities for your business and then what if you focused on just one of these for the next 13 weeks. Click here to learn why focusing on one priority can secure the future of your business.
3. Businesses often have many priorities and work hard at meeting them, they pack the boxes, ship the goods, launch new products, hit their numbers…these priorities are the general day to day functions of any business. These are not strategic objectives that ensure the survival and possible future success of a business. Click here to understand the importance to your business of focusing only on strategic objectives.
4. What actions can you take to ensure you are working strategically on your business and not just getting the day-to-day work done? These actions happen when you bring your attention and focus to a primary goal or objective. Working on too many goals or projects at any one time means the focus is diluted and you’ll be swamped.
Click here to learn how one objective will inspire you and your team and means that it becomes the one focus for your whole business.
5. Taking yourself out of the day-to-day running of your business for even a short period of time to focus on your future strategic objectives can sometimes seem like a dream and not reality. But this time will allow you to focus on the key priorities to ensure your business survives and thrives, this time will allow you to work out your OKRs. Click here to learn more.
6. At this current time, you’re are busy dealing with your team, customers, suppliers and emails to even think about the important strategic priorities of your business. But click here to learn while setting strategic objectives might be difficult, it is invaluable to future of your business.
7. Click here to learn how thanks to OKRs Google started late but soon overtook all their competition to lead the way and dominate their market sector and how your business can benefit, even in tough times from using OKRs to focus on the right priorities for your business.
8. How long would it take you to write down a handful of strategic priorities for the future of your business? How long would it take you to make this handful just one priority?
Click here to discover how OKRs force you to focus the future of your business and your team on what matters most.
9. What has Bono and Intel got to do with securing the future of your business. Click here to learn how Bono used OKRs to achieve an ambitious goal, learn how he did this and how your business can benefit from using the OKRs.
10. Why not put some time aside to work out your primary objective – brain-storm a number of ideas with your team and then agree on the most important one. Then work out together what key measures you need to enable you to achieve the objective. Click here to learn how this use of OKRs in your business can provide some focus in uncertain times.
11. You already know that you spread yourself too thinly when it comes to running your business, probably now more than ever during these uncertain times. You give your time, effort and energy to your customers, your team, projects and many other things. And you may feel exhausted and frustrated that you could be achieving so much more but just don’t have the head space or time to do so. Click here to discover that its time to deploy your superpowers.
12. So, are you ready to be serious about the future of your business? If you are it is time to put your 4 superpowers to work. Click here to learn more about each of the superpowers and how you can use them in your business to achieve your objective in the next quarter.
13. Choosing the objectives for your business is one of the most crucial yet challenging tasks you will undertake as a business leader, especially now during this uncertain time of turmoil. Click here to learn that when you get it right your business survives, get it wrong and you’ll need to re-think and re-assess.
14. When you remove all the doubt and ambiguity from your team about where you are heading and what needs to be done to get there, you will ensure their support for what your objective is. Click here to learn how to do this by using OKRs in your business.
15. When you set a single strategic priority for the next 13 weeks, it means most of the day to day work can still get done and ONE important change priority can also get done at the same time. Using OKRs in your business is as simple as making a priority focus for 13 weeks, sharing it across all your team and setting up ways to track activities and results now sounds achievable. Click here to learn more.
16. Click here to learn more about Google, Bono and Intel and the success OKRs brought them and how with the same single-minded focus to your priorities will help you determine the future success of your business.
Facebook Posts
1. When you started your business, you’ll have had many ideas about the direction you wanted it to go in and what you wanted to achieve. You had dreams, ideas, goals and objectives. Click here to learn why even in uncertain times, maybe especially in uncertain times, setting goals for your business is just as important.
2. It’s difficult to find time to think about strategic goals for your business when more and more of your time is taken up with operational challenges. But what if you took time out and made a list of the top 3 (just 3) strategic priorities for your business and then what if you focused on just one of these for the next 13 weeks. Click here to learn why focusing on one priority can secure the future of your business.
3. Businesses often have many priorities and work hard at meeting them, they pack the boxes, ship the goods, launch new products, hit their numbers…these priorities are the general day to day functions of any business. These are not strategic objectives that ensure the survival and possible future success of a business. Click here to understand the importance to your business of focusing only on strategic objectives.
4. What actions can you take to ensure you are working strategically on your business and not just getting the day-to-day work done? These actions happen when you bring your attention and focus to a primary goal or objective. Working on too many goals or projects at any one time means the focus is diluted and you’ll be swamped.
Click here to learn how one objective will inspire you and your team and means that it becomes the one focus for your whole business.
5. Taking yourself out of the day-to-day running of your business for even a short period of time to focus on your future strategic objectives can sometimes seem like a dream and not reality. But this time will allow you to focus on the key priorities to ensure your business survives and thrives, this time will allow you to work out your OKRs. Click here to learn more.
6. At this current time, you’re are busy dealing with your team, customers, suppliers and emails to even think about the important strategic priorities of your business. But click here to learn while setting strategic objectives might be difficult, it is invaluable to future of your business.
7. Click here to learn how thanks to OKRs Google started late but soon overtook all their competition to lead the way and dominate their market sector and how your business can benefit, even in tough times from using OKRs to focus on the right priorities for your business.
8. How long would it take you to write down a handful of strategic priorities for the future of your business? How long would it take you to make this handful just one priority?
Click here to discover how OKRs force you to focus the future of your business and your team on what matters most.
9. What has Bono and Intel got to do with securing the future of your business. Click here to learn how Bono used OKRs to achieve an ambitious goal, learn how he did this and how your business can benefit from using the OKRs.
10. Why not put some time aside to work out your primary objective – brain-storm a number of ideas with your team and then agree on the most important one. Then work out together what key measures you need to enable you to achieve the objective. Click here to learn how this use of OKRs in your business can provide some focus in uncertain times.
11. You already know that you spread yourself too thinly when it comes to running your business, probably now more than ever during these uncertain times. You give your time, effort and energy to your customers, your team, projects and many other things. And you may feel exhausted and frustrated that you could be achieving so much more but just don’t have the head space or time to do so. Click here to discover that its time to deploy your superpowers.
12. So, are you ready to be serious about the future of your business? If you are it is time to put your 4 superpowers to work. Click here to learn more about each of the superpowers and how you can use them in your business to achieve your objective in the next quarter.
13. Choosing the objectives for your business is one of the most crucial yet challenging tasks you will undertake as a business leader, especially now during this uncertain time of turmoil. Click here to learn that when you get it right your business survives, get it wrong and you’ll need to re-think and re-assess.
14. When you remove all the doubt and ambiguity from your team about where you are heading and what needs to be done to get there, you will ensure their support for what your objective is. Click here to learn how to do this by using OKRs in your business.
15. When you set a single strategic priority for the next 13 weeks, it means most of the day to day work can still get done and ONE important change priority can also get done at the same time. Using OKRs in your business is as simple as making a priority focus for 13 weeks, sharing it across all your team and setting up ways to track activities and results now sounds achievable. Click here to learn more.
16. Click here to learn more about Google, Bono and Intel and the success OKRs brought them and how with the same single-minded focus to your priorities will help you determine the future success of your business.
Blog Posts
BLOG 1 - Why are quarterly goals vital to the survival of your business?
When you started your business, you’ll have had many ideas about the direction you wanted it to go in and what you wanted to achieve. You had dreams, ideas, goals and objectives.
Even in uncertain times, maybe especially in uncertain times, setting goals for your business is just as important.
But the reality is that if you just make a list of objectives for your business, there are too many and the list becomes overwhelming.
Especially when you are currently busy managing your team’s morale, new working patterns, changes in working locations and the ever-changing priorities that come with times of upheaval and uncertainty.
It’s difficult to find time to think about strategic goals for your business when more and more of your time is taken up with operational challenges.
But what if you took time out and made a list of the top 3 (just 3) strategic priorities for your business?
Priorities that will help your business move forwards so that you don’t get left behind.
Sounds simple enough?
Then, what if you focused on the top priority and ignored all the others?
What if you focused on this single priority for the next 13 weeks, shared it with your team and tracked its activities and results?
Click here to learn how your business will survive and thrive when you focus on one significant objective with your team for the next 13 weeks and measure the activities and key results needed to help you achieve it.
BLOG 2 - A simple message, a simple approach, one priority – use OKRs in your business
What is a priority?
Here is the dictionary definition:
‘the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important than others’
‘a thing that is regarded as more important than others’
Businesses often have many priorities and work hard at meeting them, they pack the boxes, ship the goods, launch new products, hit their numbers…these priorities are the general day to day functions of any business.
These are not strategic objectives that ensure the survival and possible future success of a business.
So, what is the difference?
What actions can you take to ensure you are working strategically on your business and not just getting the day-to-day work done?
These actions happen when you bring your attention and focus to a primary goal or objective. Working on too many goals or projects at any one time means the focus is diluted and you’ll be swamped.
One objective will inspire you and your team and means that it becomes the one focus for your whole business.
This focus is needed in your business now more than ever and your business survival may depend on it. Beware of being sucked into the operational challenges within your business and not making the time to step back and work out your strategic priority.
Andy Grove, leader, teacher and previous CEO of Intel, believes when it comes to achieving an objective ‘it does not matter what you know and what you don’t know, it’s the execution that matters most’.
Andy invented a system for achieving objectives called OKRs. ‘Objectives and Key Results’. This system has proved successful for many types of businesses, from massive corporate entities like Google and Apple to small pizza delivery and freelance businesses.
Click here to learn exactly what OKRs are and how you can use them to achieve and measure the objectives for your business whatever situation your business is currently in…
BLOG 3 - Single-minded focus to OKRs is the secret to your business surviving any turmoil
Taking yourself out of the day-to-day running of your business for even a short period of time to focus on your future strategic objectives can sometimes seem like a dream and not reality.
At this current time, you’re are busy dealing with your team, customers, suppliers and emails to even think about the important strategic priorities of your business.
But while setting strategic objectives might be difficult, it is invaluable to future of your business.
In his book ‘Measure What Matters’ John Doerr explains OKRs. His passion is based on their simplicity and power to help teams identify and accomplish their goals.
OKRs stand for Objectives and Key Results. A simple goal setting system that provides a structured way for teams and individuals to set and achieve their goals.
OKRs help to create clarity, focus, accountability, alignment and momentum to deliver real results.
OBJECTIVE – This is the WHAT – What are you wanting to achieve?
The objective should be significant, concrete, action-oriented and inspiring.
The objective should be hard; the point is to push yourselves as a team. As Doerr writes: “When properly designed and deployed, they’re a vaccine against fuzzy thinking — and fuzzy execution”
KEY RESULTS – This is the HOW – How you are going to achieve your objective?
Key results should be specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic, measurable and verifiable.
They enable you to set measurable milestones to monitor your progress.
Used correctly, OKRs will help you work out the objectives of your business and execute them.
Click here to learn the true power of OKRs comes from setting the right strategic objective for your business and team, then working together to track and measure its progress.
BLOG 4 - How did Google go from late starter to pack leader?
Late in the 1990s 17 different search engines were fighting to dominate the web.
Then the 18th search engine started up – Google.
Normally someone arriving so late to the party would not stand a chance, especially having given all the others time to establish themselves.
So how did Google race on with repeated annual growth and become rated as the best place to work more times than any other this century?
Google did this by using a method that guaranteed company-wide focus on a handful of priorities -
OKRS (Objectives and Key Results), introduced to them in 1999 by John Doerr (business icon and author of ‘Measure What Matters’).
Google had (and continue to have) a quarterly focus on specific strategic objectives and measurements.
Every single person in the business is clear on Google’s objectives for that quarter and the key measures to evaluate progress.
These OKRs are not used as financial incentives for the team, they are used for a higher purpose - to get collective commitment from every employee to truly stretch goals.
How clear are the people in your team of the objectives of your business?
Even in times of uncertainty the objectives of your business are just as important.
Your team need reassurance that your business has a future and that they are all a part of that future.
When you all focus on one priority together, you can manage the uncertainty and galvanise and motivate a team through a common purpose.
How long would it take you to write down a handful of strategic priorities for the future of your business?
How long would it take you to make this handful just one priority?
OKRs force you to focus the future of your business and your team on what matters most.
Click here to learn how to implement OKRs successfully in your business. They will allow you to have a single objective and track the activities and results to ensure that you and your team achieve this objective.
BLOG 5 - Time to listen to Bono, the unlikely champion of OKRs…
OKRs - Objectives and Key Results. A simple goal setting system that provides a structured way for teams and individuals to set and achieve their goals.
You’d think that Bono (from U2) would be an unlikely exponent of the virtues of OKRs, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Bono has used OKRs for years to wage a global war against poverty and disease.
In 2004 Bono co-founded ‘ONE’ – a global coalition of 11 organisations campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030.
With such an ambitious goal and so many people involved, the ONE CEO David Lane rightly said:
“We needed a process of discipline to keep us from trying to do everything”
ONE used OKRs to work out their key objective, their key measures and results and then shared them with everyone involved.
Bono believes so strongly in OKRs he states:
“The OKR framework cultivates the madness, the chemistry contained inside it. It gives us an environment for risk, for trust, where failing is not a fireable offence. When you have that sort of structure and environment and the right people, magic is around the corner”
So far ONE have delivered nearly £40 billion in funding for health initiatives, have helped almost halve AIDS-related deaths and also halve the number of HIV infections in children.
OKRs gave them a method to deliver focus, manage the chaos and provided them with real, measurable and tangible direction.
How can you use this same OKR method to bring focus and clarity to a strategic priority within your business?
Why not put some time aside to work out your primary objective – brain-storm a number of ideas with your team and then agree on the most important one. Then work out together what key measures you need to enable you to achieve the objective.
You might get it wrong the first time, but this will be apparent as you are tracking and measuring results, allowing you to adjust where necessary and move forward to achieve your objective.
Click here to learn more about OKRs to bring single minded focus to your business.
BLOG 6 - What superpower do you use manage the future of your business
You already know that you spread yourself too thinly when it comes to running your business, probably now more than ever during these uncertain times.
You give your time, effort and energy to your customers, your team, projects and many other things.
And you may feel exhausted and frustrated that you could be achieving so much more but just don’t have the head space or time to do so.
You need to deploy your superpowers!
To join the ranks of Intel, Google and Bono’s ‘ONE’, you need to simply focus on one significant Objective in the next 13 weeks.
This may be a strange thing to ask at this current time of turmoil – but what one primary goal do you wish to achieve this quarter?
Then you need to measure your Key Results, these are time sensitive measurements to monitor progress in achieving your primary goal.
John Doerr, business icon and author of the insightful book ‘Measure What Matters’, talks about the 4 superpowers that result from the use of OKRs:
Superpower 1 – Focus and Commit to Priorities
Superpower 2 – Align and Connect for Teamwork
Superpower 3 – Track for Accountability
Superpower 4 – Stretch for Amazing
So, are you ready to be serious about the future of your business? If you are it is time to put your 4 superpowers to work.
Click here to learn more about each of the superpowers and how you can use them in your business to achieve your objective in the next quarter.
BLOG 7 - Are you serious enough about your business to put your super suit on?
Choosing the objectives for your business is one of the most crucial yet challenging tasks you will undertake as a business leader, especially now during this uncertain time of turmoil.
Get it right and your business survives, get it wrong and you’ll need to re-think and re-assess.
To help you focus on the right priority, John Doerr in his book ‘Measure What Matters’ recommends that you use the OKR method. It’s a system that will help engage your team to focus on what matters the most (the objective) and to be able to continuously measure the progress (key results).
When you remove all the doubt and ambiguity from your team about where you are heading and what needs to be done to get there, you will ensure their support for what your objective is.
Your team will need this now more than ever – they need something to focus on.
OKRs are not a silver bullet and are not going to be a substitute for a strong culture or stronger leadership but when you have those fundamentals in place, they can take you to the top.
So, what can you achieve with OKRs?
Doerr believes you gain 4 superpowers as a direct result of using OKRS, here they are:
Superpower 1 – Focus and Commit to Priorities
Build a list of the things you should or must do to improve the performance of your business. When you have your list choose the ONE priority that will get your full attention for the next 13 weeks.
Superpower 2 – Align and Connect for Teamwork
OKRs allow the entire business to prioritise. With your priority clearly identified, work with your team on the actions and who is responsible for each one.
Superpower 3 – Track for Accountability
OKRs are driven by data. Work out the activities and measures that will help track performance.
OKRs are transparent, and regular check-ins allow employees to discuss progress and see the impact an individual’s work is having on the overall objective, this can often encourage greater collaboration in your team.
Superpower 4 – Stretch for Amazing
Bringing ambition to your quarterly objective creates an energy within your team and a striving within their thinking and actions meaning they work harder, can they stretch as far as Bono or Google?
Click here to give your business a future when your team agree on one objective for the next 13 weeks and use their superpowers to achieve it.
BLOG 8 - 4 helping hands to help your business survive and thrive
To achieve the goals for your business requires focus.
You might have ambitious goals and you might have grand plans to achieve them, but you are too busy just running your business day to day that you can’t get started.
Sound familiar?
This can lead to disenchantment and frustration, making it even harder for you to focus on the future.
When you set a single strategic priority for the next 13 weeks, it means most of the day to day work can still get done and ONE important change priority can also get done at the same time.
Something as simple as making a priority focus for 13 weeks, sharing it across all your team and setting up ways to track activities and results now sounds achievable.
Here are 4 helping hands to get you started:
- Write out the list of business growth goals you have for your business. They can be anything from sort the filing out to hiring a new member of the team. Anything that is either holding you back from growth or that with implementation would help your business grow.
- Choose one priority OBJECTIVE for you and your team to focus on in the next 13 weeks. Leave the other goals for now (perhaps deal with next quarter).
- Discuss the Objective with your team and ensure buy-in. Make sure everyone is clear on the handful of KEY RESULTS that together will deliver your OBJECTIVE. Work out who will do what and measure and monitor the activities.
- Make sure your leaders are seen and heard giving your business OKRs (objective and key results) their wholehearted approval, support and diary time. This sends a clear message to your team of the importance of the OBJECTIVE and the KEY RESULTS in place to achieve it.
Agreeing to one core objective for the next 13 weeks means you are doing what Google has done over 80 times since 1999. Worth your time and attention don’t you think?
Click here to learn more about Google, Bono and Intel and the success OKRs brought them and how with the same single-minded focus to your priorities will help you determine the future success of your business.
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Subject: Bring a quarterly focus to the changing priorities of your business
Preview text: Your complimentary Business Breakthrough
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Changing deadlines and expectations mean it’s often difficult to stop and consider the objectives and priorities that will help your business survive and thrive in these uncertain times.
But think what might happen if you have a single, quarterly focus on just one priority, sharing it with all your people and tracking the activities and results…
When you focus on this one priority you will bring attention and understanding to the future of your business.
In this ‘Quarterly OKRs' edition of Business Bitesize you will learn, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea:
- how Google’s single, quarterly priority focus saw them gain competitive advantage in an already busy market sector
- what OKRs are and how using them in your business can give you the superpowers needed to help your business survive and thrive in times of good and bad
- how Bono used OKRs to give priority and focus to his ambitious goal
Take the future of your business seriously and invest time and energy building a good strategy.
Manage uncertainty in your business when you focus on one significant objective and measure the key results to help you achieve this objective.
Click here (link to the Quarterly OKRs report) to learn the benefit of using OKRs in your business to help you focus on one priority for the next 13 weeks.
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Business Breakthrough Subscriber Resources