How to run your OKR goal setting workshop (step by step with Miro)

How to Run a Meaningful OKR Setting Workshop

In this video, Tim Newbold from OKR Quick Start provides a full structure and agenda for running an impactful OKR setting workshop with your team. He emphasizes the importance of preparation and getting clear on what is most important before the workshop.

Getting Clear on What's Important

• The first step is getting clear on what is most important right now.

• For executive teams, it's critical to start by focusing on the whole business and talking to team members around the business to understand what they see as important.

• A powerful question to ask is "If we're to move the needle on nothing except for one thing, what would that be?"

• For product teams, it's important to talk to customers and understand their needs.

• Review any existing goals or OKRs set by the exec team in advance.

Preparing for the Workshop

• Draft objectives and measures in advance.

• Be ready for reflection during the session.

• Think about key insights that need capturing during review process.

Running the Workshop

Using Miro Template

• Use Miro template provided in description or similar format in other tools.

Agenda

1. Strategic discussion around what's most important

2. Writing up of OKRs

Follow-up Steps

• Discuss progress regularly throughout quarter

• Capture key insights during review process

Overall, this video provides a comprehensive guide for running an impactful OKR setting workshop with your team. It emphasizes preparation and getting clear on what is most important before diving into writing up objectives and measures.

OKR Workshop Agenda

In this section, the speaker discusses the agenda for an OKR workshop and how much time should be allocated to it.

Setting Up for Success

• The speaker recommends sharing the workshop agenda beforehand.

• The workshop generally takes about two hours, but beginners may need three hours.

• Spending a whole day on the workshop is recommended if it's something you're passionate about.

End of OKR Review

• Step two of the process is reviewing the quarter.

• Team members should pre-fill their OKRs from the last quarter and give themselves a score on each key result.

• Discuss key achievements, lessons learned, and what's outstanding.

Strategic Discussion

• Determine what is most important right now.

• Use "now," "next," and "later" to discuss different time periods.

• Focus on driving change and improvement with OKRs.

Objective and Key Results (OKRs)

• The speaker advocates having one objective and set of key results for focus.

• One thing that really makes an impact can make a business successful.

Reflecting on Lessons Learned

In this section, the speaker discusses reflecting on lessons learned during an OKR review.

Lesson Learned Process

• Reflect on what worked and didn't work in terms of the OKR process itself.

• There is a whole process behind this that will not be discussed in this video.

Prioritizing Objectives

In this section, the speaker discusses prioritizing objectives during an OKR review.

Other Priorities vs. OKRs

• There may be other priorities that people bring into the session that are not part of their OKRs.

• These priorities should be captured and tracked, but they are not part of the OKRs.

The Importance of Focus

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of focus during an OKR review.

One Objective and Set of Key Results

• Having one objective and set of key results is recommended for focus.

• This approach can make the session go much faster.

• Innovation is about saying no to everything else that doesn't matter.

How to Write Effective OKRs

In this section, the speaker discusses how to narrow down key themes and objectives using voting dots. They also emphasize the importance of focusing on a few key objectives and leaving word-smithing until later.

Narrowing Down Key Themes

• Use voting dots to narrow down key themes.

• Focus on only a few important objectives.

• Leave word-smithing until after landing on an objective.

Writing Key Results

• Key results are measures of progress towards an objective.

• They should be measurable and go from a current measure to a target measure.

• Write clear, concise, and easy-to-measure key results.

Finalizing Objectives

• The objective is a statement of what you want to achieve. It should be engaging, exciting, and meaningful.

• Key results are the part that measures progress towards the objective, so they need to be measurable and specific.

• Vote on which key results are most meaningful before finalizing them into an OKR.

OKR Process Overview

In this section, the speaker provides an overview of the OKR process and how to identify key results.

Identifying Key Results

• Identify hot spots where there is convergence.

• Choose top few key results that are most meaningful.

• Assign a champion for each key result to ensure responsibility and ownership.

Writing Objectives and Key Results

• Write down objectives, key results, and why they are important.

• Turn objectives and measures of success into tangible initiatives.

Refinement and Next Steps

• Give yourself time to refine the OKRs after the session.

• Host an OKR playback session to share goals with other teams for alignment.

OKR Weekly Check-In Template

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of executing on aligned OKRs and provides a template for weekly check-ins.

Importance of Weekly Check-Ins

• Checking on OKRs weekly is crucial.

• Confidence scores should be assigned to each key result.

• If not confident, call out for help.

OKR Weekly Check-In Template

• The speaker provides a downloadable template for weekly check-ins.

• The template is simple to use and can be customized.

• Users are encouraged to come up with their own designs.

Feedback and Subscription

• Users are welcome to provide feedback on the content and share their experiences with setting OKRs.

• Subscribing will keep users updated on new content.