A Complete OKRs Guide For Microsoft Teams Users

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If you regularly set goals for a team or company, you have probably seen and heard the abbreviation OKR more than once. OKR stands for objectives and key results. It is a goal-setting methodology designed to help teams more easily move towards their most important goals and track progress towards achieving them.

OKRs use a simple and highly stretch goal-setting tool that can be tailored to suit any purpose:

I will achieve [objective] that can be measured by [key result].

The objective, or a goal, is what you want to achieve: for example, increase brand awareness, reduce your greenhouse gas emissions to the lowest in the industry, and so on.

The key result is the metric by which the progress towards the goal will be measured: for example, getting a million views on the site, making sure that a quarter of the materials used for production are biodegradable, and so on. It helps companies to set measurable goals for the entire organization and run effective performance management.

The history of OKR can be tracked back to 1954 when Peter Drucker invented the central concept of “management by objectives” (MBO). In the year 1968, this concept evolved to OKRs as we know them today. OKR Methodology s a dynamic idea that leaves companies a tremendous number of possibilities to create ambitious goals.

What Is OKR Methodology In Business?

Possibilities of OKRs in business

Getting rid of micromanagement. The manager can concentrate on big and important company goals for the entire organization.
Development of creativity. Performers have the freedom to choose how they achieve results.
Objective assessment of the results. Measurable KPIs allow you to objectively assess whether a goal has been achieved.
Increased responsibility and team involvement. Since teams set goals themselves, they take responsibility for achieving them.

Who Are OKRs For?

Small start-ups where it is important for the whole team to work in the same direction. Especially in technology industries, where you need to grow quickly in order to receive investments before the initial capital runs out. Competence and structure in setting OKRs will show investors that the company knows where it is going and understands what steps need to be taken to achieve the planned results.
Medium-sized companies that are expanding. Tracking OKR will be useful for synergy of work – teams will be synchronized vertically and horizontally.
Large companies. The methodology cultivates team cohesion while encouraging autonomy and independence. Everyone works and is responsible for their individual okrs , but everyone strives to achieve common company goals.

Advantages Of OKRs In Business

Efficient performance management. Employees are more involved and disciplined – everyone sees goals, and employees themselves evaluate the results.
Correct prioritization. The focus is on achieving truly important and promising goals that will become growth triggers.
Transparency. Success indicators are predefined as well as intermediate targets.
Focusing. Resources and efforts are spent on purpose.
Strategic consistency. The efficiency of communication between the project participants increases.

OKR Templates

The components of an OKR are elementary:

Accurate goal setting: this is what you want to achieve. For your first OKR draft, you start by defining 3-5 key goals at the company, team, or individual level. Company goals should be ambitious, quality, time-limited, and achievable for the individual or group.
Results. They describe how you are going to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself. For each goal, try to determine no more than 4-5 measurable results. Key results must be quantifiable, achievable, objectively measurable, challenging but not impossible to achieve. For example, OKR results can be defined as company development, productivity, income, or engagement. These results are often calculatable, but they can also be “binary,” i.e., to show that something is done or not.

How To Set OKRs?

Once the company OKRs are defined, communicate the objectives and key results of the OKR to all stakeholders and make sure they are adequately understood. Define the wording together, if necessary, to always remain on the same track while working with OKRs.

As people start to work, they regularly update their performance measurement indicators; for example, once a week is a reasonable period. The task is considered completed when 70-75% of the result is achieved. If the company goals are 100% fulfilled, it is believed that it was not ambitious enough.

Update OKRs regularly as needed. Be flexible. If your personal, team, or company goals change, feel free to change the OKR together. No process should be more important than common sense and day-to-day business. OKRs process is dynamic, so don’t hesitate to keep the OKR cycle updated.

Since OKR goal-setting might be tricky, most companies may fail during the OKRs process. To avoid common OKR mistakes, you can take a look at our article here.

Useful OKR Examples:

Objective 1: To design, create and launch a new product.

Key Results:

Survey 50 existing customers on what they would like to see in a new product line
Create a new product

In this case, the OKR might take some work. It is probably not possible to achieve the goal in a single quarter. While the first KR is well formulated, the second result is not quantifiable and thus represents a negative example.

Objective 2: Implement a new email campaign

Key Results:

Write email copy to send to outbound leads
Obtain a list of outbound leads
Send e-mail to everyone on the list

Unfortunately, this would not be considered an OKR example but rather a project with a task list. Remember that goals are big ambitions, and OKR methodology is a quantifiable degree to achievable goals.

Here are further OKR examples you can follow. You can simply use them as an OKR template as you go forwarded and set your own OKRs:

Objective: Increase website traffic by 25%

Key Result 1: Improve website SEO by optimizing meta tags and content
Key Result 2: Increase social media engagement by 50% through more frequent and engaging posts
Key Result 3: Launch a targeted email marketing campaign to reach a wider audience

Objective: Enhance customer experience and satisfaction

Key Result 1: Implement a customer feedback system to gather feedback from customers
Key Result 2: Reduce response time to customer inquiries by 50%
Key Result 3: Increase customer retention rate by 20%

Objective: Increase sales revenue by 15%

Key Result 1: Expand product line by launching 2 new products
Key Result 2: Increase marketing spend by 30% to target new customer segments
Key Result 3: Improve sales team performance by providing regular training and coaching

Objective: Streamline internal operations for greater efficiency

Key Result 1: Implement a project management system to track progress and reduce delays
Key Result 2: Automate manual processes by integrating technology tools
Key Result 3: Standardize workflows across teams to minimize errors and confusion

Objective: Improve employee engagement and retention

Key Result 1: Conduct regular employee satisfaction surveys and take action based on feedback
Key Result 2: Increase opportunities for professional development and training
Key Result 3: Offer competitive compensation and benefits package to attract and retain top talent.

How To Track OKRs In Microsoft Teams?

The best way to track OKRs inside Microsoft Teams is to take advantage of an OKR or goal-setting software built for the platform. There are plenty of viable alternatives out there but the best OKR software for Microsoft Teams has to be Teamflect.

All you need to do in order to track OKRs effectively inside Microsoft Teams is to visit the Microsoft Teams App Store, and download Teamflect.

Once you’ve done so, you can set OKRs with ease and have your employees regularly update their OKRs inside Microsoft Teams.

With Teamflect’s OKR software, you can easily define, align, track, and visualize objectives and key results. What is a better platform there than Microsoft Teams to track the performance of your employees and measure your company’s OKRs?

Refining goals, fostering employee engagement, and encouraging feedback have never been easier with the Teamflect app for Microsoft Teams.

Teamflect allows you to do the following:

Organize effective 1-on-1 meetings, that will help keep all the members of the organization on the same page with regards to the OKRs.
Use the OKR / Goal setting tool to make sure the goals and plans are persistent among the employees.
Increase transparency within the organization by tracking goals and the progression of their completion.
Reward your employees for their work and keep them motivated to achieve more goals in the future through the Recognitions option.
Integrate feedbacks into your goal tracking with an exceptional feedback module.
Access templates designed with intuitivity in mind to cut down on your workload.

…and much more.

All of this without ever having to leave Microsoft Teams to access a secondary software. With an accurate OKR cycle and the right OKR software, you focus on the essential measures in your company at all levels. This will increase your motivation – and your company will achieve success even faster and remain profitable in the long term.

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OKR increases the effectiveness and efficiency of your employees. And with clear goals, your employees gain confidence, and you increase employee engagement – because they know what contribution they can make to the company.

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Why Is Microsoft Teams The Right Platform For Organization’s Using OKRs?

Integrating OKRs into the most widely used collaboration and communication platform is a great way for organizations to leverage Microsoft Teams intuitive nature to streamline the OKR process and foster a more cohesive and engaged work environment.

So… Why is creating and tracking OKR teams within Microsoft Teams a smart strategic move?

1. A Centralized Communication Hub

Microsoft Teams provides a centralized platform where all members can communicate, collaborate, and access the same information. By integrating OKRs into this platform, leaders make sure that objectives and key results are always visible and in the flow of work.

When OKRs are inside Microsoft Teams, employees don’t have to go out of their way to keep track of their goals. They can quite easily collaborate on them together over Teams.

2. Integration with Existing Workflows

Most teams are already familiar with Microsoft Teams as a primary communication tool. So why would they need to make a shift to an entirely different platform?

Incorporating Their OKRs into their existing workflow minimizes the learning curve and maximizes adoption, ensuring that OKRs become an integral part of the daily routine rather than an added complexity.

3. Access to OKR Tools and Software

Microsoft Teams isn’t just a standalone platform. Microsoft Teams has a rich ecosystem of goal setting and performance management applications.

Considering that Microsoft Teams also houses Teamflect, an OKR software designed specifically for the Microsoft Teams platform, managing OKRs and using Microsoft Teams truly goes hand-in-hand.

Integrating OKR tools Microsoft Teams allows teams to leverage specialized features designed to optimize the OKR process.

From setting objectives to tracking progress and analyzing results, tools like Teamflect facilitate a comprehensive OKR management system within the familiar interface of Microsoft Teams.

4. Enhanced Visibility and Tracking

Managing OKRs in a platform like Microsoft Teams makes them more visible and easier to track. With the comfort of not having to leave the main communication and collaboration hub, managers enable real-time visibility into the progress of each objective and key result.

Team members can update their progress, share insights, and seek support directly within the platform, allowing for dynamic tracking and adjustment of OKRs in response to changing circumstances.

Written by

Emily Helen Arnold

Emily Helen Arnold is a content writer at Teamflect. She is obsessed with organizational behavior studies and loves writing/thinking about how a carefully designed people strategy can transform a company.

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