Everything you need to know about how to make Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) work at your company. Part 2 of the eBook SlideShare includes examples, best practices, and mistakes to avoid. Learn how to create objectives that inspire your team, and how to build a holistic performance management practice with 15Five's unique approach to OKRs.

1. ULTIMATE GUIDE
For Making OKRs Work
AT YOUR COMPANY
15Five’s

2. 15FIVE.COM | 11
CHAPTER 3
MISCONCEPTIONS
ABOUT THE
OKR SYSTEM

3. 12 | 15Five’s Ultimate Guide for Making OKRs Work at Your Company
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE OKR SYSTEM
Not everybody is a fan of objective-based management. In this chapter we will
address these common critiques and misunderstandings of OKRs and similar
systems:
Misconception: The
process of creating
OKRs will slow
down my team.
Truth:
OKRs improve the
rate of performance,
by planning ahead
and keeping the
team aligned.
Some employees will feel overwhelmed by the 3 to 5 lofty objectives they
set every quarter, and overwhelm can cause shut-down.
• According to John Doerr, do not create too many key results. Six
is the absolute maximum so as not to risk overextending the team.
• Never set any business goal and simply walk away. Managers
should check in frequently to ensure that employees stay on track.
• Go beyond the metrics and ask qualitative questions. “How are
you doing? What challenges are you facing? How can I help?”
• Break down quarterly objectives into weekly and monthly goals.
Taking small bites feels more manageable and provides a roadmap to
completing the larger goal.
1
There are a couple of ways to handle this:

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Misconception:
The frequency of OKRs
are out of sync with the
pace of the market.
Truth:
OKRs can be abandoned
if that’s in the best
interest of the company.
Misconception:
Employees lose
focus because they
are worried about
achieving results.
Truth:
Key Results are
stretch goals that
don’t impact reviews
or compensation.
OKRs can become flexible if necessary. For example, a new competitor
may arise or the company’s financial outlook may collapse or improve.
While the OKRs for the quarter stay the same, leaders can
react by providing new goals for teams and employees to do what’s
best for the business. The quarterly objectives will likely not be reached,
but everyone gains valuable insights from failed OKRs. They in essence
become learning lessons for the company to improve future performance.
OKRs are not a to-do list with a button at the bottom. Allow people
to fail at them since OKR performance is not tied to annual reviews,
compensation, or bonuses. At the end of the quarter everyone
debriefs and learns from the failures. Managers and employees all
learn how to set better objectives for the upcoming quarter.
• Don’t tie key results to performance or compensation.
• Key results are graded at the end of the quarter. They are stretch
goals that should challenge the employee. The goal is 60%-70%
completion. If employees hit them all, they are not striving enough.
Objectives that are set quarterly can seem to fall out of pace with the frequency
of change within the company (especially for smaller startups that have to
pivot).
Employees can be intimidated because they are afraid of repercussions for
not accomplishing their objectives. Management can assuage their concerns
by explaining that key results are independent of criteria for performance
reviews:
Management wants to set lofty objectives for everyone in the organization.
Set sights higher than what one might think is possible, and be pleasantly
surprised with the outcomes.
Note: Some organizations use OKRs as a method for goal tracking, rather
than the “Google Method” of setting overly-ambitious objectives. Those
companies can use a different strategy by having teams and employees set
more attainable objectives. Success will then be benchmarked by 90-100%
completion, rather than 60-70%.
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3

5. CHAPTER 4
THE 15FIVE
APPROACH
TO OKRS

6. 15FIVE.COM | 15
THE 15FIVE APPROACH TO OKRS
15Five offers flexible performance management software that gives employees
ownership over their contributions, and provides managers with visibility to improve
individual performance and the achievement of company-wide objectives.
15Five links leadership’s vision with individual execution so that clarity on top-level
objectives helps to create a sense of ownership among individual contributors.
The Objectives and 15Five make it simple for every employee to actually do what
they say they are going to achieve.
Give data a
context through
regular qualitative
feedback. Every company has
metrics and KPIs in place
to regularly observe and
measure performance,
but when it comes
to assessing people,
quantitative analysis
is only half the story.
1

7. 16 | 15Five’s Ultimate Guide for Making OKRs Work at Your Company
15Five is not just about information gathering, but also aids in the establishment of
trust. Asking team members “how do you feel?” or “where are you challenged?”,
elicits valuable information like, “I am stressed because we re-structured
departmental procedures and it feels like there are still gaping holes in our new
process”, or “I am getting run down and can’t do my best work”. Managers can then
respond to employee needs before they get out of hand.
Managers can quickly and easily discover misalignments and make weekly course corrections. They can
see where employees are challenged and offer just enough support to allow them to grow into their roles
and achieve their objectives. Employees also have the opportunity to share triumphs and be acknowledged
by management. Acknowledgements help motivate employees to perform and they boost morale.
DATA IS NOT ENOUGH
15Five and Objectives perfectly complement each other to provide context around
objective-focused management. By asking the right questions every week, managers
obtaindeeperinsightintothemotivations, distractions and other issues thatinfluence
or hinder results.

8. 15FIVE.COM | 17
When company leaders
connect long term goals with
communication, they tap into the
human element of performance.
People move naturally towards
doing their best work and
becoming their best selves.
15Five is reinventing performance management software from an understanding
of human dynamics. The rhythmic pulsing of weekly check-ins and regular one-on-
one meetings constitutes the real heartbeat of a growing company. Deep trusted
relationships form and managers can inspire greatness by tapping into the passion
and creativity of talented employees.
Set goals, measure them, and then have the conversations to replicate triumphs
and remediate challenges. 15Five offers company leaders the opportunity to
naturally inspire the best work from their teams, while facilitating rapid growth for
the business.
“The more a job resembles a game with variety,
appropriate and flexible challenges, clear goals and
immediate feedback, the more enjoyable it will be
regardless of the worker’s level of development.”
-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from his bestselling book Flow

9. 18 | 15Five’s Ultimate Guide for Making OKRs Work at Your Company
Without supplementing the numbers with context, leaders are just guessing
about the future of their company.
Thequantitativebyitselfonlyprovideshalfthepicture,butwhenmanagershave
conversations early enough, so much can be addressed before breakdown.
When people can share openly because they don’t feel that their jobs are
at risk, managers learn where they are struggling beyond their capacity and
become aware of the things that need improvement before it’s too late.
15Five is built around the weekly check-in as the cornerstone that assures
people are connecting with their high level objectives every week.
“Don’t use data as a drunken man uses a lamp
post – for support rather than illumination.”
-Andrew Lang, Scottish poet
The weekly
pulse.
Company leaders who communicate with employees to discover their
challenges and ideas are better equipped to take specific action to remedy
ailments like low output. Managers need to hear the in-depth story behind
performance issues or see what is working so that they can replicate it
elsewhere in the company.
The OKR methodology can be implemented along with 15Five, an
automated question and answer process that provides visibility into the
world of each employee. Managers can uncover employee challenges
so that they can offer support, and even find out what’s going on in an
employee’s personal life that might be affecting work performance. With
these two tools together in one platform it offers managers an elegant
solution for receiving employee feedback and responding in a way that re-
aligns employees with their quarterly objectives.
The ability to accomplish lofty organizational goals results directly from high
levels of employee engagement, productivity and satisfaction. According
to Gallup Business Journal, when organizations successfully engage their
employees (and customers), they experience a 240% boost in performance-
related business outcomes.
There is tremendous value to taking the pulse of a company. By asking
questions employees feel safe to report difficult truths to management,
who can take the necessary steps to keep them on track.
2
Vision
Strategy
Tactics
Feedback

10. 15FIVE.COM | 19
Aligning people
with the big
picture through
feedback.
Vertical
An individual’s
objectives connect to
(and do not conflict
with) the objectives
of managers
and the team.
What are your
objectives this
quarter?
Compay / mission
An individual can
clearly see the
importance of his
or her objectives
because they are
connected to the
company goals
and mission.
Do you know what is
expected of you to
help us achieve our
company-wide goals?
Horizontal
An individual’s
objectives connect
(and do not conflict)
across teams.
Do you see any
conflicts between
your goals and
those of anyone
else on the team?
Organizations (especially larger ones) are structured in a variety of different
ways, which can add complexity to the process of aligning employees.
Alignment is not just top-down and typically occurs in 3 ways:
15Five’s OKR dashboard provides managers with immediate data to see who
is falling behind or at risk of failing to complete an objective. Going a layer
deeper provides analysis on goals among and across teams so that conflicts
do not arise.
With 15Five, managers can ask these questions directly:
Asking if people understand their priorities creates alignment, and asking
clarifying questions maintains it.
If there’s an answer that proposes an idea or indicates a roadblock asking
that person follow-up questions like “What do you think is the best way for us
to implement this?”, “What resources and support do you need to make this
happen?”, or even “Tell me more”. This lets people know that managers care
and desire further articulation of an idea.
The final piece of the puzzle is
providing feedback to teams
throughout the organization.
3

11. 20 | 15Five’s Ultimate Guide for Making OKRs Work at Your Company
CONCLUSION
This formula for success continues to prove valuable in almost any business scenario:
What can be accomplished in a quarter? 500 work hours fly by quickly and can be wasted without
focus. 15Five’s Objectives lets you break down enormous and ambitious quarterly goals into their
smaller component parts throughout an organization, from the C-suite down to each individual
team and employee. Steady progress can then be made and measured, and the seemingly
impossible achieved. Asking Weekly 15Five Questions allows managers to regularly course
correct and positively impact morale and engagement along the way.
OKRs create disciplined thinking so that people prioritize their major goals. They let everyone
in the organization know what is important and enable more accurate communication because
everyone can see everyone else’s priorities. They help establish a metrics-driven culture, and
they help focus effort and ensure alignment.
Supporting employees to do their best work can be challenging for early-stage startups and
established business with years of success under their belts. OKRs allow management to lead
each team to establish objectives that are in-line with company goals. They can give individuals
the space to do their best work, and provide them with regular team feedback to always work as
a cohesive unit on moving the company forward.
Set company, team, and
individual objectives.
Gather data to
measure performance. Have the right
communication rhythm to
keep the team aligned.
21 3
15Five provides web-based performance management
software that helps create high performing teams
by combining pulse surveys, weekly check-ins, peer
recognition and OKRs all in one platform. Learn more
at 15Five.com.

12. 15FIVE.COM | 21
SOURCES
Web
http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/04/how-to-
create-alignment-within-your-company.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231202
http://firstround.com/article/the-management-framework-
that-propelled-LinkedIn-to-a-20-billion-company
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJB83EZtAjc
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/business/david-sacks-of-
yammer-on-fostering-dissent-corner-office.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/31corner.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3
Books
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Image Credits
Canada Library Archives, https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/
Olivier Carré-Delisle, https://www.flickr.com/photos/84593672@N05/
Jesus Solana, https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasotraspaso/
amenclinicsphotos ac, https://www.flickr.com/photos/125892716@N05/
Adam_T4, https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_t4/