Objectives and Key Results (OKR) are high level goals and their results are measured through the points acquired in the key results. The book titled Measure What Matters by John Doerr describes how the successes of businesses and organizations are driven by the OKRs incorporated in the businesses.
The first step of achieving personal and business goals is to write them down. To achieve a high performance and desired results from the goals set, organizations start by identifying unnecessary actions and direct focus to what really matter in respect to the set goals. Through OKRs, leaders make tough decisions by incorporating precision communication tools for departments, teams, and individual contributors in order to remove confusion and direct attention towards working on the projects that will ensure the best possible outcome from the set goals.
However, identifying goals and directing focus towards achieving them is not merely enough. The key that ensures there is no divergence of focus from the set goals is a system for tracking accountability through data analysis since OKRs are data-driven. Tracking accountability involves periodic check-ins, regular grading of objectives, and continuous reassessment. Tracking for accountability should be a non-judgmental process that is looks for the need to revise or replace projects that may compromise the achievement of the set OKR goals.
Effective OKRs are characterized by their effectiveness, ability to achieve set goals within the desired time period, aggressiveness, and pragmatism. Through the ability to channel efforts and coordination in a business, OKRs are able to surface primary goals and link diverse operations hence giving unity and purpose to the entire business operations.