KPIs vs. OKRs: How They Compare and Why You Need Both ...

One of the key differences between OKRs and KPIs is the intention behind the goal setting. KPI goals are typically obtainable and represent the ... Productivity·7minread KPIsvs.OKRs:HowTheyCompareandWhyYouNeedBothtobeSuccessful ByBriannaHansen, May13,2022 Withtheholidaysquicklyapproaching,it'sagoodtimetocheckinonthoseresolutionsyoumadeatthebeginningoftheyear.Didyouachievethem?Whatdidyoustrugglewith? Thinkofyourteam'sresolutionsforthisyear.Didyouachievethedesiredresultsfromyourefforts?Whichspecificinitiativeswereeffective?Whichwerenot?Reviewingyouroverallperformanceisimportantwhengaugingwhatyou'veaccomplishedthroughouttheyear. However,it'sjustasimportanttolookforwardasitistolookback.Thelastfewweeksoftheyearareidealforgoalsetting. Ifyou'refamiliarwithtechandmarketing,you'velikelyheardtheterm"KPIs."Andifyou'veworkedatahelpfullittlesearchengineorganizationcalledGoogle,you'reprobablymorefamiliarwith"OKRs." Ifyou'refamiliarwithneither,don'tpanic.Thetechworldisfilledwithbuzzyjargonandacronymssoitcanbehardtokeepthemallstraight. Ultimately,theircommonpurposeistoestablishandplanquarterlyand/orannualgoals. WhatisaKPI? KeyPerformanceIndicators(KPIs)aredefinedasperformancemetricsthatevaluatethesuccessofanorganizationorparticularactivity.KPIscanapplytoprojects,programs,products,andavarietyofotherinitiatives.Theycanmeasurethesuccessofanythingfromsalesgoalstosocialmediametrics. TheexactoriginbehindKPIsisunknown,buttheactofmeasuringperformancedatesbacktothethirdcenturywhentheemperorsoftheWeiDynasty(221-265AD)ratedtheperformanceofofficialfamilymembers.Today,KPIshavebeenadoptedbycountlessorganizationsandusedtoevaluateandforecastsuccess. However,aKPIisonlyasvaluableastheactionitinspires.Often,companiestrytoadoptKPIsusedbyothercompaniesandusethemastheirown,thenwonderwhytheirgoalsarenevermet.Justaseveryemployeeisdifferent,everyorganizationisdifferent.KPIsshouldbetailoredtoyourspecificorganizationalobjectives,howyouplanonachievingthem,andwhocanactonthisinformation. Let'stakealookatanexample.Let'ssayyourproductmanagementKPIwastoincreaseMarketingQualifiedLeads(MQLs)by30%.Here'showyoudefineit: KPIforMQLGrowthWhat:IncreaseMQLsby30%thisyearWhy:AchievingthistargetwillallowthebusinesstobecomeprofitableHow:Hiringadditionalsalesstaff,improvingexistingmarketingstrategies,adoptinganewtool,creatingmorecontent,etc.Who:VPofMarketingisresponsibleforthismetricWhen:TheKPIwillbereviewedonaquarterlybasis WhatisanOKR? ObjectivesandKeyResults(OKRs)aredefinedasametricthatoutlinescompanyandteam"objectives"alongwiththemeasurable"keyresults"thatdefinetheachievementofeachobjective.OKRsrepresentaggressivegoalsanddefinethemeasurablestepsyou’lltaketowardsachievingthosegoals.They'retypicallyusedtosetquarterlygoals,butcanalsobeusedforannualplanning.TherisingpopularityofOKRsismainlyattributedtoIntelandGoogle,whohaveadoptedthistechniquefortheirplanning. OKRsaresetatthecompany,team,andindividuallevels.HereareahandfulofOKRexamples: CompanyOKR1: Objective:Becomethe#1most-downloadediOSProductivityApp KeyResult1:Conductasurveytoidentifythetenmost-requestedfeaturesandlaunchfiveofthetopmost-requestedfeaturesbyDec15 KeyResult2:ConducttenuserteststoidentifyUXissues KeyResult3:Showatleast50%improvementinsatisfactionwithUX(viacustomersurvey) KeyResult4:Earn200five-starratingsbyDec31 CompanyOKR2: Objective:Increasebrandrecognitionandawareness KeyResult1:Increasemediaengagementby20% KeyResult2:LaunchcustomerreferralprogrambyJan1 KeyResult3:Extendsocialmediareachandvisibilitytotwonewtargetmarkets KeyResult4:Expandthethoughtleadershipprogrambyplacingguestarticlesonfourindustry-relatedsiteswithanAlexarankingofatleast30,000 MarketingTeamOKR: Objective:Increasesocialmediaengagementby35% KeyResult1:ResearchandidentifythethreemostpopularsocialmediasitesamongtwonewtargetaudiencesanddevelopanengagementstrategybyJan1 KeyResult2:ParticipateinsixTwitterchatsinvolvingindustryleaders KeyResult3:RespondtonewFacebookcommentswithinthreehours KeyResult4:IncreasethenumberoffollowersonFacebookandTwitterby20% IndividualOKR: Objective:Increasethenumberofsocialmediaconnectionsby25% KeyResult1:IncreasepostingfrequencyonTwitterto8xdailyandFacebookto3xdaily KeyResult2:Establishasocialmediapresenceontwonewsites:LinkedInandQuora KeyResult3:JoinfiveLinkedIngroupswithatleast2,500memberseachandleavecommentsonthetenmostpopulardiscussionsineachgroup KeyResult4:Gain15followersonQuorabypostingthreeanswersandonequestioneveryweek   StartbuildingyourOKRsinWriketogetaheadstartonthenewyear.  ThedifferencebetweenKPIsandOKRs OneofthekeydifferencesbetweenOKRsandKPIsistheintentionbehindthegoalsetting.KPIgoalsaretypicallyobtainableandrepresenttheoutputofaprocessorprojectalreadyinplace,whileOKRgoalsaresomewhatmoreaggressiveandambitious. However,whileOKRgoalsshouldbebold,theyshouldn'tbeunreachable.TheideabehindthisstrategyisthatbycraftingaggressiveOKRs,youcanpushyourteam(andyourself)toperformthatmuchbetter. Whichoneisbetter? Atthispointyou'reprobablywondering,"What'sthedifferencebetweenOKRandKPI?"andyouwouldn'tbetheonlyone.WhenevaluatingwhethertouseOKRsvs.KPIs,it'sreallyuptoyouandwhatyou'relookingtomeasure. Forexample,ifyou'relookingtoscaleorimproveuponaplanorprojectthat'sbeendonebefore,KPIsmightbethebetteroption.They'restraightforwardandallowyoutoaddameasurementsystemtoyourongoingprojectsandprocesses. However,ifyouhavealargervisionorarelookingtochangeyouroveralldirection,OKRsmightbethebetterchoice.Theyhavegreaterdepththatwillallowyoutostretchyourgoalsevenfurtherandallowyoutobeabitmorecreativeonhowyouplantoreachthosegoals. Importanceofmeasuringperformance Regardlessofwhichtechniqueyouchoose,thebottomlineis:Theonlywaytoimproveistomeasureandreviewperformance.Ifyoudon'ttakethetimetosetobjectives,oryou'resettingthembutnotreviewingthemattheendoftheyear/quarter,youmissaprimeopportunitytolearnandimprove.Remember,youcanactuallylearnfromfailuresandsuccesses,somakeitatopprioritytoimplementperformancemetrics.Youmaybesurprisedbyhowquicklyyouandyourteamreachthem. HowWrikecanhelpyoudefinebusinessgoals Wrike'sOKRmanagementandgoal-trackingsoftwareisdesignedtohelporganizationsmeetandexceedtheirobjectives.YoucanvisualizemilestoneswithcalendarsandGanttcharts,keeptrackofprogresswithpersonalizeddashboards,andshareresultswithourcustomreports.  What'smore,ourOKRtemplatemakesiteasytobuildOKRprojects,createOKRsforindividualteammembers,andalignyourteam'sworkwiththeoverallcompanygoals.Getstartedtodaywithafreetwo-weektrial.  AdditionalResourcesonGoalSetting HowtoBuildYourNextYear'sMarketingPlan 3PopularGoalSettingTechniquesManagersShouldAvoid 5LeadershipGoal-SettingTipsForMaking2018ASuccess IfYou'reNotUsingOKRsforQuarterlyPlanning,StopandReadThis   Source:https://smartkpis.kpiinstitute.org Tweet Share Share Send ProjectPlanning Comments 0 LeadingсompaniesсhooseWrike DownloadourmobileappforyourAndroidoriOSdevice About Company Careers Blog Events Newsroom ContactUs Wrike Product Pricing ProjectTemplates Customers Apps&Integrations API Security CANoticeatCollection Solutions Marketing Creative ProjectManagement ProductDevelopment ProfessionalServices AllTeams Resources ForProjectManagers ForMarketers ForProductivity ForCollaboration WrikeFreeeBooks ProjectManagementGuide Projectmanagementtoolsandtechniques Forcustomers HelpCenter Webinars InteractiveTraining Community UserConference WrikeStatus WrikeSupport Forpartners WrikePartnerProgram LatestinWrikeBlog ACompleteGuidetoMarketingMetrics HowtoWorkEffectively:13SimpleStrategiestoWorkSmarter WhatIsFloatinProjectManagement? 6TipsforDealingWithDifficultClients HowtoCreatethePerfectContentBrief WhatIsaRiskMatrix? 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