Sharing Lessons Learned in OKR
One activity we find very useful in implementing OKR is to write and share lessons learned. This is especially so during the initial stage when everyone is only starting to train their goal muscle.
Having lessons learned in writing would make it easy for you to share it with others, who may or may not face the same situation.
The following is based on real observation Product Narrative had recently. When this team was setting up their weekly OKR, we noticed Ms. November showed her good intention to help Mr. January to achieve one of his Key Result. (We purposely didn’t use real names here.) His KR was to close a deal with a business partner; and, while Ms. November’s forte is in Indonesian taxation, Mr. January could use her help to structure the deal.
The conversation revolved around her intention to help. “Mr. January, I can help you if you have some questions about tax,” she offered. Then, Mr. January would reply, “Alright, I will. Thank you.”
But, no specific help was discussed.
Did you notice a similar situation in your team? We have encountered this a few times while coaching OKR to teams in Indonesia. It made us wonder perhaps it’s because people in Indonesia are by nature very willing to help. Offering help, although without specificity, comes spontaneously, as the philosophy of gotong-royong is taught and encouraged since the early years of education. According to this brief Wikipedia entry, gotong-royong is also a familiar concept in Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia.
This prompted us to guide the team to be more specific about the help Ms. November was offering, also about how Mr. January wanted to be helped. This guidance had lead Ms. November to come up with a concrete KR for her own, which read “a tax documentation that clearly explains the taxation benefits as our business partner.” This KR is good because it is specific and outcome-driven, instead of task-driven. That is, Ms. November can confidently score this KR once she’s completed the documentation (a documentation = an outcome); compared to saying she’d help out (to help = a task; and, too abstract for scoring). Good for Ms. November, good for Mr. January.
Besides this just-in-time guidance during the meeting, we also shared the following lessons learned via email (screenshot attached). The copy is also included below (verbatim, except the participants’ names) for easy reading.
All,
I know I usually sent lessons learned email after we reviewed our OKR on Friday.
But, I thought there was a lesson on today’s OKR setup meeting, so I want to share it to all of us.
When Mr. January proposed that Ms. November’s KR is helping him close the deal with Business Partner (especially in regards to tax), I think what Mul said can be a lesson:
We all want to help — no doubt about this. The intention is there. But, we need to define how we can help. It’s no longer an intention, but there should be a concrete form on how we can help. Why is this important? This is to provide a clarity in responsibility; so everyone (the one providing the help and the other who’s at the receiving end) knows what they need to do and/or what to expect. So, when Friday comes and we’re reviewing our OKR, everyone can clearly explain whether they can or cannot tick off their KRs.
…
Thank you and have a great day!
Short notes about Key Results (KR)
Key Results are the “Hows.” Remember that your Key Results:
- Should express measurable milestones
- Must describe outcomes, not activities.
- Must include evidence of completion. This evidence must be available, credible, and easily discoverable.
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