OKRs for Operations

Why use OKRs for operations

Operations teams are responsible for creating more efficient processes in an organisation. An operations manager’s job is to effectively prioritise strategic areas for improvement without restricting the flexibility at the core of the role.

OKRs enable operations teams to identify and focus on specific quarterly goals. They help shift the focus on the systems needing the most fine-tuning, exposing inefficiencies and ambiguities. 

On a more targeted level, objectives link operations team efforts to an overarching strategy, and key results provide operations teams with useful metrics for productivity and efficiency.

How to write OKRs for operation teams

Step 1. Understand OKRs

When broken down into steps, OKRs are easier to manage. Remember three points: Objectives (O), Key Results (KRs) and projects.

• Objectives: Broad statements that define the direction for the quarter.
• Key Results: Milestones or indicators of success.
• Projects: The tasks that will help you achieve Key Results.

For a more in-depth explanation, see our comprehensive guide to writing OKRs.

Step 2. Pick a captain

Choosing a team captain isn’t limited to high-school sports — OKRs work best when there’s a pilot to help keep the operations team on track. 

The OKRs leader should have a good understanding of OKRs and why the framework is valuable. The team captain should be ready to support the team while everyone learns the basics. 

Start small — aim for a couple of Objectives for the quarter and ground them with three Key Results each. Encourage weekly check-ins for the best results.

Step 3. Define your Objectives

How do you decide on what your quarterly focus should be? One way is by using the AARRR framework. Five stages are identified in this framework: acquisition, activation, retention, referral and revenue. 

• Acquisition: How do customers find us?
• Activation: How do those that find us become customers?
• Retention: How often do customers return?
• Referral: How often do customers refer us?
• Revenues: How much money are we making?

Operations teams will have to dip their fingers into all the honey pots, but revenue may be their main focus.

Step 4. Outline your Key Results

To accompany your Objectives, list Key Results. Good Key Results follow SMART guidelines — they’re specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

To help you visualise, we’ve created a template for writing SMART Key Results:

• Improve <metric> from X to Y

Remember — Key Results should define the success of your metrics. Once you’ve drafted your metrics, check them against your objectives to test their relevancy. 

Step 5. List your projects

Here’s the easy part — think about what you can do to make progress on your Key Results and create a to-do list. This should be as short or long as suits you and your team, but keep in mind that a lengthy list may discourage first-timers. 

Here’s a guide to managing your tasks in the Tability app.

Examples of operations OKRs

You may be thinking, “That's a lot of info,” so let's paint a picture. As you write your first OKRs, focus on outcomes and accountability rather than projects. The following examples illustrate that process and reveal what OKRs look like for operations teams.

OKRs examples for process improvement

Process improvement is the bread and butter of operations teams. A process optimisation approach involves examining and improving organisational processes in order to optimise team performance. This ultimately improves the efficiency of the workplace and by proxy, the experience of end-users. Here’s a broad OKRs example to improve team efficiency.

OKR examples for sales operations

The role of sales operations is to support and enable sales representatives to sell more effectively and improve overall profitability. Here is an example of an OKR plan for a sales operations manager.

OKR examples for customer operations

Customer operations teams help companies build and implement better customer service strategies and functions. A good example of the quarterly focus and plan for customer operations teams is shown below.

What other operations metrics can you use?

It's time to select the best metrics for your operations team's success. We've compiled the best metrics for operations success that you can use.

You may wish to start with these: