OKRs for Project Managers

OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting methodology that helps organisations set clear goals and keep teams aligned during the quarter.

It focuses on the impact of the work rather than deadlines and deliverables. As such, some may argue that OKRs aren't that useful for project managers but that would be ignoring the clear benefits that OKRs have when it comes down to optimising existing processes.

Project managers can rely on traditional planning to ensure that work is complete in scope and on time. But they can also use OKRs in parallel to improve efficiencies.

OKRs can also be useful to help define what success looks like for long-term projects. It will help stakeholders and individual contributors to share a common understanding of the expected impact when the project is delivered.

We'll see in this guide some tips to help you write good OKRs, as well as some specific examples for developers.

How to write OKRs for project managers

Step 1. Knowing the difference between OKRs vs. Projects

The main challenge for project managers starting with OKRs is to switch their focus away from outputs, and considered the related outcomes instead.

It is critical for them to understand the difference between Objectives, Key Results, and projects:

• Objectives: what do we want to achieve next quarter?
• Key Results: how are we going to measure progress?
• Projects/Initiatives: what are our best bets to get there?

A common mistake is to start listing all your existing initiatives as Key Results. Yes, these projects are important, but your OKRs should not be a different way to represent your roadmap. 

Good Objectives should be inspiring and easy to understand by anyone in the company.

Good Key Results should help you measure progress toward your Objective. A simple test is to ask, "would we do things differently if this KR goes off-track?". If the answer is negative, then you need to refine your OKR.

Finally, your projects are the bets that you make to achieve your OKRs. Double down on the things that work, and drop those that aren't producing results.

Step 2. Pick 1-2 focus areas

The next step is to pick the correct focus for the quarter. Here are some examples that apply to Project Management:

• Usability: make sure that features are delivered with great user experience
• Scope: prevent teams from expanding scope beyond the budget
• Security: prioritise security as part of the release workflow
• Timeliness: make sure that projects are finished on time
• Quality: minimize the number of defects that are found in production, or during the development cycle

Once you have your theme in place, you can go further and turn them into inspiring statements for the team. They'll become the starting point of your OKRs.

Step 3. Write your plan

Once you've narrowed your focus, you can start writing your OKRs. You'll see some examples below, and here's a complete guide on how to quickly write great OKRs.

Example of OKRs for Project Managers

OKR to improve project management

OKR to keep a long-running project on track

OKR to improve project delivery margins

OKR to accelerate release cycles

OKR to launch a successful mobile application

OKR to significantly improve the timeliness of projects

OKR to prepare a successful product launch