2 Backlog Management OKR examples with initiatives

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What are Backlog Management OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

Crafting effective OKRs can be challenging, particularly for beginners. Emphasizing outcomes rather than projects should be the core of your planning.

We have a collection of OKRs examples for Backlog Management to give you some inspiration. You can use any of the templates below as a starting point for your OKRs.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.

The best tools for writing perfect Backlog Management OKRs

Here are 2 tools that can help you draft your OKRs in no time.

Tability AI: to generate OKRs based on a prompt

Tability AI allows you to describe your goals in a prompt, and generate a fully editable OKR template in seconds.

1. Create a Tability account
2. Click on the Generate goals using AI
3. Describe your goals in a prompt
4. Get your fully editable OKR template
5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards

Watch the video below to see it in action 👇

Tability Feedback: to improve existing OKRs

You can use Tability's AI feedback to improve your OKRs if you already have existing goals.

1. Create your Tability account
2. Add your existing OKRs (you can import them from a spreadsheet)
3. Click on Generate analysis
4. Review the suggestions and decide to accept or dismiss them
5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards

Tability will scan your OKRs and offer different suggestions to improve them. This can range from a small rewrite of a statement to make it clearer to a complete rewrite of the entire OKR.

Backlog Management OKRs examples

We've added many examples of Backlog Management Objectives and Key Results, but we did not stop there. Understanding the difference between OKRs and projects is important, so we also added examples of strategic initiatives that relate to the OKRs.

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to enhance the efficiency of our matured agile team

ObjectiveEnhance the efficiency of our matured agile team
KRReduce backlog items by 20%
Implement additional resources towards tackling backlog
Review and improve current work processes
Prioritize backlog based on urgency and importance
KRImprove team satisfaction score by 10 points through regular feedback and coaching
Implement weekly feedback sessions within the team
Encourage peer-to-peer feedback exchange
Develop a coaching program for underperformers
KRIncrease sprint completion rate by 15%
Enhance periodic sprint retrospectives for better insights
Implement strict time management and planning processes
Improve team communication, coordination, and collaboration

Use template

OKRs to enhance the team's sprint goal attainment and continuous improvement

ObjectiveEnhance the team's sprint goal attainment and continuous improvement
KRIncrease sprint goal achievement rate by 20%
Implement more efficient task management systems
Increase daily stand-up meetings for progress check
Offer training to boost team productivity
KRReduce sprint backlog by 15% through effective prioritisation techniques
Implement priority scoring for each item in the sprint backlog
Conduct regular backlog refinement sessions with the team
Eliminate low-priority tasks from the backlog
KRImplement weekly coaching sessions to improve team’s skills
Prepare targeted training material for each weekly session
Determine key skill areas needing improvement through assessments
Schedule regular weekly coaching sessions in the team's calendar

sprint-goal-achievement sprint-backlog-reduction team-coach sprint-manager agile-management-team project-coordination-team

Use template

Backlog Management OKR best practices

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Save hours with automated OKR dashboards

The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
It will highlight poorly set OKRs
It will surface execution risks
It improves transparency and accountability

We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using Tability to save time with automated OKR dashboards, data connectors, and actionable insights.

How to get Tability dashboards:

1. Create a Tability account
2. Use the importers to add your OKRs (works with any spreadsheet or doc)
3. Publish your OKR plan

That's it! Tability will instantly get access to 10+ dashboards to monitor progress, visualise trends, and identify risks early.

More Backlog Management OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

2 OKR examples for Backlog Management