Tability is a cheatcode for goal-driven teams. Set perfect OKRs with AI, stay focused on the work that matters.
What are Cost Monitoring 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.
Writing good OKRs can be hard, especially if it's your first time doing it. You'll need to center the focus of your plans around outcomes instead of projects.
We have curated a selection of OKR examples specifically for Cost Monitoring to assist you. Feel free to explore the templates below for inspiration in setting your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
The best tools for writing perfect Cost Monitoring 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.
Cost Monitoring OKRs examples
You will find in the next section many different Cost Monitoring Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).
Hope you'll find this helpful!
OKRs to secure optimal pricing from third-party vendors
- ObjectiveSecure optimal pricing from third-party vendors
- KRIdentify and initiate discussions with 3 new lower-cost vendors
- Kickstart negotiations around cost and terms with each potential vendor
- Research and list potential lower-cost vendors in marketplace
- Reach out to each vendor for initial consultation or pitch
- KRImplement cost monitoring system for real-time tracking of vendor pricing
- Initiate real-time tracking of vendor pricing
- Research and choose suitable cost monitoring software
- Train staff on using the software for price tracking
- KRNegotiate with 5 existing vendors to lower costs by 10%
- Identify and review current contracts with the five existing vendors
- Prepare a clear, compelling case for cost reduction with supporting data
- Initiate negotiation meetings with each vendor to discuss cost lowering
OKRs to optimize AWS Costs
- ObjectiveOptimize AWS Costs
- KRDecrease monthly AWS spend by 15% compared to the previous quarter
- Implement automatic scaling and resource utilization monitoring for cost-effective resource provisioning
- Implement AWS Cost Explorer to analyze spending patterns and identify optimization opportunities
- Optimize EC2 instances and remove unused resources to reduce AWS usage costs
- Utilize Reserved Instances and Savings Plans to save on compute and database service costs
- KRIdentify and eliminate any unnecessary or unused AWS resources
- Remove or terminate any unnecessary or redundant AWS resources immediately
- Evaluate the purpose and necessity of each identified unused resource
- Regularly monitor and audit AWS resources to ensure ongoing resource optimization
- Review all AWS resources to identify any that are not actively being used
- KRImplement cost-saving measures, such as Reserved Instances and Spot Instances utilization
- KRConduct regular cost analysis to track and report savings achieved from optimization efforts
- Compile a comprehensive report showcasing the achieved savings and present it to stakeholders
- Review cost data and compare it to previous periods to identify potential savings
- Analyze cost drivers and evaluate opportunities for optimization in different areas
- Implement a system to regularly track and monitor ongoing optimization efforts and cost savings
Cost Monitoring 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
Most teams should start with a spreadsheet if they're using OKRs for the first time. Then, you can move to 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 Cost Monitoring OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
OKRs to enhance environmental responsibility in our daily operations OKRs to accelerate product scalability for multi-tenant utilization OKRs to conduct regular penetration testing and code reviews OKRs to achieve an 80+ score in work output OKRs to improve efficacy and quality of nurse case management OKRs to accelerate customer advocacy through our existing program