3 customisable OKR examples for Technical Skills
What are Technical Skills 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.
OKRs are quickly gaining popularity as a goal-setting framework. But, it's not always easy to know how to write your goals, especially if it's your first time using OKRs.
To aid you in setting your goals, we have compiled a collection of OKR examples customized for Technical Skills. Take a look at the templates below for inspiration and guidance.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Building your own Technical Skills OKRs with AI
While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.
Our customisable Technical Skills OKRs examples
We've added many examples of Technical Skills 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!
1. OKRs to master new relevant technical skills
Master new relevant technical skills
Apply newly learned skills in 3 different ongoing or upcoming projects
Evaluate improvements and performance after applying new skills- Identify projects where new skills can be effectively implemented
- Strategically incorporate newly learned skills into project roles
- Complete at least two comprehensive technical courses in my industry
- Research relevant technical courses within the industry
- Regularly attend and complete all course requirements
- Enroll in two chosen comprehensive courses
- Score at least 85% on all post-course assessments or certifications
- Create a thorough study plan for each course's material
- Allocate dedicated daily study periods
- Seek assistance for topics you struggle with
2. OKRs to develop the skills and knowledge of junior data scientists
- Develop the skills and knowledge of junior data scientists
- Enhance junior data scientists' ability to effectively communicate insights through presentations and reports
- Establish a feedback loop to continuously review and improve the communication skills of junior data scientists
- Encourage junior data scientists to actively participate in team meetings and share their insights
- Provide junior data scientists with training on effective presentation and report writing techniques
- Assign a mentor to junior data scientists to guide and coach them in communication skills
- Increase junior data scientists' technical proficiency through targeted training programs
- Provide hands-on workshops and projects to enhance practical skills of junior data scientists
- Monitor and evaluate progress through regular assessments and feedback sessions
- Develop customized training modules based on identified knowledge gaps
- Conduct a skills assessment to identify knowledge gaps of junior data scientists
- Measure and improve junior data scientists' productivity by reducing their turnaround time for assigned tasks
- Foster a supportive environment by establishing mentorship programs for junior data scientists
3. OKRs to boost efficiency and effectiveness of Prod Support/Service desk
- Boost efficiency and effectiveness of Prod Support/Service desk
- Implement a training program to enhance technical skills of support staff by 35%
- Implement training program and monitor progress
- Define key technical skills needing enhancement among support staff
- Select or design a comprehensive training program
- Reduce average ticket resolution time by 25%
- Implement mandatory customer service efficiency training for all staff
- Integrate AI-based automation tools in ticket resolution process
- Streamline communication channels between departments
- Increase customer satisfaction rates related to issue resolution by 15%
- Implement weekly training on conflict resolution for customer service representatives
- Regularly monitor and improve the issue resolution process
- Develop an efficient, user-friendly online system for complaint submission
Technical Skills OKR best practices to boost success
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
Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.
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.
Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRsTip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins
Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparencyTip #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.
How to turn your Technical Skills OKRs in a strategy map
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 a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.
Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRsIf you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.
More Technical Skills OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to successfully launch a new product
- OKRs to decrease time from idea to product deliverables
- OKRs to improve my proficiency in academic English
- OKRs to amplify our brand visibility through strategic content marketing
- OKRs to enhance collaborative capabilities as an HR specialist partnering in team activities
- OKRs to securely integrate Code42 and Abnormal Security with existing operations
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: What is the meaning of OKRs
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples
What's next? Try Tability's goal-setting AI
You can create an iterate on your OKRs using Tability's unique goal-setting AI.
Watch the demo below, then hop on the platform for a free trial.