{"id":11823,"date":"2020-03-30T14:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T19:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/?p=11823"},"modified":"2021-05-21T12:24:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T17:24:53","slug":"okrs-objectives-and-key-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/okrs-objectives-and-key-results\/","title":{"rendered":"OKRs: Objectives and Key Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When implementing Lean-Agile practices at scale, organizations quickly realize their push for agility conflicts with traditional budgeting and cost accounting practices. It\u2019s challenging to truly achieve organizational agility without evolving these practices. Scaling Lean-Agile practices requires organizations to evolve the way progress is measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of focusing primarily on the completion of projects, many Lean and Agile teams choose to use a combination of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to measure the ongoing health of their processes and align efforts up and down the organizational hierarchy around the most important improvement opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional project accounting practices tend to focus on compliance measures like schedule, scope, and budget \u2013 and milestones that monitor progress toward all the above. This is because the decision to fund a project presupposes its value. The project team is generally only asked to be concerned with getting the approved scope of work done in a timely manner somewhere close to the original cost estimate. Whether it was the right thing to do isn\u2019t their concern. Whether it really produces value will only play out after their project team is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Projects are fundamentally temporary and are measured accordingly. Any ongoing care  the project team creates is either a) the responsibility of a separate operations or maintenance group and\/or b) depends on the approval of a new project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, Lean budgeting<\/a> tends to view a business as a reasonably stable set of products (or services) that brings value to customers and a system of value streams through which it produces those products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of those customer-facing products or (generally) internal value streams is enabled by a cross-functional group of people who use (ideally consistent) processes and systems to get their job done. Because these products or value streams are continuous, we tend to measure them by analyzing trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t ask \u201cWhat percent complete is the product or value stream?”. Why? Because as long  as it makes sense to continue offering the product to customers there\u2019s always more work to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead we ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n