Are OKRs relevant in Large Enterprises?

Michael Sare

Calendar Q4 is coming to a close and I was just thinking of metrics. I've been in the startup world for nearly 4 years now and driving to support company and departmental OKRs. I don't remember having OKRs prior to the startup world but was wondering the following:

• I think OKRs are good for startups until they get their legs underneath them but I am not sure of its effectiveness in Large Enterprises
• Are you a working for a Large Enterprise company? And if so, are you using OKRs?
• Are OKRs part of your weekly mindset? Do you think they're effective for a Large Enterprise company?
• Are OKRs used around the world? Let me know if your company uses them and where your HQ is based out of.
• What defines in your mind a successful CSM practice?

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts.

James Conant

Hi Michael - 

We used them at ADP and they were a key component in the development of annual strategic objectives. They started at the corp level and then were cascaded down thru departments and teams. Every dept, team, and employee knew exactly where they needed to focus their efforts, and all established a cadence to discuss status, risks, etc. I found them invaluable in keeping a team, that's easily drawn into day-to-day minutiae, focused on things that matter.

Jim

Michael Sare

Thank you James. Did you actually call them OKRs at ADP?

At first I thought OKRs were only known and used in startups but it must be a cultural thing then, regardless of stage or size of company, influenced by VCs and/or who leaders follow.

I feel if it's not introduced early on then it can be viewed as an additional source of friction to those who like to just GSD (get sh!t done) unhindered.

I don't mind them, but it's good to know if an organization uses them because there is a certain rhythmic feeling and pace to progression as you mentioned.

Ed Powers

According to Wikipedia, OKRs originated at Intel and are attributed to Andy Grove, their legendary CEO. OKR's were Intel's name for Management by Objective (MBO), and while Google and others have adopted them at the prompting of Kleiner-Perkins, MBO is nothing new to large enterprises. Peter Drucker talked about it in the 1950's and it became widespread practice. 

If you are looking for an approach that's far superior to MBO (and OKRs), I recommend investigating a Japanese method called hoshin kanri. It's the most popular alternative and it is widely used by HP, 3M, Sony, Toyota, Danaher, and many other top global firms. Hoshin is an integrated process of planning, deployment, execution, and review that allows firms to make enterprise-wide breakthrough performance improvements. Since it starts by aligning on a business problem, not a functional issue, it suppresses organizational silo-ism and sub-optimization, some very serious side effects that come from both MBOs and OKRs. 

Michael Sare

Awesome Ed! Thank you so much... I will certainly look into hoshin kanri.

Tom Mollerus

I work for a startup now where we don't have company-wide OKRs, but I make my own. I think they're appropriate and useful for smaller companies. Back when I worked for a larger company, I found it difficult to create OKRs for my team that corresponded to the company and department OKRs. We were just too big to have goals that made sense all the way down the reporting structure.

Renee Murphy

another alternative is V2MOM process that Salesforce uses.   https://www.salesforce.com/blog/how-to-create-alignment-within-your-company/

The difference for me on this process was the alignment and inspection across the different departments on the the goals and blockers rather than silos.  It allowed us to realign and reprioritize from the top down AND across the organization.

Michael Sare

Thank you so much Tom for weighing in.

I tend to agree regarding what is effective for larger enterprises but I am reviewing Renee's response on V2MOM and Ed's on hoshin kanri.

Michael Sare

Thank you Renee!

I will certainly check it out.

Matt Myszkowski

Great shout - I am a massive fan of the V2MOM.

It is structured to ensure everyone understands it all levels in a simplified, one-pager rather than multi-page complex business plans that do not leave the boardroom.

Happy to share mine if anyone is interested (still a WIP for 2021).

Renee Murphy

I would love to see what you have as a WIP.  It is great to see how others are structuring them!

Michael Sare

Awesome... yes please, Matt!

Sherri schaffroth

I too would love to see yours.

Matt Myszkowski

Sorry everyone for the delay - it has been chaotically busy at my new gig.

Here is my V2MOM - happy to have your feedback come my way.