Building OKR Buy-in
Nothing feels better to an integrator like myself than a fresh plan. The possibility, the promise, the productivity of it all.
And then there are the people. The real humans on the team who may not find the same joy in metrics and lists and milestones that I do. Diverse teams of real experts in their seats will come to the OKRs process with varied levels of comfort and enthusiasm and it’s naïve to assume that everyone’s going to experience this process the way that you do.
As a leader, I know the importance of buy-in and communication in the OKRs process. If my team doesn’t understand WHY we’re working towards our goals, WHY we’re tracking the metrics that I’ve asked for, then we’re shorting ourselves. Their engagement is the difference between dragging them up the mountain and taking a bullet train.
If you’ve ever heard complaints that reporting on metrics or doing quarterly planning is nothing more than busywork, you don’t have buy-in. It’s time to go back and bring them along with you. This slow down may feel frustrating but this is an important step to unleashing your team to go as fast as you do.
Instead of mandating what they will work on, ask them FIRST what they think they should work on. If you’ve got high-performers then you’ll hear more ideas than you have even thought of. Did they miss something or miss the mark? This is your chance to coach them, cast vision, and fill in the gaps. Be patient, listen well, and lean in to the language choices that they make around describing projects and objectives. The more involved they are from the beginning, the more invested they will ultimately be.
This slow process creates ownership, buy-in, and understanding at a level you probably don’t have now. After you’ve done this a few times, they’ll be accelerating faster than you’ve ever seen before. You’ll have increased alignment on the mission and priorities of your company and it won’t be all about you anymore.
Facilitating OKR planning with teams is one of my favorite projects to work on. If I can help accelerate your team by supporting in this process, please let me know.