My intro. I came to my current role because I always wanted to know why. Why this project, why this feature, why this product? I’ve worked in corp strategy for GSK, Engineering Lead at Pearson, Portfolio Director at Elsevier. I co-lead the OKR implementation there. I left Elsevier to focus on coaching and consulting, primarily on connecting Strategy to execution with OKRs. I’ve partnered with Felipe Castro, but now I’m working alone, so far with companies in the growth stage. I’m an OKR coach who helps high-growth startups focus and align with OKRs. Over the past two years, I’ve worked with three unicorns and other SAAS organisations, teaching them how to OKRs can help them execute their strategy more effectively. My career has included time as a strategist, portfolio director, engineering lead and product manager. I became an OKR coach because it tied together two questions I always found myself asking. Why are we doing this? How will we know we’ve succeeded? I’ve worked for Elsevier, Pearson, EMC and GlaxoSmith Kline in a varied career. My work tends to focus on the c-suite and senior leadership teams.
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Working back
In this workshop, attendees will work in small groups to practise the working backwards technique when applied to OKRs.
Adoption of OKRs has taken off over the last 2 years. It is no longer a niche framework. At the same time, the number of OKR horror stories has also ballooned. Burnt by their experiences, many senior leaders have vowed never to use the framework.
In this session, SPEAKER will cover one of the most opaque and misunderstood OKR topics, how we blend their use for long and shorter-term planning. He will show how the working backward approach can be applied to the framework.
The session will begin with a brief summary of OKR fundamentals. You will learn how to recognise good and bad OKRs. Working in groups, you will apply that learning to some tricky examples.
You will then be introduced to the basic questions used for OKR setting. Going back to your groups, you will apply this learning to a well-known product, building its annual OKRs.
Finally, you will learn how to turn annual goals into periodic goals. Again, applying this to your example product.
SPEAKER is an OKR coach who helps high-growth startups focus and aligns with OKRs. Over the past two years, he has worked with three unicorns and other SAAS organisations, teaching them how OKRs can help them execute their strategy more effectively.
Key takeaways…
These techniques are all applicable to any organisation.
- The fundamentals of OKRs for outcomes planning
- How to recognise good and bad OKRs
- The questions used to create OKRs
- The working backward technique for annual and periodic OKRs
- The context for OKR success