Author’s Note: I am so pleased to see that The OKRs Field Book continues to receive positive reviews on Amazon. When we started this blog series previewing the field book, the book was rated 4.9/5.0 based on 90 ratings in the USA and it’s currently getting a 4.8 with over 100 ratings! As an insecure author, I am so grateful for every single reader who took the time to post a review, even our first 1-star review. This post, however, will be the last preview of The OKRs Field Book, and I am not only recommending you get a copy of the field book, but I am also recommending anyone looking to take OKRs coaching skills to the next level consider joining the okrs coach network. Here is a bit of content taken from the epilogue which marks the end of the field book.

Your Journey as an OKRs Coach

So, by now, you’ve completed the first book to define OKRs coaching. Or at least, as a reader of this blog, you’ve completed the free preview of each chapter. You have the playbook for coaching an organization through the three phases of a structured OKRs engagement. You have the foundation for your journey as an OKRs coach.

We hope the next part of your OKRs journey is application. And this next part of this journey is best done with others. Together, we can take the field of OKRs coaching to the next level through the OKRs Coach Network. We created this network to bring this book to life and connect with coaches around the world. The network’s mission is to enable coaches to connect and exchange best practices to develop OKRs coaching skills that improve alignment, focus, engagement, communication, and learning.

Network members connect with OKRs coaches on our discussion board and participate in Q&A sessions with leading OKRs experts. Members have access to materials such as:

• Sample slides and handouts for OKRs training workshops
• Sample OKRs coaching proposals and work plans
• Coaching email templates for each step of the OKRs cycle
• Sample OKRs tracker worksheets

Below is a sample of the content available to OKRs Coach Networm members.

Questions OKRs Coaches Ask

OKRs Cycle Step 1: Set and Align OKRs

Questions about mission

• Whom do we serve? Who is our customer?
• Why do we exist? What is our purpose?
• What do we offer? What is our core offering?
• What is the long-term impact we make?

Questions about alignment

• What teams do we depend on?
• Which teams do we collaborate with most often?
• Which teams depend on us? How?

Questions about objectives

• Fundamental objective question: What is the most important area to focus on making measurable progress in the near term?
• Why is this objective so important? Why now?
• If we could only focus on one objective, what would it be?

Questions about key results (when drafting)

• Fundamental key result question: At the end of the period, how will we know “the objective” will be achieved?
• What metric needs to move to make progress on the objective?

Questions to convert tasks into key results (when drafting)

• Fundamental task-to-key result question: What is the intended outcome of the task?
• If we complete the task, does that mean we’ve achieved the objective?
• What is the most amazing outcome you can imagine that could result from completing the task?

Questions about key results (when refining)

• Measurable: Rather than “increase the metric to Y,” can we specify where we are now? Can we write in the form “increase the metric from X to Y”?
• Clear: Can any jargon or acronyms be removed or clarified? Would a high school graduate understand the key result?
• Scoring
  • Stretch: What is the most amazing outcome you can imagine that is still possible? What level of progress do we feel we have a 10 percent probability of achieving this period?
  • Target: What level of progress do you feel we have a 50 percent probability of achieving this period?
  • Commit: What level of progress can we commit to as a team that we are 90 percent likely to achieve?
• Key, not all: Is the proposed key result really a focus for improvement or simply business-as-usual?
• Health metric versus key result: Is the drafted key result already at an acceptable level? If so, is it better classified as a health metric?

Questions to ask when challenging a set of key results
(while drafting and refining)

• If all key results are achieved, is the objective also achieved?
• Do the key results reflect the objective? If not, consider modifying the objective or moving the key result to a different objective.
• How can the set of key results be reduced?
• Do the key results capture quantity and quality? Leading and lagging?

OKRs Cycle Step 2: Check-In and Monitor

• What is the actual progress right now for this key result?
• What have we done to move the key result?
  What do you predict we will achieve by the end of the cycle?
• Why did your confidence for this key result change?
• What is the risk and how can we mitigate it?
• What is the action plan going forward?
• Is this key result driving the right behaviors?

OKRs Cycle Step 3: Reflect and Reset

• What is the final score for this key result?
• What is the business impact of this key result, looking back on it?
• Was the amount of effort put into moving this key result justified?
• As you think about the upcoming period, do you feel like we should keep, modify, or remove this key result? Why?
• What did we learn about how to deal with dependencies or blockers?
• How can we apply what we learned to OKRs for the next cycle?