CHAPTER 3 ANALYZED DEPLOYMENT PARAMETERS in detail for a reason. You and your client may be tempted to begin your OKRs engagement with a training workshop to get started drafting OKRs. You might make the same mistake I made in Paris as detailed at the beginning of Chapter 3. Don't make this mistake. Instead, begin your engagement with a few deployment coaching sessions to align on each parameter. While agreeing on these parameters serves as the foundation for a successful OKRs training workshop, there is more to be done.
Here are seven questions that coaches often ask when preparing for workshops: (1) What are the types of OKRs training workshops? (2) Can you share an actual agenda from an onsite training workshop? (3) How can I best deliver remote training? (4) Who should attend? (5) What interactive exercises work best, and how do I facilitate them? (6) What prereading or homework do I advise my client to complete in advance? (7) What materials do I need to create and deliver to my client? This chapter answers these questions and more.
Let key members of your audience introduce themselves before diving into your training content. Participants tend to be more engaged when they get to speak first, plus you get the added logistical advantage that latecomers will not miss critical information if they arrive midway through introductions. Thus, you can insist that the workshop gets started five minutes past the planned start time rather than waiting, uncomfortably, for every single participant to arrive.
We find two‐minute introductions work best. Each participant states their name, tenure, title, and how they feel OKRs can benefit the overall organization and their specific team. Invite anyone who has experience with OKRs in the past to comment on what worked well, and not so well. We advise having the executive sponsor, or whoever is the most senior person in the room, welcome everyone to the workshop and provide context. This opening summarizes why the organization is deploying OKRs and any ground rules (e.g., turn off mobile phones) during the workshop. Next, introduce yourself and present the agenda for the workshop on a single slide with two parts: (1) theory and (2) application. If your client has already started with OKRs, provide a brief assessment of what's working well along with areas for improvement.1
The first part, theory, is relatively short and features you doing most of the talking. The second part, application, is an interactive workshop that gets everyone applying theory and often includes breakout groups.
Theory begins with an overview of OKRs and concludes with a section summarizing how your client is deploying OKRs. We often start the overview with a slide that details why organizations deploy OKRs in general, followed by an interactive discussion to confirm why your client has decided to roll out OKRs. This allows you to build off the executive sponsor's opening remarks and reinforces your client's goals for their OKRs program.
The overview covers: (1) the history and definition of OKRs, (2) examples of what OKRs are and what OKRs are not, and (3) tips for avoiding common pitfalls at each step of the OKRs cycle.2 Overviews are more engaging when they emphasize areas critical to your specific client's situation. For example, if your client is considering setting OKRs at the individual level, include a slide summarizing the pros and cons of setting OKRs at the individual level. Similarly, if you have a client concerned about how KPIs work with OKRs, include a slide comparing key results with KPIs.3
Incorporate brief interactive exercises to engage workshop participants throughout the overview. Audiences tend to drift after 15 minutes in lecture mode. Two interactions that work well include (1) distinguishing between a key result and a health metric and (2) asking how to make a poorly written OKR better. A sample exercise to help your client distinguish between a key result and a health metric is shown in Figure 4.1.4
Instructions for Sample Workshop Exercise
The theory section concludes with an analysis of your client's deployment parameters to align on how your client will deploy OKRs. We often present each deployment parameter on its own slide. As you review each parameter, reinforce the concepts introduced in the overview that are most critical for your client's success. For example, after introducing the importance of starting with a small set of OKRs, you might share your client's decision to limit each team to a single objective to start.
Most deployment parameters are simply announced at the training. However, we recommend checking with your executive sponsor and project leads to identify one or two deployment parameters to present as open questions for input during the training. Even just presenting one parameter as an open item can help make your client's deployment section engaging. Once you've completed the theory, it's time for application. While theory is important, allocate most of your workshop time to application. Remember the OKRs coaching mantra: The only way to learn OKRs is to do OKRs.
There are three distinct types of OKRs workshops.5 Each workshop features a set of desired outcomes and is intended for a certain audience. It is vital that you and your client align on the audience, duration, and goals before scheduling workshops. For onsite workshops, plan for at least two hours, ideally a full day. Remote workshops should be kept short. Our clients find remote workshops work best when limited to two to three hours. While there is no requirement that you complete each of these three applications in a specific order, they are presented in a typical sequence.
Starting at the top provides context for lower‐level OKRs. Include a select group of key leaders, including the CEO if possible. We recommend limiting the theory section to at most two hours. Leadership teams often want to start working on their OKRs within the first hour, so adjust the timing accordingly. When feasible, schedule this workshop as part of an existing planning retreat to review long‐term strategy. A strategy review provides context for creating OKRs.
Goals of the Top‐Level Workshop All top‐level OKRs workshops share the common goal of drafting an OKR. Most also have the goal of refining an OKR. Your client's deployment parameters inform how you structure the nuances of the workshop. For example, if you are using our recommended prescoring system, encourage your client to refine a key result that specifies the commit, target, and stretch. Most of our clients conduct a short preview or “dry run” of the training workshop with a few key participants including the executive sponsor to review open items.
For a full‐day onsite workshop, you may have time to draft several OKRs and refine one or two. For a half‐day onsite workshop, we advise you manage expectations by limiting the goal to drafting a single OKR and refining one key result. If you are facilitating a remote workshop, consider breaking this workshop into two separate sessions, each running roughly two hours. The goal of the first session is to introduce OKRs theory and begin drafting. The goal of the second session is to refine OKRs.
Sample Email with Prework for a Top‐Level Workshop Here is an actual email that an OKRs project lead sent to leadership to prepare for an upcoming top‐level OKRs workshop. Use this sample as inspiration.
Sample Agenda for a Top‐Level Workshop If you can get a full day with leadership, take it. While a full day is ideal, an onsite top‐level OKRs workshop should be planned for a minimum of four hours, one hour for theory and three for application. So, if you can only get a half‐day with the leadership team, take the introductions and OKRs theory part of the agenda down to an hour. It is the application part of this workshop that is most valuable as it generates impactful conversations.
Here is a sample full‐day agenda from an onsite top‐level OKRs workshop:
Part 1 – Introductions/OKRs Theory
Part 2 – OKRs Development/Application
Our client completed each item on this agenda and finished on time. However, this is not always the case. Top‐level workshops often lead to conversations that reveal important topics no one anticipated. Therefore, you must be flexible. As the conversation evolves, check in several times with the executive sponsor throughout the day to ensure the workshop stays on track.
Unanticipated conversations may make it difficult to get through the planned agenda, and this may make you feel uncomfortable. However, top‐level OKRs workshops are not about you getting through your agenda, they are about leadership using OKRs as a framework to have the right conversations. Here is a case study workshop that did not follow the planned agenda.
Case Study: ACME Homes Top‐Level Workshop I spent two days leading a top‐level workshop with a home‐building company. Let's refer to this company as “ACME Homes.” Prior to the workshop, I had several deployment coaching sessions with the CEO and CFO. In addition to defining the agenda, we aligned on 12 deployment parameters and four candidate objectives to explore at the workshop. These objectives focused on (1) people, (2) customer, (3) growth, and (4) financial. Here are four parameters most relevant to this case study:
Here is the planned agenda for this top‐level workshop with ACME Homes:
Day 1 (Full Day)
Day 2 (Half Day)
While the first two hours followed the agenda, the actual ACME Homes workshop did not adhere to the planned agenda. Here is what actually occurred:
As we discussed ideas for key results and action plans from several groups, the energy in the room grew exponentially. I noticed that all proposed key results for the people objective revolved around the sales team.11 Although we planned to let each breakout group articulate their key result candidates before going deeper and refining, one conversation seemed too important to interrupt.
As the CEO stared at the drafted key results and action plan on the white board, the room became quiet. Then, he announced his concern, “While we want sales managers to hit their targets, that's not enough to be an ‘A‐player.’” A member of the advisory board asked, “Who do we have on the sales team now that is an A‐player?” To which the CEO replied, “Amy is definitely not an A‐player. One big month where you blow out your target does not make you an A‐player. You need consistency, you need a good rating from your customers. Also, you need to collaborate effectively with various teams inside our company.” We had our first breakthrough. It was time to pivot from the planned agenda.
The CEO's discussion with the board member resonated with the larger group. This conversation led to a key insight: We did not have a definition of what it meant to be an “A‐player,” and having such a definition would be critical to success going forward. The sentiment in the room was that most sales managers were not operating at an A‐level. However, it was unrealistic to expect anyone to operate at an A‐level if the leadership did not even know how to define the term.
With only an hour left for day one, we had to make the decision whether to move on to the next objective or keep working on this first objective. The CEO was decisive. He emphasized the importance of getting the first objective right before moving on to others. Thus, we kept focused on the first objective.
We planned to cover two objectives on day one, but we did not even complete the drafting process for the key results of the first objective! We did not end day one on track to begin drafting key results for the third objective on day two. I felt like we failed to make adequate progress at the end of that first day. I asked the CEO how he felt. The CEO looked me in the eyes and said, “Ben, I've been to over 20 corporate retreats like this, and this is one of the best in our company's history. We had the conversation we needed. We started to articulate the problem, that we lack a definition of what it means to be an A‐player.”12 Thanks to the CEO, I slept well that night.
The objective evolved from “People: Grow and retain a world‐class staff with a focus on Sales” into “Position ACME Homes as a sales machine.” Here is the refined OKR.
The OKRs expert workshop is designed to help your client develop the in‐house capacity to sustain their OKRs program long after you are gone. It is especially valuable for organizations that are setting OKRs at the team level.
Goals of the Expert Workshop Let's go back to how and why this workshop got started. In 2014, I co‐created a full‐day OKRs expert training with Zalando, one of my early clients.13 Zalando asked me to train a group of 20 mid‐level managers to become OKRs experts who could support the OKRs program in their respective business areas.
This first training represented a major milestone in my development as an OKRs coach. We were breaking into uncharted territory. To my knowledge, no external coaches offered a full‐day OKRs expert training workshop back in 2014. The energy and insights coming out of our first OKRs expert training exceeded our expectations. Zalando asked me to return to Europe to facilitate more workshops.
The Zalando team and I developed a systematic approach to training coaches to support an OKRs program at scale. Unlike the top‐level workshop that focuses on drafting real OKRs, the expert workshop focuses on developing OKRs coaching skills. Anyone at Zalando completing the OKRs expert training workshop was invited to take on a new role that we named internal OKRs coach.
To be classified as an internal OKRs coach at Zalando required three steps:
The majority of expert training participants became internal OKRs coaches.
Building off the success of the OKRs expert workshop developed with Zalando, we started offering it to other organizations.14 As with all OKRs workshops, the key to success with the expert workshop is to allocate most of the time to application. Remember the mantra, the only way to learn OKRs is to do OKRs. And for the OKRs expert training, small breakout groups work best.
Breaking out into groups of three to four participants is the essential feature of the expert workshop. Each breakout team has three roles: (1) coach, (2) coachee, and (3) observer. The coach asks questions to help the coachee draft their OKRs; observers listen and take notes without interrupting. Observers write down coaching questions that lead to breakthroughs and questions they wish the coach had asked their coachee. The focus is on gaining the skills to be an OKRs coach rather than making progress defining actual OKRs. We advise completing two breakout rounds, so that everyone gets a chance to play the role of coach or coachee.
Onsite delivery ranges from six to eight hours.15 We advise allowing a full hour for the first breakout round. For the second breakout, keep the groups the same but have each group member play a different role. If pressed for time, consider a rapid 30‐minute breakout for round two, as illustrated in the sample agenda below.
Participants in OKRs Expert Workshops Expert workshops are best delivered onsite with 12 to 18 participants.16 We find that the energy level decreases below 12 people and loses intimacy beyond 18. For larger groups, consider expanding some breakout groups to include four instead of three participants. We recommend limiting onsite workshops to at most 24 participants, as this group can be broken out into six groups of four. In a group of four, the additional group member plays an observer role. Thus, groups of four consist of one coach, one coachee, and two observers. While the size of the workshop matters, it is even more critical to include a diverse group of participants in expert training workshops.
Coaching works best when the coach and the coachee are from different functional teams. We advise you assign each member of a given functional team to a unique breakout group. For example, a member of the finance team might coach someone from the engineering team. This requires the engineer to use plain language rather than technical jargon. Coaches from different domains tend to ask clarifying questions. They help their coachee use language that people outside of the coachee's team can understand.
In addition to the prework recommended in the sample email for the top‐level workshop, this field book is an excellent resource for anyone attending the expert workshop. Sample materials for the expert workshop detailing the questions coaches ask during each breakout are available to members of the OKRs Coach Network.17
Team‐level workshops have two prerequisites. First, you must agree on the “teams” that will set OKRs so you know who to include in the workshop. Second, some form of top‐level OKRs must be in place. Team members often complain that they cannot create OKRs for their team without top‐level OKRs as context. For this reason, we advise you to begin team‐level workshops with a presentation of top‐level OKRs, ideally by a senior executive.18
Goals of the Team‐Level Workshop All team‐level workshops share the common goal of drafting OKRs at the team level. Some team‐level workshops may also focus on refining OKRs. Here is a sample set of goals for a team‐level workshop developed with one of our clients:
Participants in a Team‐Level Workshop Before you can determine who to include in team‐level workshops, you and your client must agree on the teams that define OKRs.19 Our early clients often requested separate workshops for each team. While this approach worked in some cases, it was often counterproductive, especially when introducing functional teams to OKRs. One of our clients planned a workshop day as follows: two‐hour workshop with the customer success team, two‐hour workshop with the finance team, two‐hour workshop with the sales team, and so on. Because each functional team setting OKRs already worked in silos, this approach inadvertently increased silo effects.
While it can be challenging to include team members from multiple functional teams in a workshop, we recommend taking on this challenge. Our clients report that their team‐level OKRs workshops are more effective when they involve members from several functional teams right from the start. We recommend including representation from three to five functional teams in each workshop.20
Sample Agenda for a Team‐Level Workshop We often use the “mass connect” approach for running team‐level OKRs workshops with multiple teams.21 Here is a sample agenda that we used with one of our clients:
Once you master these three application workshops, consider incorporating various elements to design a customized training plan that is ideal for your client. For example, one of our clients wanted to complete all three application workshops in just two days and train all executives and their direct reports. So, for day one with executives, we tested out the idea of a top‐level workshop in the morning, followed by a three‐person breakout round from the expert workshop in the afternoon. This approach enabled each executive to draft top‐level OKRs while also developing their OKRs coaching skills. This also provided the initial top‐level OKRs that served as context for day two with leadership's direct reports.
Day two kicked off with our standard OKRs expert workshop breakouts. However, we positioned it as a team‐level OKRs drafting workshop. In other words, instead of the mass‐connect approach that begins by breaking out by team, we defined breakout groups comprised of three members from different teams. The team‐level OKRs emerging from these small expert workshop breakouts were then used as drafts for team‐level OKRs. We completed all three application workshops and trained executives and their direct in just two days!22
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