Phase 2:

OKR Cycle 1

One quarter to 4 months

In the OKR Cycle 1 phase, your organization reaches an exciting milestone: All your preparation comes to fruition as teams begin writing, using, and seeing results from OKRs.

By the end of OKR Cycle 1, the Program Team, Steering Comittee and Communities of Champions will have enabled your organization’s success in the following ways:
  • PROGRAM & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Through your ongoing program of communication, teams will be energized, engaged, and clearly understand how OKRs benefit both their own work and the company’s topline strategy.

  • OKR PLATFORM

People will become more familiar with WorkBoard and make progress in using it effectively in their daily routines.

  • OPERATING RHYTHM

Teams will have a regular cadence of sharing and tracking progress, to guide their conversations and chart the next steps.

  • OKRs

Using your new OKRs, teams will have started to align their daily work to the company’s strategy and have maximum clarity on where to target their efforts.

  • RESULTS RITUALS

Teams will be applying best OKR and WorkBoard practices, continuing to build expertise through ongoing training and by leveraging your newly trained Community of Champions.

How We’ll Work Together

In OKR Cycle 1, Wave Nine will guide and support you as you as you lead your teams through their first quarter using OKRs. As always, the best outcomes happen as a result of sustained commitment and momentum. To be sure your new OKR program gains the traction it needs to succeed, we’ll be on the lookout for common Failure Modes—and the Winning Steps you can take to overcome them. 

Failure Modes
  • Lack of ongoing support from your Executive Leadership Team
  • Lack of a targeted and consistent change management program, and clear communications
  • Lack of an internal community of coaches and program champions
  • The perception that the program is optional, or that expectations of participation will not be enforced
  • Being dogmatic and expecting immediate perfection
Winning Steps
  • Schedule next quarter’s OKR Workshops one quarter in advance
  • Communicate ongoing, visible commitment from the Executive Leadership Team
  • Highlight OKRs in meetings, reviews, and revisit outcomes
  • Value progress over perfection
  • Expect roadblocks—and commit to clearing them quickly

The OKR Cycle

Over the next quarter, we’ll work closely to create, deploy, and track progress of your OKRs. Coming together to create OKRs is an exciting first step, but equally important will be driving adoption and execution over the course of the quarter. Wave Nine has found that, when used together, the three best tools for maintaining momentum are: 

Overview
Align & Localize
Focus & Execute
Reflect & Reset
The OKR Cycle
Align & Localize
Focus & Execute
Reflect & Reset

Overview

Ongoing, visible commitment from the Executive Leadership Team. Leading by example is always important and can significantly boost engagement throughout your program when the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) is committed. To ensure their commitment:

  • Make sure OKRs and their progress are regular agenda items for the ELT
  • Align their priorities with the current OKRs (e.g., if project x gets a high priority, we need to downgrade project Z).
  • Acknowledge and celebrate progress and achievements mid-quarter
  • Show a readiness to offer support where needed

This approach sets a strong example, promotes OKR alignment, and fosters a culture of support and achievement within the organization 

Regular, pre-scheduled check-ins to review ongoing progress and make updates in WorkBoard. 

  • Ensure teams establish regular check-ins to assess OKR progress, address bottlenecks, and prioritize next steps for progress. Remember, implementing OKRs doesn't necessarily mean adding more meetings. Instead, teams can use their existing meetings to discuss their priorities, which should align with their OKRs.
  • Encourage them to take advantage of WorkBoard (e.g. Biz Reviews), facilitating data-driven decisions and ensuring transparency across the board.

A steady program of communications to inspire and unblock. Consistency here also helps underscore the expectation of everyone’s ongoing participation. 

  • Execute the Communications Plan designed during the Setup & Launch phase, reaching people through various channels. Consistent and ongoing communication about the value and benefits will help individuals embrace change and realize its advantages sooner.

One: Align & Localize

Following your Localization Plan, OKR Workshops at different organizational levels will be conducted during the next 2-3 weeks to develop localized OKRs. Ensuring that these OKRs are live and transparent on the WorkBoard platform will be a priority immediately following the workshops. Finally, during the Tie-Off sessions, we will review and confirm that all localized OKRs are in alignment with the company-wide OKRs.

A note on terminology: Company-level OKRs are referred to as Level 1, or “L1”. The next tier OKRs—led by people who report to the CEO, and who account for the objectives of their reporting teams—are referred to as “L2”, and so on. The OKRs of tiers below L1 are what we refer to as “localized” OKRs 

Strategy Discovery

Setting high quality OKRs at the highest organizational level is critical to ensuring that following levels can successfully write OKRs that align to and drive company strategy.

To prepare most effectively for your first meeting with the Executive Leadership Team and maximize its efficiency, use the Strategic Priorities Survey to gather initial information about the priorities to be covered with OKRs.

  • Fill Out and Return the Strategic Priorities Survey to Wave Nine
  • The Program Lead and the Executive Sponsor distribute the Strategic Priorities Survey to the Executive Leadership Team to gather data and perspective that will inform the company-level OKRs.

Based on the Strategic Priorities Survey, Wave Nine will help you identify three to six top-level OKR categories. These categories will provide guidance for the rest of the organization when setting their OKRs, ultimately making OKR alignment easier.   

Here are five typical OKR categories: 

  • Revenue Growth: Focusing on increasing revenue streams, sales targets, or market expansion.
  • Customer Satisfaction: Centered on improving customer experiences, feedback, and loyalty.
  • Product Development: Addressing product enhancements, innovations, or new product launches.
  • Operational Efficiency: Concentrating on process improvements, cost reduction, or resource optimization.
  • People & Culture: Focusing on building a positive workplace culture, fostering teamwork, and developing talent.
OKR Workshops & Tie Offs

It’s an exciting moment: the OKR Workshops and Tie Off sessions that were scheduled in Phase 1 have finally arrived! After the hard work and planning of the rollout, take this moment to celebrate that your organization is coming together to create their first OKRs.

  • Schedule Warm-Up Sessions
  • Wave Nine offers 15 minute warm-up meetings two to three days before OKR Workshops with respective team leaders, one per team, to prepare by aligning on expectations, outcomes and roles during the OKR Workshops
  • Track Warm-Up Sessions and OKR Workshops
  • The Program Lead uses the WorkBoard Localization Tracker to keep a comprehensive overview of Warum-Up Sessions and OKR Workshops
  • Encourage OKR Coaches to use WorkBoard for OKR Setting
  • We recommend that OKR Coaches use WorkBoard for OKR setting. It's an excellent opportunity to introduce everyone to WorkBoard. With the OKR Canvas, OKR Coaches can guide teams collaboratively in setting their OKRs and make them visible on WorkBoard right after the workshops. Remember to set newly added OKRs as 'visible for everyone' for clarity and alignment.
  • What's especially convenient is that if teams consistently use the OKR Canvas for setting objectives, as a Program Lead, you can effortlessly check the OKR Canvas overview. This feature enables you to monitor which teams have commenced working on their OKRs and which ones have already completed them, all without the need for frequent status requests. It streamlines the process for everyone involved.

Two: Focus & Execute

With your new OKRs providing momentum and clarity across the organization, every team will spend the remainder of the quarter working toward their KRs. Throughout the quarter, individuals will report progress in WorkBoard, leaders will use WorkBoard’s visualization tools to spot progress and blockers, and everyone will check in regularly to stay aligned.

OKR Workshops & Tie Offs

Building new habits in WorkBoard is an important part of your program’s success.

  • Review and manage Implementation Progress in WorkBoard
  • Wave Nine provides Program Leads with exclusive access to the Analytics for Results Management Executives' Business Review. Within this, they can explore critical areas such as OKR Adoption, Engagement Trends, Key Result Owner Distribution, and more. Armed with these insights, Program Leads can make well-informed decisions to optimize their programs effectively.
  • Review and manage Implementation Progress in WorkBoard
  • Encourage leaders and teams to use WorkBoard for data-driven discussions
  • One-on-Ones
  • Monthly Business Reviews (MBRs)
  • Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs)
  • WorkBoard allows anyone with access to set up as many Business Reviews as needed.

Three: Reflect & Reset

Congratulations—you’ve successfully reached the end of your first OKR Cycle! By now, your team should have a good operating rhythm with WorkBoard, feel confident in their use of OKRs, and be ready to take the lead in writing their OKRs for the upcoming Phase 3: OKR Cycle 2.

OKR Workshops & Tie Offs

To prepare OKRs for the next cycle, teams will meet again in their Reflect & Reset Workshops. These workshops are also your chance to optimize and adjust. We’ll review any reflections people and teams gained over the OKR Cycle—for example, perhaps two teams would be better served setting OKRs together because they have overlapping dependencies—and refine your program as needed.

With insights gained from the first cycle, the Program Lead revisits the Localization Plan and makes any needed adjustments to determine who sets OKRs and when. Remember, OKRs are flexible, so we can adapt to ensure the program aligns perfectly with your company’s success.

Once the right Localization Plan is in place, the Program Lead schedules workshops for the next quarter. Given the predictability of OKR cycles, it’s advisable to plan and schedule workshops for future cycles too. This way, you can secure these dates well ahead of time.

  • Schedule Reflect & Reset Workshops
  • Led by: OKR Coaches
  • In attendance: Refer to your localization plan
  • Duration: 3 hours
  • In the Reflect & Reset Workshops we will:
  • Take stock of the OKR Cycle you have just finished
  • Celebrate what went well and identify opportunities to improve
  • Set OKRs for the quarter to come

Resources for you and your team

All resources, such as links to trainings, are collected here for easy access. First, be sure to read the detailed descriptions of each phase of the Implementation Process, above, to understand how and when to use these resources.

Jump to Resources Hub

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