In an ever-growing tech industry, there is enormous pressure to constantly improve product quality, market speed, and customer satisfaction. The competition is fierce, and the market offer is sometimes overwhelming, so tech leaders should always do their best to stay ahead of the game and drive innovation and high performance within their organizations.
Adopting an OKR (Objective and Key Results) based model is a great way to set clear objectives with measurable outcomes that drive performance and maximize your engineering department’s potential. A SEIP such as Waydev that provides clear data about your teams’ activity, processes, and deployment process is key to tracking your OKR progress over time. Using our comprehensive reports and all-in-one dashboards gives you a bird’s eye view of your engineering teams’ performance, productivity, and roadblocks without any manual input.
What Are Software Engineering OKRs and How Are They Different From KPIs and Goals?
Software engineering OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is a methodology that entails aligning what software developers do to a specific purpose and outcome. These items also help you track progress, drive team engagement, create a strong alignment with the company’s larger goals and strategy, and ensure a place where software engineers work with purpose, enhancing performance and productivity.
The OKR system was born in the ’70s at Intel, an engineering-led company, by then-CEO Andrew Grove. He later summarized his findings in the 1983 book called “High Output Management,” where he talked about the importance of efficient operations and processes to reach high performance in a management system. This book is considered a staple in the management world in any industry, but it can be successfully applied to the software development field as well.
As the name says, OKRs have two main components – objectives and key results, and they depend on one another.
Objectives – they are statements that speak about the desired outcomes in a framework based on setting OKRs. They could be considered more abstract, and they need to align with the general business goals (for example, “improve engineering performance,” “reduce resources waste.”)
Key Results – these are more concrete and measurable points that need to be checked off to achieve the set objectives. Measuring them gives you a clear indication of whether things are progressing in the right direction toward the set outcomes (such as” reduce MTTR” or “optimize Cycle time for increased productivity.”)
The Difference Between OKRs and KPIs
In short, OKRs are the initiatives your teams focus on at a given time, while KPIs measure the important aspects that happen over time. Here is a breakdown of the main differences between OKRs and KPIs:
OKRs focus on ambitious and aspirational goals in a larger context.
KPIs are specific metrics that measure concrete concrete data, such as engineering performance.
OKRs purpose is to encourage growth and progress in engineering teams.
OKRs are usually set over a quarter and while they are ambitious, they still remain achievable.
KPIs are quantifiable and are often attached to specific targets over a longer period of time.
OKRs encourage collaboration and transparency between teams.
KPIs are used to identify improvement areas and encourage process optimization.
The Difference Between OKRs and Goals
There are some similarities between organizational goals and OKRs in that they both talk about desired outcomes and results. But we also have some fundamental differences that set these two concepts apart. Here is a breakdown of the main characteristics of goals compared to OKRs:
OKRs are short-term objectives more specific to department goals.
Goals are long-term outcomes that translate the company vision and mission.
OKRs have a specific structure and are expressed through objectives and key results.
Goals are expressed through targets and objectives.
OKRs are qualitative statements that have measurable (quantitative) key results.
Goals can be qualitative or quantitative, but are not always as structured as OKRs.
OKRs are generally set on a quarterly basis.
Goals are usually set for a longer period of time, but you can adapt them over time.
OKRs scope is to encourage alignment with general business goals and accountability.
Goals provide more flexibility across teams.
How to Set OKRs for Developers
When setting OKRs for your development team, the process should consider different opinions, be clear and transparent to everyone involved, and be tracked over time. Here is a breakdown of what steps to check on your list of setting engineering OKRs:
1. Understand Broader Organizational Goals
When setting OKRs for your software engineering team, it’s essential to first know what your broader organizational goals, vision, and mission are. This way, you can make sure to align those specific objectives and desired outcomes with the direction your company wants to follow. Doing so will make the stakeholders more receptive to your set objectives, and it will facilitate engineering teams to make a direct contribution to the company’s success.
2. Establish Objectives
Setting clear objectives for your current project is an essential step toward applying the OKR framework successfully. Identify what you want to achieve with these points and what are the desired outcomes within the software engineering teams. Keep in mind that objectives should be ambitious and difficult to inspire team progress but still attainable. Focus on specific areas you want to improve, such as software quality, and set clear objectives, expressed clearly.
3. Establish Key Results
Now that you’ve set your objectives, it’s time to establish milestones that show you whether you’ve reached your outcomes or not. These are metrics that should be clear, measurable, quantifiable, and with a specific time frame to be checked on your list.
4. Involve Software Engineering Teams and Managers
Ask software engineers or engineering managers what they feel should happen or change in order to improve performance and productivity. Make a list of these suggestions and decide what are the key points to progress your objectives toward the desired outcomes. Engineering team members often have the best input on their struggles and roadblocks that hinder production.
5. Make OKRs Transparent
Once you’ve established clear objectives and their specific key results metrics, it’s time to make them known to everyone involved, such as software engineers, engineering managers, and stakeholders. This will make points easier to follow, make the process and desired outcomes clear to everyone, and it encourages alignment and accountability. Transparency also drives collaboration and better communication, promoting a healthier work environment for everyone.
6. Review OKRs Progress Over Time
Setting OKRs and making them transparent for everyone is one thing, but keeping track over time and constantly adapting them is what will ensure your success. Use key results metrics to measure progress over time and understand if objectives are being met or if you need adjustments to get back on the right track. Address challenges and roadblocks and try to do better over time.
7. Encourage Continuous Improvement
Once your OKRs model is working properly, don’t let your guard down, but rather keep tracking and optimizing it over time. Encouraging a culture of continuous improvement in any framework or workflow, you adopt is what ensures constant organizational progress. You can do this at the end of the OKR project – draw a line, see what worked, what needed improvement, the overall results and outcomes, and how they aligned to the initial set objectives. Use this comprehensive evaluation and the lessons learned to improve your OKR setting model for next time.
Best Practices for Implementing OKRs
Implementing OKRs in software engineering teams requires careful planning and execution. Here are some best practices to ensure successful implementation:
Align OKRs with Company Goals: Ensure that OKRs are aligned with the company’s overall objectives and strategic priorities. This alignment helps software engineers understand how their work directly contributes to the company’s success, fostering a sense of purpose and direction.
Make OKRs Specific and Measurable: Objectives and key results should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This clarity helps software engineers understand what is expected of them and provides a clear framework for tracking progress. For example, instead of setting a vague objective like “improve code quality,” specify it as “reduce code bugs by 20% within the next quarter.”
Involve Software Engineers in the OKR-Setting Process: Encourage software engineers to participate in the OKR-setting process. This involvement ensures that the objectives and key results are realistic and that team members are invested in achieving them. Collaborative OKR setting can also uncover valuable insights and foster a sense of ownership.
Use Project Management Tools: Use project management tools to track progress, assign tasks, and collaborate with team members. Tools like Jira, Azure Boards, or ClickUp can help visualize the progress of OKRs, making it easier to manage tasks and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Regularly Review and Adjust OKRs: Regularly review OKRs to ensure they remain relevant and achievable. Adjust OKRs as needed to reflect changes in the company’s objectives or priorities. Periodic reviews help identify any roadblocks early and provide opportunities to recalibrate efforts to stay on track.
Examples of OKRs for Software Engineers That You Can Apply
By now, we’ve got the theoretical part down, but how about some concrete OKR examples that apply to the software development environment? Setting clear objectives for improving productivity and key results as a counterpart to measure them being met is crucial to applying the engineering OKR model successfully. Here are some OKR examples for software:
1. Objective: Improve Engineering Performance and Productivity
Key Result 1: Reduce the average time to release code to production by a specific rate.
Key Result 2: Reduce the time spent on manual testing or other tedious tasks that take away from innovation and solution seeking time.
Key Result 3: Use DORA metrics to measure performance over time
2. Objective: Optimize Deployment Processes Through Automation
Key Result 1: Set up and implement CI/ CD pipelines for automating the deployment process.
Key Result 2: Leverage automated testing to achieve high-rate test coverage.
Key Result 3: Reduce code defect rate by using automated code quality checks.
3. Objective: Improve Collaboration and Skill Growth
Key Result 1: Set up regular cross-functional sessions to improve collaboration between software engineering teams.
Key Result 2: Ensure goals and objectives are transparent and everyone has access to them at all times.
Key Result 3: Take regular surveys about the collaboration level and continuously improve on the results.
4. Objective: Increase Product Quality and Stability
Key Result 1: Reduce downtime with more automated testing from 3h to 1h.
Key Result 2: Cut response time by 15 seconds
Key Result 3: Decrease number of emergency patches from 7 to 3 per quarter.
5. Objective: Enhance User Experience
Key Result 1: Run user usability testing to identify pain points.
Key Result 2: Increase UI and UX rating satisfaction by a point.
Key Result 3: Enhance customizable options available for users.
Key Result 2: Allocate resources (a number of software engineers) to specifically address tech debt.
Key Result 3: Implement long-term systems to identify and stay on top of tech debt to keep it from building up over time.
7. Objective: Enhance Data Security and Mitigate Risks
Key Result 1: Ensure compliance with industry security regulations and check periodically.
Key Result 2: Set standards to resolving security issues, make sure they are followed.
Key Result 3: Think about implementing two-factor authentication.
Benefits of OKRs for Software Engineers
OKRs offer numerous benefits for software engineers and their leaders, including:
Improved Alignment with Company Goals: OKRs help software engineers understand how their work contributes to the company’s success. This alignment ensures that everyone is working towards the same strategic objectives, creating a cohesive and motivated team.
Increased Focus and Productivity: OKRs help software engineers prioritize their work and focus on the most important tasks. By setting clear objectives and key results, engineers can avoid distractions and concentrate on activities that drive the most value.
Better Tracking of Progress: OKRs provide a clear framework for tracking progress and measuring success. With specific and measurable key results, software engineers can easily see how their efforts are contributing to the overall goals, making it easier to stay motivated and on track.
Enhanced Collaboration and Communication: OKRs encourage collaboration and communication among team members and stakeholders. By making objectives and key results transparent, everyone can see what others are working on, fostering a culture of teamwork and shared responsibility.
Improved Job Satisfaction: OKRs help software engineers understand how their work is impacting the company and provide a sense of accomplishment and job satisfaction. Achieving key results and seeing the tangible impact of their efforts can boost morale and job fulfillment.
How to Measure the Success of Your OKRs
Measuring OKRs is just as important as setting them properly – there’s no point in establishing perfect objectives if no one keeps track of whether they are met over time. Assessing them also means following the progress of your objectives and key results and how they align with the bigger picture of your organizational goals, vision, and mission. Here are some specific guidelines on how to measure your engineering OKRs:
Assess your outcomes from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective – this will help you get a better view of the impact these OKRs have on your organization.
Set clear key results metrics – how will progress be measured, what data will you use, and over what period of time are all valid questions when trying to measure OKRs.
Establish periodical reviews – this will help you get a clear sense of where you are in the journey of meeting those objectives and provide plenty of time to make necessary adjustments.
Get others involved in the assessment process – take surveys or establish sessions to discuss how OKRs were implemented and what can be optimized in the future.
Use software engineering intelligence platforms to help you gather automated data about your teams’ activity, efficiency, and performance over time.
Waydev can provide valuable insight into your software engineering teams’ practices and delivery processes, making it easier to identify roadblocks and improvement areas. This can give you a clear direction to focus on for continuous improvement and facilitate tracking progress over time by comparing with previously collected data.
Conclusion
OKRs are a powerful tool for software engineering teams and leadership to achieve their objectives and drive business growth. By following best practices for implementing OKRs and leveraging the benefits of OKRs, software engineers can improve their productivity, focus, and job satisfaction. Remember to regularly review and adjust OKRs to ensure that they remain relevant and achievable. With OKRs, software engineering teams can achieve their strategic objectives and drive business success.
