OKR Agile: The Ultimate Guide

OKR and Agile are two words that may be used interchangeably, but they do not mean the same thing. 

When employees are learning about OKRs framework or trying to combine OKRs with Scrum, they may have a difficult time determining how the two agile methods should be classified and how they relate to each other. This guide is dedicated to clearing up the concepts of OKR Agile.

The term Agile is sometimes used interchangeably with Agile Software Development, which in many cases refers to the Scrum framework. However, this isn’t quite accurate.

To understand OKR and Agile, it’s crucial to comprehend why Agile was created and what has reigned supreme over much of the workforce up till now: The Waterfall Model.

OKR and Agile: Stop Waterfall Mindset

The waterfall model is a linear process model in project management (particularly software development) that distinguishes itself by the fact that development processes are divided into successive project phases.

The next phase can only begin once the previous phase has been completed, according to pre-defined, measurable criteria or milestones.

Adopting this method of working leads to very strict procedures and goals, which prevent flexibility from developing in the first place. When the model was developed in the 1970s, when economic interdependencies were far more clearly defined, and the external environment was easier to anticipate, this kind of workflow made perfect sense.

Even when using the same methodology, many organizations struggle to integrate OKR and Agile. Because OKR is thought of as a waste of time, Agile team members frequently reject it as a solution. In the end, the problem was a lack of knowledge about OKR and Agile.

Modern solutions to the new problems of our world, as well as the demands of the working population, are provided by innovative mindsets and methodologies such as “Agile,” “Scrum,” and “OKRs.”

What is Agile?

It is not always clear what is agile. In this section, we will help you answer this question. The term “agile” was originated by three academics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Cross-company agility is an organizational management approach that aims to be especially anticipatory, flexible, and proactive in day-to-day operations. According to them, Agile management is a way of thinking in an organization that aims to be highly anticipatory, flexible, and proactive in day-to-day operations.

The conventional belief is that business firms work in a process or project oriented manner, which is why these agility characteristics are preceded by the notion that “traditionally,” organized businesses tend to operate according to a process. The rigid hierarchy that results from this may have an increasingly obstructive and paralyzing impact on the market’s changing reality. Instead of relying on detailed plans, it adheres to the idea of a mission.

The concept of “agility” first became prominent with the publication of the agile manifesto in 2001. The ideas presented here were based on Agile, but they are specifically concerned with software development. These methods eventually gave rise to “Scrum.”

While the Agile mentality encourages working software delivery more frequently. Working software is any sort of application, website, or system that people can use to get stuff done. It must make it possible or easier for the user to accomplish their objective and result in business value, all while being sustainable and performing well. OKRs advocate for similar goals. OKR allows for agility in terms of goal setting by increasing business results in a short period, conducting timely evaluation, and leaving room for improvement in an Agile environment.

Pro Tip: These six dimensions are used to distinguish “agile” organizations from traditional corporate cultures: Agile vision and mission, Customer-centric organizational structure, Iterative process landscapes, Employee-centric understanding of leadership, Agile personnel and management tools and Agile organizational culture. Use them to differentiate yourself from others.

What is Scrum, and how does it work?

A common question people ask themselves is:  What is Scrum and how it relates to OKR Agile?

Scrum is a project management technique that uses defined rules to connect events (meetings), artifacts (backlogs), and roles (responsibilities) in order to enable agile working in software development. The term “Scrum” derives from sports and refers to the Scrum in a rugby game.

Pro Tip: Scrum is based on the notion of “sprints,” which are time-bound periods of work. Agile working can be implemented on an operational level (project and product management) through the application of these principles and Scrum’s elements:

• A sprint is a unit of time set by a team during which it focuses on one thing and is generally one week to one month long. At the end of a sprint, the Scrum team and other key stakeholders conduct a review. This is also when the foundations for future sprints are established.

• The Product Backlog is updated, and a new sprint begins once the review is completed. The Product Backlog is a dynamic collection of all product requirements that are being addressed one by one.

• There is a daily Scrum at the start and end of each sprint. This is when teams report on their development for a few minutes. The Daily Scrums should not take more than 15 minutes in total.

Now that you know the scrum methodology, you may not be sure whether your focus is on the right things? This is where OKRs come in handy.

What are OKRs, and what do they have to do with performance?

OKRs are the missing link in a company’s effort to embrace agility, as it has previously only used Scrum. This is because Scrum is focused on operations, whereas OKRs are concerned with strategic goal setting. Despite this difference, agile methods taken together provide the ideal groundwork for building an agile business.

OKRs are a management technique that was first developed by Google in 2011. OKR is an acronym for “Objectives and Key Results,” and it refers to a management system that is goal-oriented, modern, and flexible. Setting objectives is the purpose of objectives. Objectives are qualitative long-term goals whose attainment is tracked via key results measurements. OKRs create transparency making goals easily identifiable and discussed. By enabling employees to make decisions and provide information freely, OKRs create an environment of engagement and responsibility. After OKR became popular in the tech community and beyond, it has now successfully been used by businesses of all sizes across multiple industries. 

The Advantages of OKRs

What are the secrets to OKRs’ success? Goals and important outcomes have a significant impact on company performance and establish a unique corporate culture. Each level of the organization is aligned to the next.

Establishing long-term objectives provides the maximum information to the entire staff about their goals. As a result, as a foundation for constructive discussions concerning business results, transparency is established.

OKRs have the potential to help marketing teams work more collaboratively, communicate better, and make greater progress toward achieving their goals. By providing an understanding of how a group works together and how it makes decisions, OKRs may assist marketing personnel in working more effectively as a team. They can also aid marketers by allowing them to focus their efforts.

How can you achieve agility using Agile and OKRs?

Agile development and OKRs go together perfectly. Agile development is thought to decrease the cost of changing one’s mind. The change to an agile mentality necessitates the adoption of Agile as a mindset and set of values. Implementing Objective and Key results framework necessitates a more agile method to goal setting, exactly like adopting Agile requires the adjustment to Agile as a purely thinking and value system.

There is a need for a shared objective and an action plan that is transparent and timely. It’s simple to integrate OKR with Agile. Kanban was designed around work visualizations in order to help organizations save money, improve service quality, and manage risk.

Agile and OKRs: The ideal balance between strategic success and operational efficiency

The Agile Manifesto, which was written by the Agile Alliance and is a set of principles for executing and developing projects in an agile way, explains these ideas. Working software is considered to be of the highest significance as a primary measure for progress because it can show how much you’ve progressed since your first sprint.

However, in the past, business outcomes have typically been considered the most important indicators of success.

OKR comes here. The OKR framework is designed to convert Agile-defined output – features in roadmaps – into standard business result measurement tools. During a fully agile environment, workers may be too focused on their job, whether they are involved with coding software or other activities.

OKR and Scrum: This is the ideal combination for holistic agility.

OKRs and Scrum may be utilized together. In fact, because the two methods are effectively combined, they become a vital instrument on the route to becoming an agile business. There are just a few things to bear in mind.

It is critical for a framework’s creators and users to be aware of the framework’s constraints and to comprehend and embrace the rationale behind them. It is also advisable that those in charge of the processes (often known as OKR Master or Scrum Master) sit down together to reflect on the past cycle and set goals for the next one.

The OKRs should come first, since they have a longer time horizon (usually quarters) than Scrum sprints. It’s critical that the Key Results are geared toward outcomes rather than outputs. You may continue with the sprints after you’ve finished the OKRs.

The length of each sprint should be determined next. A two-week cycle is recommended since it preserves the advantages of both methodologies (short-term and operational – medium-term and strategic) over time. The twin goals of initiatives linked to Key Results in OKR are married with Scrum’s sprint objectives in the form of goals. 

If a company’s vision, strategy, and operations are represented in one framework by combining OKRs (or the other way around) with Scrum, it can be seen that this provides a lot of potential.

Conclusion: OKR Agile and Scrum

Agile is a way of thinking or approach that has emerged in response to an ever more complicated world that the traditional waterfall model and other management approaches can no longer handle.

Under the umbrella of “Agile,” OKR and Scrum are agile goal management and project management techniques, respectively. Both fit under the “Agile” label and, when used together properly, can be used to create a strong agility framework.