Master the OKR Retrospective: A template for guaranteed success
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have revolutionized the way companies set goals and measure their success. However, the real power of OKRs lies not only in setting ambitious goals, but also in the subsequent reflection and learning process in an OKR retrospective. In this article, we look at the importance of OKR retrospectives and provide a practical template for them.👆🏽
OKR Retrospective Template
Understanding OKRs:
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, a framework for setting and communicating goals and results in teams. Originally developed at Intel and popularized by Google, OKRs have helped countless teams achieve and exceed their most ambitious goals.
The beauty of OKRs is their simplicity: they require the definition of clear, measurable objectives and the tracking of their results using quantifiable outcomes.
A practical example to illustrate the OKR methodology could look like this: Suppose a company wants to improve the customer journey of its software by collecting direct feedback from users. An effective way to achieve this goal would be to talk directly to users of the free trial version.
✅ Objective: Improve understanding of the customer journey by talking to free trial users.
This objective focuses on improving the quality of the user experience by obtaining direct feedback from a specific user group. It focuses on finding out first-hand how users experience the software and what hurdles or ambiguities they encounter during the test phase of the software.
✅ Key Result (Key Action): Conducting at least 5 interviews with free trial users per week.
This key action sets a quantifiable target to measure progress towards the overall goal. It provides a clear, measurable target that allows the team to track and evaluate the success of their efforts. Setting a specific number of interviews per week also ensures that continuous efforts are made to achieve the overarching goal.
👉🏽 Interim conclusion: It is therefore crucial to be clear about the objective that is being pursued and to provide it with measurable and actionable tasks, the so-called key results. This approach allows teams and organizations to objectively assess their progress and ensure they are on track to achieve their overarching strategic goals.
The role of retrospectives in OKRs:
👉🏽Retrospektiven are regular meetings that take place at the end of a work cycle to reflect on what has been achieved, what has not and how processes can be improved. They provide a moment to pause, evaluate and plan for better results in future cycles.
This is the only way to gain more clarity about OKRs over time and to better adapt them to your own performance.
And I have also prepared a template for this below, which you and your team can use directly to hold an OKR retrospective.
OKR Retrospective Template:🔍
In this retrospective, you and your team can analyze exactly how well the OKRs have been defined and implemented:
DAKI Retro: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
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Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
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Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- Which key results were achieved?
- Which key results were not achieved and why?
- How can key results be better formulated in the future?
- Did the achievement of the key results also lead to the achievement of the objectives (overarching goal)?
- Are there better key results to achieve the actual objectives?
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Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
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Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
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Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
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Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
DAKI Retro
The sole aim of this retro is to set up better OKRs as a team. It is not about assigning blame for not achieving key reuslts or objectives.
In the end, the goal is:
1. to define the key results (key actions) in such a way that they can be realistically implemented by the individual team members.
2. the implementation of the key results actually contributes to achieving the overarching objectives.
Conclusion - OKR Retrospective Template:🔍
The OKR retrospective is a continuous improvement tool that enables teams to learn from the past and plan for even greater success in the future. By following the provided template and best practices, your team can maximize the benefits of OKRs and foster a culture of performance and learning.
If you would like to try this or one of more than 50+ Retrospective templates, you can do so with Echometer:
DAKI Retro: How the retro works
-
Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
-
Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
-
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- Which key results were achieved?
- Which key results were not achieved and why?
- How can key results be better formulated in the future?
- Did the achievement of the key results also lead to the achievement of the objectives (overarching goal)?
- Are there better key results to achieve the actual objectives?
-
Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
-
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
-
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
-
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
DAKI Retro
