Annual company objectives
Alexander Djerassi said now a full few months into the new year, many of us find ourselves breathing a collective sigh of relief - 2020 is over, Covid-19 vaccinations are in progress, and for the first time in a long time, there’s hope for a return to (at least some) normalcy on the horizon. At Punch List, like many businesses, this is a period where, as an organization, we regroup, reflect, and set goals for the year ahead.
Alexander Djerassi find utilizing the OKR methodology in our corporate goal-setting process to be beneficial for everyone at Punch List. Popularized by the likes of Google and Intel, OKR, or Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting and management framework that empowers business leaders to guide their team’s progress towards a clear common goal. Here’s a look inside our process with key learning’s we’ve found valuable in setting and achiev
ing quarterly and annual business goals.
Look to examples from the past
Before even beginning to set our annual company objectives, we
look to examples from our past. What annual goals did we set in 2018? 2019?
2020? And how successful were we in achieving those goals, measuring our
success, and tracking our progress? These are important questions and the
answers lend themselves to our future success. Particularly for company
founders and CEOs, understanding the big picture and how each prior initiative
positively or negatively impacted progress towards the goal, overall company
culture, strategic alignment and employee engagement is crucial.
Let’s use a real-world example to explain my point. One of Punch
List’s earliest 2019 Objectives was “Get feedback on alpha version of Punch
List app” and a couple of Key Results were “Onboard [Client Name] to alpha
build by 8/19” and “Identify list of high friction points and key features
necessary for beta launch.” Reviewing these 2019 OKRs in 2021 suddenly put our
progress into perspective. Instead of one single customer, we now plan on
tens, if not hundreds. And, rather than focus on blockers for launch, we
instead are confirming the thoroughness of funnel tracking and app performance
metrics. 2019 was all about why the app would falter, whereas 2021 is all about
why/how it will thrive.
Clearly define company and team objectives
This one seems obvious, but it is essential to make sure you are
strategically aligned on objectives across your organization. Have
conversations with your employees and team to determine what everyone considers
to be the top priorities for the year. Understanding how your employees
envision company success and how they see their work and team supporting that
success will empower you to best define a clear company objective. While we
recommend setting company objectives for the year, team and individual
objectives should be set on a quarterly basis to support progress towards the
overall company goals.
Set measurable key results
Setting concrete milestones in the form of key results is
fundamental to understanding how successful your strategy is in working towards
a given objective. For Punch List, a major objective for 2021 is to grow our
customer base by building awareness for our offering among independent
contractors - establishing Punch List as a valuable resource for
contractors to safely and seamlessly track the progress of remodels with
homeowners, and receive payment. As such, some key results we will be tracking
include achieving 50% growth in our customer base and building partnerships
with at least three national associations for general contractors.
Track progress of initiatives on a calendar
As you’re building out your annual and quarterly strategies,
note all initiatives, projects, and tasks that are designed to promote progress
towards your key results in a calendar and clearly define the key performance
indicators you’ll be tracking. Set times to check in on a monthly basis to
determine the success of each initiative and if a change in strategy or
direction might be required. Creating a transparent tool to track progress will
promote accountability across the board and reinforce focus on achieving the
key objective. All initiatives should support the primary goal and it’s
essential to monitor progress to ensure continued strategic alignment.
Stay focused on the objectives you’ve set - individually, as
teams and across the company - and the benchmarks you all need to hit to get
there.
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