How to set OKRs with your team in a week
Strategy on Monday, final OKRs on Friday, with everyone behind them
A day-by-day process for setting OKRs with your team: strategy on Monday, final OKRs on Friday.
Setting OKRs shouldn’t take a month. You can do it in a week. If it’s taking more than two, you’re probably planning too much before the quarter starts, or wordsmithing the OKRs.
It won’t be easy. You’re making hard decisions about where you’re going and what success means. But that’s the work that sets your team up for the quarter.
The week
Monday: agree the strategy
Everyone writes a One Page Strategy in advance. You align in a one-hour meeting using the 1-2-4-All Method, then check it with your manager and stakeholders the same day.
Tuesday: draft the OKRs
In three hours, brainstorm Objectives, then metrics and milestones for each, and draft Key Results with X’s and Y’s for the numbers. Give each Objective an owner. Keep the cheat sheet to hand.
Wednesday and Thursday: plan and align
Each owner drafts a high-level plan using the One Page Plan, checks it with the teams they depend on, and proposes the baselines and targets.
Friday: finalise
In two hours, review the plan and the OKRs together, work through the concerns, and agree the final OKRs.
Then run the quarter
Review the plan every week, and change it when you learn something.
Own it, and involve your team
As the leader, you own the process and the final decision. Delegate what you like, but back the decisions fully, without caveats. Setting OKRs shapes what your team delivers for the whole quarter.
And involve your team as co-creators of the strategy, the OKRs and the plan. Those who write it don’t fight it. You can set your team’s OKRs on your own, and it’s easier, but don’t expect them to go well.
Why start with strategy?
I added Monday because drafting OKRs kept getting bogged down in debate. The team didn’t agree on what they were trying to do. They didn’t have a strategy, even when they thought they did.
If your strategy is already clear, Monday might take half an hour. Write it down anyway, and have everyone review it before Tuesday.
What’s in the guide
How to prepare: the room, the resources, and the context you need.
How to involve your manager and stakeholders, and the pitfalls to avoid.
A plan and meeting agenda for each day.
How to write the high-level plan, with example tables.
How to align with other teams, and set baselines and targets.
The Guide
Sixteen pages on setting OKRs with your team in a week. Free PDF, no email needed.
Your OKRs are set by Friday. If you work in a bigger organisation, the Leader’s OKR Guide shows how to keep them going all quarter, with your sponsors and other teams on board.
Want help with this?
The week works best with someone running it who has done it before. I train the team, run the OKR-setting workshop with you, then stay with you for the first quarter.
Created by
Richard Russell
Coach for founders and leadership teams
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Here’s how to set OKRs with your team in a week.