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Succeeding with OKRs in Agile
How to create & deliver Objectives Key Results for teams
Does your agile team get lead astray by burning fires? Do you struggle to keep your agile team focused?
Do you feel the need for more than just doing the top of the backlog every two weeks?
Are you using, or want to use, OKRs with an agile team?
About
About the Book
Second edition now out
OKRs are about goals bigger than the next story.
OKRs prioritise purpose and strategy over backlogs. Objectives are big goals; key results are constraints, success criteria, maybe small pieces of the bigger thing.
Does your agile team get lead astray by burning fires? Do you struggle to keep your agile team focused?
Do you feel the need for more than just doing the top of the backlog every two weeks?
Are you using, or want to use, OKRs with an agile team?
Then this is the book for you. Acclaimed author Allan Kelly has written a short guide to OKRs, writing them, organizing to deliver and the pitfalls.
Download a free sample
Allan is the author of multiple books on agile and has given advice and training for over 10 years. Now he turns his attention to OKRs.
In this book he doesn't try to sell OKRs - others can tell you why OKRs are great. Allan describes his practical experience working with an agile team adopting OKRs, day-by-day, quarter-by-quarter.
Allan’s advice includes: be really specific in setting goals, involve the whole team in setting OKRs, think broad when setting then execute narrowly, set analogue not binary OKRs and, most controversially, throw away your backlog and let OKRs drive everything you do.
Initially sceptical about OKRs Allan found them a good fit with agile; OKRs became an effective means of focus teams, exposing problems, communicating with senior managers and a powerful means of asking bigger questions about product strategy and value.
OKRs and agile work well together because they are both outcome oriented and results focused. When used right OKRs give power and authority to teams - one could even say OKRs create test first management.
Yet OKR can be a double edge-sword, used poorly they can re-introduce command-and-control and hinder agile working. Allan addresses problems with predictability, aspirations, culture, targets and annual reviews.
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Author
About the Author
Allan Kelly
Allan Kelly calls himself an Agile Guide. He helps software professionals enjoy more fulfilling and satisfying work by improving the way work is organised and requests are made. Happier people and better ways of working make for more effective companies, greater value and competitive advantage.
His wide experience of the challenges faced in software development underpins his advice, coaching, training and writing. He is the author of seven books including "Xanpan - team centric Agile Software Development", "Business Patterns for Software Developers" and "Continuous Digital". He has pioneered techniques such as Value Poker, Time-Value Profiles and Retrospective Dialogue Sheets. His blog is at https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/blog/
Episode 252
An Interview with Allan Kelly
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Contents
Table of Contents
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Foreword
Preface
Short quick lessons
- IWhy OKRs
1.Introducing OKR
- 1.1Dissecting OKRs
- 1.2OKRs and agile
- 1.3Think broadly, execute narrowly
- Iterate
- 1.4Ambition over estimation
- Psychological safety
- Best within constraints
2.Why use OKRs?
- 2.1Mid-term planning
- 2.2Test-driven OKRs
- 2.3Communication
- 2.4Warning
- 2.5Summary
3.Focus
- 3.1OKRs create focus
- Digital distractions
- 3.2Summary
4.OKR history
5.Outcomes, value and benefits
- 5.1Business benefit and value
- Business
- 5.2Value
- 5.3Pieconomics
- Estimate value
- 5.4Summary
- IIWriting OKRs
6.Writing OKRs
- 6.1Team setting
- Mark aspirations
- 6.2Limited number
- 6.3Priority
- 6.4Effort
- Working backwards
- 6.5Avoid planning by OKR
- 6.6The trouble with pre-work
- 6.7When to set OKRs
- 6.8Not money
7.Objectives
- 7.1Background analysis
- 7.2Objective value
- 7.3Obvious value
- 7.4Wide objectives
- 7.5Feature factories
- 7.6One for the team
- 7.7Testing trouble
8.Key results
- 8.1Example
- 8.2Test-driven
- 8.3Binary or analog?
- 8.4Summary
9.Measuring
- 9.1Quantify
- Measurement
- 9.2Measuring the impossible
- 9.3Removing the subjectivity
- 9.4Unintended consequences
- 9.5Don’t boil it down
- 9.6Summary
10.Key result tricks
- 10.1Experiments
- 10.2Hypothesis-driven development
- 10.3Time-boxed
- 10.4Survey
- 10.5Knowing when to stop
- 10.6Summary
11.Planning cycle
- 11.1Gather the team
- Why involve stakeholders?
- 11.2When to set
- 11.3Start late
- 11.4During the quarter
- 11.5End-of-quarter review
- 11.6Mid-quarter review
- 11.7Product Owner
- Stakeholders or managers?
- 11.8Summary
- IIIWorking with OKRs
12.Organizing to deliver OKRs
- 12.1OKRs everywhere
- 12.2Sprint planning with OKRs
- 12.3Traffic lights and status
- 12.4Summary
13.OKRs and the backlog
- 13.1OKRs, not backlogs
- 13.2Backlog first
- The bottomless pit
- 13.3OKRs first
- An experiment
- 13.4Return of the sprint goal
- 13.5Summary
14.BAU – keeping the lights on
- Software always changes
- 14.1Option 1: suppress BAU
- 14.2Option 2: reduce or remove BAU
- 14.3Option 3: make BAU better
- 14.4Option 4: objective zero – add BAU
- 14.5Downside
- 14.6Summary
15.Executing
- 15.1Keeping focus
- 15.2Prioritize
- 15.3Visual display
- 15.4Revisit often: sprint planning
- 15.5Time-slice
- 15.6Summary
16.Going off-piste
- 16.1Unplanned but valuable
- 16.2Prepare for the unexpected
- 16.3Track distractions
- 16.4Summary
17.Beyond the quarter
- 17.1Three horizons
- 17.2From roadmap to OKRs
- 17.3Feedback
- 17.4Summary
18.Integrated planning
- 18.1OKR roadmap
- Hypothesis and experiments
- 18.2The Product Owner and planning
- 18.3Summary
- IVLeadership
19.Strategy
- 19.1Big goals
- Strategic intent
- 19.2Agile makes strategy more important
- Strategy elements
- 19.3Opportunity cost
- 19.4What not to do
- 19.5The backlog
- 19.6Don’t forget the technology
- Technical liabilities
- 19.7Shared mental model
- 19.8Summary
20.Leaders
- 20.1Culture, goals and strategy elements
- 20.2Day-to-day
- 20.3Leaders and culture
- My big failure
- 20.4Summary
21.Culture
- 21.1Delivery culture
- 21.2Customers
- 21.3Openness and feedback
- 21.4Psychological safety
- 21.5Ambition
- The next Google?
- 21.6Summary
22.Leaders and planning
- 22.1Broad–narrow
- 22.2Forward planning
- 22.3Cascade up, not down
- 22.4Summary
- VForewarnings
23.Aspirations
- 23.1Utility mode
- 23.2Creating aspirations?
- 23.3Leaders and culture
- 23.4An OKR adoption route
- 23.5Exercise: where are you?
- 23.6Summary
24.Everyday pitfalls
- 24.1‘OKR buffet’
- 24.2Late-arriving OKRs
- 24.3Adding to the story hierarchy
- 24.4Counting problems
- 24.5Respect for specialists
- 24.6Respect for managers
- 24.7Summary
25.Trouble with targets
- 25.1Targeting the measurable
- 25.2Questions measurement can’t answer
- 25.3Goodhart’s Law
- 25.4Goal displacement
- 25.5Overcoming tunnel vision
- Rules of thumb
- 25.6A final warning: targets
- 25.7Summary
26.Individuals and performance reviews
- 26.1Integrating employee reviews with OKRs
- Disagree and commit
- 26.2OKRs for individuals
- Behaviors
- 26.3Summary
- Close
Closing words
- Get out of jail free
- Finally
Further reading
Coming soon: OKRs extra
Acknowledgements
Also by Allan Kelly
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