A Team That Sets Goals Together, Grows Together: OKRs and Battlecards
All peeps at Cope would agree to one thing — we want to do the kind of work the ‘future us’ would be proud of. We want to look back and think “Thank god, I did that,” and for that, we need a team that is hustling towards common goals. These goals should also in turn reflect on their personal career growth.
How do we do it? We have our dedicated Objectives and Key Results (Or OKRs) for the company, which are divided into individual OKRs. We are all adding our droplets to make this a goddamn huge ocean.
Why OKRs?
Cope is an ever-evolving company. We don’t cling to our traditional values, we love meaningful changes. We do not want to be Jack of all trades, so we chose one — the metaverse. To get here, our team has run several sprints, crossed several hurdles that we are almost ready for the olympics 🤷♀️
It is clear that our goals have evolved as well. We choose OKRs because -
- OKRs are periodically set, tracked and re-evaluated. It suits and helps our process.
- It shows us what we are doing right and where we lack.
- Each individual knows what they need to do, where they’re heading to and the kind of contribution they provide to the growth of the company.
How do we set our OKRs?
To begin with, each objective and key results should give meaning to the below sentence:
I will (objective) as measured by (key results)
Over to our step-by-step process.
- Step 1: Identify the company’s OKRs for different verticals every quarter
We have dedicated OKRs for each vertical like design, product and growth. Each vertical has three major objectives and each objective has three key results under them. These OKRs amount to the end goal of what we want to achieve annually.
2. Step 2: Divide the company’s OKRs into individual OKRs
This is how we know we are all headed in the same direction and nobody is confused about what they need to do.
The team is then presented with the plan, we discuss and clear doubts if any and we are all set for action.
Gear up!
Each peep at Cope gets a battlecard for every quarter. A battlecard typically consists of the following:
- Role
A one-liner on the role of the employee.
2. Objectives
We list out three main objectives they have to work towards.
3. Respective Key Results
We state three key results under each objective. These key results must be quantifiable for us to track performance.
4. Some more deets
We add some characteristics and details about the employee to make the battlecard truly personalized.
Here is a sample battlecard. This is Swetha, the Growth Specialist at Cope. Her battlecard would look like this -
The Anatomy of a Battlecard
Here, we have broken down what needs to be added in a battlecard. Here is the structure we follow.
Why are we bullish on OKRs? They work.
The whole Cope team will collaborate during a quarterly planning meeting to discuss the fundamental company objectives. A maximum of 3–5 quarterly objectives will be determined. After executives’ objectives have been determined, they will cascade down to department, team, and individual contributor levels. That way, each person or group of people will be doing work through the entire duration of the quarter.
The key results portion of OKRs is what makes them so effective, because they break down objectives into smaller steps. They are also clearly defined, making it easier for employees and their managers to track progress.
All we need to do is frequently check our battlecards to make sure we are headed in the direction. We strive hard because we know reaching our goals will help us thrive and the celebration party will be worth it. 😛
