Department / Team or Project Level OKRs?

In many organizations, a combination of all of them might be beneficial. Departmental OKRs can provide overarching guidance, Team OKRs can serve functional teams while project-level OKRs can drive focus on specific innovation and changes within that framework. Assess your goals, organizational structure, and project complexities to make the best choice.

Your organizational structure matters

Startups and smaller organization in which we want everyone to collaborate, fair better with organizations objectives and project OKRs below them. So they can avoid to silo team members and stay flexible with the project staffing and support.

Mid-side and larger organisation normally use both Department / Team and Project Level Goal Setting by OKRs to include also more hierarchical functional and back-office teams in the OKR cycle.

The main focus on OKRs should be focus, alignment and transparency, therefore siloing the goal setting approach from the top does not inspire collaboration in teams.

We highly advice to refrain from using individual OKRs as we want to measure results and outcomes not any tasks or issue achievements. From our experience in over 60 OKR implementation, outcomes are normally achieved on team level, not on individual level.

OKR Structure - OKR Asia

1. Company OKRs:

   • Purpose: Set the strategic direction for the entire organization.

   • When to Use: High-level goals intended for the entire organization. Use this level to define long-term vision and priorities that guide all departments, teams, and individuals.

   • Pro Tip: Flat organisation use on company level only Objectives not Key Results in order to keep the company level inspiring and measure the results in the departments / teams or projects.

     
     

2. Department OKRs:

   • Purpose: Bridge team objectives with the broader goals of the organization.

   • When to Use: Appropriate when a department needs to coordinate efforts across multiple teams or functions. It ensures that all teams within the department are aligned and moving towards the same organizational objectives.

   • Pro Tip: Ideally include the team leaders in a department OKR set-up workshop for alignment and buy-in

     
     

3. Team OKRs:

   • Purpose: Align team efforts towards common objectives and enable team collaboration

   • When to Use: Ideal for teams working on specific projects or initiatives, but can also be used for functional teams with KPIs. Each KPI (=KR) can be combined under common objectives to enable alignment, collaboration and collective accountability, ensuring that all team members are working toward shared goals.

   • Pro Tip: Ideally include the team members in a department OKR set-up workshop for alignment and buy-in

     
     

4. Project OKRs:

   • Purpose: Align project efforts towards common objectives and enable cross-functional collaboration

   • When to Use: Ideal for project teams working on specific projects or initiatives to track the business outcomes and expected impact of a project rather than just the finalization of the project tasks. Connects projects closely to business purpose and post implementation impact.

   • Pro Tip: Set-up Project Objectives with deliverables, milestones or increments as Key Results. Make the project accountable for business impact after a potential go-live or roll-out.

   
   

Conclusion on Department / Team or Project Level OKRs?

• Department/Team OKRs are more advantageous when your focus is on long-term goals, fostering a cohesive departmental strategy and overall alignment of functional teams.

• Project-Level OKRs are preferable for situations that demand agile responses to specific initiatives, clear outcomes, and accountability within project teams.

  
  

In practice, a hybrid approach that leverages both departmental/team and project-level OKRs might be most effective. This can ensure broad strategic alignment while also allowing for focused execution on specific initiatives. Consider your organizational structure and the nature of your goals when making the decision.

This blog was written by Carsten Ley, Entrepreneur, Enabler & Project Lead in Customer Experience, Project & Business Transformation leading large scale project implementations in Retail, E-commerce, Banking, Consulting & Experience Management for companies like Deloitte Germany, VW Mexico, Rolls-Royce UK, Lazada Vietnam and H&M South East Asia. He founded 2018 Asia PMO, a consulting firm focussing on getting clients fast and efficient into implementation of company objectives, customer & employee experience improvements to foster a result- and team-oriented environment.