What are OKRs and how they are used in the hospitality industry

Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, are an excellent tool that helps you achieve your goals in the hospitality industry, but not every hotel owner or operator uses them. In this article, we’ll be explaining exactly what OKRs are and why you should consider using them to manage your business.

What are OKRs?

OKRs are a measurement system that can help you track your success and growth as an individual, team or company. The term OKR was first coined by Intel’s Andrew Grove and is used extensively at Amazon.

This effective leadership tool helps individuals or groups to identify and communicate what goals they want to achieve and what they need to do to achieve them, allowing for measurable results.

OKRs tend to be structured with an ‘Objective’ written at the top and a number of ‘Key Results’ aimed for below it. This can also be written as:

I will [Objective] as measured by [Key Results].

‘Objectives’ represent what is to be achieved, while ‘Key Results’ are the steps that need to be taken to achieve the ‘Objective’. While ‘Objectives’ are more inspirational, ‘Key Results’ are specific, time-bound, and most of all, measurable.

Once all ‘Key Results’ have been fulfilled, the ‘Objective’ is accomplished.

Why you should use OKRs in the workplace

OKRs are becoming increasingly popular among companies, and the reason is simple: they not only help teams reach goals, but also make it possible to measure and achieve those goals more quickly than other methods. When used correctly, OKRs can help your team avoid distractions and keep everyone on task. As a result, OKRs can lead to increased success at every level of your business.

How to create a badass weekly status report

A weekly status report is one of those things that most managers do, and yet, have probably never had to create one. Well, it turns out that there are a few important guidelines when creating a weekly status report, and we’ll outline these in further depth below!

The first thing to think about is why you even need a weekly update, and how do they work?

Weekly status reports allow team members to monitor and track their progress towards a common goal, or in this case, an ‘Objective’ by reviewing a summary of all work done during that week. These are typically digital reports, which is particularly useful in a post-pandemic climate, where remote teams need to be able to give managers a clear idea of how they’re delivering.

So, where do you start?

Spreadsheets or project management tools are commonly used for creating weekly reports and monitoring team progress. You’ll need to have a clear idea of the purpose of your report and this needs to be communicated concisely.

An effective weekly update will typically include a project overview, an outline of the key results you’ve identified, the work that’s been completed this week, the plan of what’s next, which should be made up of actionable tasks that are to be distributed among a team, as well as the timespan and deadlines.

Strategies for creating actionable objectives

OKRs are, first and foremost, measurable goals. If you can’t measure it, such as with goals like, ‘create excitement’ or ‘be more accessible to customers’, then how will you know when you achieve them? To create actionable objectives that everyone on your team can understand and get behind, first try to quantify whatever it is you’re looking to improve.

Thought processes behind an OKR

OKRs are a great way to frame quarterly goals around business outcomes that align your team towards a common purpose. Although there are endless ways to set up an OKR, it is good practice to have one goal, three key results and three key dates for each OKR. The reason for these numbers is grounded in what Google and many other large Unicorns have found works best for its teams. A goal should be big enough to require substantial effort, but not so big that you can’t even define success within a year.

Getting down to business

OKRs have become a buzzword in some circles, but like any business tool, they’re only valuable if used correctly. If your company is considering using OKRs, here are three things to consider:

Do you want everyone on your team to share one common goal?
Are you interested in setting stretch goals?
Do you want each employee to define their own goals?

Once you’ve considered these questions, it will be easier for you and your team to decide whether or not OKRs can work for your business.