We set goals quarterly and execute weekly. This allows us to achieve big, meaty things in the long run, while keeping us accountable day-to-day on getting the little things done.
Objectives
- Objectives are mini mission statements.
- They're aspirational.
- They should make you want to get out of bed in the morning and come to work.
- Objectives are qualitative statements.
- There is only ONE objective for the company.
- This aligns everyone in the business on the single most important thing.
- Objectives are set and reviewed quarterly at the quarterly team offsite.
Key results
- The objective breaks down into 3-5 measurable key results.
- Key results are quantitative statements.
- Key results should be stretch goals, and we should aim to achieve 70% of the key results during the quarter.
- Any more than this and our goals are not big enough.
- Any less than this and the team is too ambitious.
- Each Key Result has a confidence score that measures the team's confidence of hitting the target.
- It starts at 5/10 and moves up or down each week.
- We use these confidence scores to help us identify where we need to dial in focus.
Initiatives
- Each Key Result is broken down into Initiatives.
- Initiatives are chunks of work that help deliver the key results.
- As there are generally several ways to achieve a key result, each initiative is ranked based on:
- Impact towards achieving the key result,
- Level of effort required to deliver the initiative, and
- Confidence level &/or evidence that delivery will help us achieve the key result.
Roadmaps
- Once we've committed to executing against an initiative, it's broken down into epics and user stories.
- These epics and user stories comprise our roadmap.
- A roadmap is a firm commitment of delivery, including timelines, to the rest of the organization.
