Google set up re:Work to share and promote data-driven advice to help “put people first”. This guide shows how Google uses OKRs to get people out of their comfort zones and track progress towards achieving ambitious goals.
The guide covers the basics of OKRs and offers tips on introducing OKRs to any organisation. It includes advice on setting objectives and developing key results and team OKRs. It warns against goals that don't ‘push for new achievements’, examples being ‘maintain market position’ or ‘continue doing X’, or low-value objectives that won’t make much difference to an organisation even when achieved.
The inclusion of a downloadable spreadsheet and scorecard are useful if you are new to OKRs and want practical advice on how to grade OKRs effectively. Google uses a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, where a 0.0 designates a failure a 1.0 score means that the objective is ‘fully achieved’. If someone consistently achieves their objectives, this suggests OKRs need to be more ambitious: a ‘sweet spot’ of around 0.6-0.7 is recommended.
The guide has nine slides and can be read quite quickly; it also rewards closer reading and reflection. The last slide offers the now-famous 81-minute 2012 video of a presentation by Rick Klau, Google Ventures partner, presenting “How Google sets goals”, which is also reviewed here.