In this post, we’re sharing the top secrets to keeping your remote team on the same page and working toward a common goal. Whether you’re heading an entirely virtual team or just attempting to get the most out of a virtual meeting, these tips will help you maximize efficiency.

Top Challenges of Leading a Remote Team

Managing a remote team presents its own set of challenges that can be quite different from leading a team that works in the same physical location. Here are some of the most common challenges of leading a remote team:

Communication

Communication is the most important part of managing a team. Managers give directions at every step of a project or business effort, so they need to be very good at explaining the strategy and knowing what’s going on within a team. In the same way, team members need to report on how a project is going, understand “why” it’s being done, and hand off work easily for projects to stay on track.  

But communication can be challenging when dealing with team members who are spread out around the world and/or in different time zones. Since tone and body language are less obvious in written communication, misunderstandings are more likely to occur in situations when the parties involved cannot see each other.

Building Trust

Having team members in different locations can make it more challenging to establish the trust necessary for productive collaboration. It can be difficult to establish rapport and trust in a remote meeting setting since participants cannot see each other’s body language or facial expressions. 

Additionally, the non-verbal indicators that we generally use to develop trust, such as a strong handshake, eye contact, or physical proximity, may be missing in virtual settings. Participants may feel less connected to one another and the job without these cues, which can erode trust.

Collaboration

Collaboration can be more difficult in a remote team, as team members are not able to easily pop into each other’s offices for quick conversations. Leaders need to create opportunities for collaboration, such as virtual brainstorming sessions, and ensure that team members are comfortable using collaboration tools like video conferencing and project management software. 

Managing Productivity

Remote meetings frequently take place in a participant’s house, where there could be interruptions from the surroundings. These interruptions might make it challenging to remain concentrated and involved in the meeting, which lowers productivity.

Additionally, compared to in-person meetings, there might be less accountability, which would make it simpler for participants to multitask or get sidetracked without anybody knowing. Reduced productivity and a lack of engagement may result from this lack of accountability.

Most Common Mistakes When Running Virtual Meetings

Just like in-person meetings, virtual meetings can be prone to common mistakes that can impact their effectiveness. Here are some of the most common mistakes when running virtual meetings:

Poor Audio and Video Quality

Technical difficulties are common when it comes to virtual meetings, but the most common ones are poor audio and video quality. It can be challenging to communicate effectively when people are not able to hear or see each other clearly. Therefore, it is important to invest in quality equipment such as a high-quality microphone, camera, and stable internet connection to ensure that the audio and video quality is top-notch.

Lack of Adequate Preparation

Lack of preparation is one of the most common mistakes when running virtual meetings. It is essential to have a clear agenda and objectives for the meeting and communicate them to all attendees beforehand. This allows everyone to come prepared with relevant information, questions, and feedback, which will make the meeting more productive and efficient.

Not Managing Time Effectively

Time management is crucial when running virtual meetings, as attendees may have other commitments and limited attention spans. It is important to stick to the schedule, ensure that each agenda item is covered within the allocated time, and provide breaks if the meeting is long. This will help participants stay focused and avoid losing interest.

Photo by MART  PRODUCTION

10 Tips on How to Run Effective Remote Meetings

Leading online meetings can be a challenge, especially when working with a remote team. There are, nonetheless, certain easy measures that leaders can take to guarantee effective online meetings for better remote teamwork:

Have a Clear Meeting Goal

If there aren’t clear goals for the meeting, it won’t be useful and will just waste everyone’s time. Ask yourself, What is the purpose of this meeting? to set your meeting objectives. Is it a session to come up with thoughts or a meeting to solve problems? Does the group need an update or just to check in? Virtual meetings are more productive when participants come prepared with specific objectives.

Use the Right Remote Meeting Tools

Online meeting tools are necessary for virtual team meetings with remote teams as they enhance collaboration, save time and money, improve communication, increase flexibility, and offer record-keeping capabilities. Pick remote meeting software solutions that are simple to use and navigate, especially for team members who are less tech-savvy. Make sure the tools you choose are also compatible with the hardware and software that your team members are using. 

Set a Meeting Agenda

Create an agenda for each meeting and share it with meeting participants ahead of time. This will help the meeting stay on track and give attendees a sense of what to expect. Moreover, it will set a clear timeline for the meeting, including the duration of each agenda item. Such structure helps keep the meeting on track and prevents it from running over time.

Establish Proper Etiquette

Establish a few simple rules for attendees to follow for virtual meetings to go well. They will tell people what to do during a meeting and what to expect from each other. It’s important to make sure everyone knows these ground rules before your meeting. This can be done by writing a few words in the meeting invitation. You could also consider putting your remote meeting etiquette in your company’s policy.

Always Start the Meetings on Time

Starting the meeting on time is essential, as it shows respect for everyone’s time. Be sure to send out the meeting link to all participants in advance and remind meeting attendees of the start time.

Define Roles and Expectations

Define the roles of each participant in the meeting. This helps to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them during the meeting. For example, one person can be assigned as the facilitator to keep the meeting on track, and another person can take meeting notes.

Include High-Quality Content

If you want your team members to get involved more actively in the meeting, providing them with high-quality content is a must. Graphs, videos, images, and documents are all good examples of the types of content that can be used to help your audience grasp the meeting’s goal. Make sure the material may be accessed at a later time by the attendees.

Encourage Participation

Encourage all participants to speak up and contribute to the discussion. This can be achieved by opening the meeting with a casual conversation, inviting feedback, asking open-ended questions, using breakout rooms, and leveraging interactive tools such as polls and surveys.

Follow Up 

After the meeting, follow up with participants to ensure that everyone is clear on action items and next steps. It is important to send a summary of the meeting and any action items to attendees, assign tasks and deadlines, and follow up to ensure that tasks are completed.

Continuously Improve

Continuously improve your meetings by soliciting feedback from participants and trying new things. Consider holding a retrospective meeting to discuss what worked well and what can be improved for the next meeting.

Photo by cottonbro studio

The Bottom Line

Running effective remote team meeting is crucial for ensuring that your team stays connected, motivated, and productive. By using the tips discussed in this post, you can create a meeting structure that engages your team members, fosters collaboration, and supports efficient decision-making. 

Remember to prioritize communication, encourage participation, and be mindful of time zones and other logistical considerations. With these strategies in place, you can build a strong remote team that achieves its goals and thrives in the virtual workplace.

The post 10 Tips for Running Effective Remote Team Meetings appeared first on Focus.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some doable advice and tactics for promoting successful collaboration at work.  

Photo by airfocus on Unsplash

What is Collaboration in the Workplace

Collaboration in the workplace is the act of working together with colleagues, departments, or teams to achieve common goals. It involves the sharing of ideas, resources, and responsibilities to complete tasks or projects efficiently and effectively. Team collaboration requires communication, trust, and a willingness to work toward a common goal.

Workplace collaboration can take many forms. It can involve working together on a specific project, brainstorming ideas for a new initiative, or simply sharing knowledge and resources to solve a problem. It can also involve cross-functional teams working together to improve processes or implement new technologies.

What is the Importance of Collaboration in the Workplace?

Every individual has distinctive skill sets, capabilities, and information. In a collaborative work environment, individuals come together to contribute their unique skills and expertise. This diversity of thought and experience often leads to more innovative and creative solutions to problems. Collaboration can also increase employee engagement as people will feel a sense of ownership and pride in their shared achievements.

While workers pool their talents to complete tasks at work, employee collaboration also aids in tracking project delivery. Moreover, it enables team members to communicate ideas while learning how others perceive the world. 

Benefits of Collaboration in the Workplace

Collaboration is no longer a luxury but rather a requirement for companies to remain competitive and adjust to changing conditions in the fast-paced and complicated business climate of today. Let’s explore the various benefits of collaboration in the workplace and how it can positively impact individuals, teams, and the organization as a whole.

Reduced Errors 

People are more likely to hold one another responsible for their conduct when they are working together. There might be fewer mistakes and errors as a result of the greater accountability and focus on detail.

Also, collaborating with others can help to catch errors and mistakes before they become a larger problem. This can save time and resources in the long run and ensure that the final product or service meets high standards. 

Improved Communication

Team members can contribute their knowledge, experience, and insights through collaboration.

This can result in a more thorough grasp of the tasks and projects, as well as aid in preventing misunderstandings. Also, collaborating team members are often more transparent with each other, encouraging an overall climate at work that is more honest and communicative.

Collaboration also allows team members to give and receive feedback on their work. This can help to identify areas where communication may be unclear or ineffective and enable team members to improve their approach.

Better Learning Opportunities

Through collaboration, employees can share their knowledge and experience with others. The team as a whole may benefit from the exchange of innovative ideas, lessons learned, and best practices. Employees also have the opportunity to work with people who may approach problems from various angles or with alternative methods, which can help them expand their views and introduce them to fresh ideas.

Similarly, collaborative efforts often involve working in teams, providing opportunities for team-based learning. This can help employees develop their teamwork and collaboration skills, which are essential in today’s business environment.

Increased Creativity and Innovation

Individuals with various backgrounds, skills, and areas of competence come together through productive collaboration. This diversity can spark new ideas and insights that may not have been possible otherwise. By sharing and building upon each other’s ideas, employees can arrive at more creative and innovative solutions.

They can experiment with new ideas and approaches without fear of failure. Together, they may take chances and test out fresh concepts that they might not have been able to do separately, resulting in more original and creative solutions.

Enhanced Productivity

Collaborative teams are more productive as they can divide tasks among members and work on them simultaneously. This approach ensures faster completion of tasks while maintaining quality.

Also, working together with others can promote a sense of belonging and a common goal, which can boost the motivation level and engagement for the task at hand. Employees are also more motivated to produce their best work when they perceive themselves as members of a team working toward a common objective.

Higher Employee Retention Rate

Collaborative efforts create a sense of belonging among employees by bringing them together to work towards common goals. When employees feel that they are part of a team, they are more likely to feel engaged and committed to their work. Improved work relationships, recognition and appreciation, and better work-life balance are also part of any collaborative environment and help in maintaining high retention rates.

Likewise, efficient collaboration also provides opportunities for employees to learn new skills, gain new experiences, and develop their careers. This gives employees a strong sense of conducting work that is meaningful and challenging, making them more likely to stay with the organization. 

Enhanced Workplace Culture

An enhanced workplace culture is a common benefit that stems from a collaborative environment. 

Teams that work together effectively foster a collaborative spirit that’s encouraging and helpful. As a result, people may be more ready to participate in meetings and group activities, ask others for help or advice, and be more conscious of others’ responsibilities at work.

Great Flexibility

A cohesive team naturally exhibits flexibility. If a team is conscious of its mission and ultimate goal, it may be prepared for any situation.

Undoubtedly, your industry will evolve, and a staff that is ready and skillful can foresee that transition. Companies and teams must adjust rather fast because if your team isn’t on the same page, change might easily lead to disaster.

Photo by fauxels

How to Increase Workplace Productivity and Collaboration

As we said, promoting effective workplace collaboration is not always easy. It requires a concerted effort to build trust and encourage open communication among employees. Below, we’re exploring some practical strategies and techniques that can help organizations improve workplace collaboration and productivity 

• Establish clear goals and expectations. Set clear goals and expectations for projects, tasks, and team performance. This can help to align everyone’s efforts towards a common goal and provide clarity on what is expected from each team member.
• Foster a positive work culture. Encourage a positive work culture that values open communication, respect, and inclusivity. This may facilitate the development of a setting where team members are at ease exchanging ideas and cooperating.
• Give people the chance to collaborate. Provide individuals the opportunity to work together by organizing team-building activities, off-site retreats, or team outings. This can help in building trust and solidifying bonds among team members which, in turn, can improve teamwork.
• Employ workplace collaboration tools. To facilitate team management and enhance collaboration and communication amongst team members, use all-encompassing collaboration tools like Focus. 
• Encourage cross-functional collaboration. Encourage collaboration between different departments and teams within the organization. By encouraging knowledge sharing and assisting in the dismantling of silos, you’ll be able to produce better outcomes and more creative solutions.
• Provide possibilities for training and development. Provide team members the chance to grow professionally by giving them opportunities for training and development.
• Recognize and reward collaboration. Recognize and reward collaborative behavior and teamwork. This can encourage a culture of collaboration and reinforce the importance of working together towards common goals.
• Hone your time-management skills. The key to making sure you can meet deadlines and finish the work your team is depending on you to deliver is being able to prioritize your tasks and schedule them out correctly.

Prioritize active listening. Working closely with people requires you to pay close attention to each team member’s suggestions, criticisms, and recommendations and to reply in a kind and polite manner.

The post How to Promote Collaboration in the Workplace And Increase Productivity appeared first on Focus.

Weekly reports summarize the progress and achievements of a business during a specific week. They provide an overview of the company’s performance and help you track progress, stay on top of tasks and goals, and keep internal stakeholders informed. 

This post will walk you through the process of generating a weekly report for your company. But first, let’s try to comprehend what exactly is a weekly report and what is its importance for your organization. 

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

What Is a Weekly Report? 

A weekly report is a written overview of the tasks, advancements, and successes of a company or project within a given week. Typically, it contains information about the tasks that were completed, any difficulties or barriers faced, and the outcomes of the previous week’s activities.

A weekly report’s objective is to give an overview of how the company or project is doing while also highlighting any problems or difficulties that may need resolving. It acts as a channel of communication between the team and management, keeping everyone updated on the progress of the undertaking or company.

Weekly custom reports may guarantee that everyone is working toward the same objectives, assist your company projects to go in the correct direction, pinpoint areas for development, and help you make smarter business decisions.

There are multiple types of reports: 

• Sales report: It provides an analysis of the sales activities during the week. The report might include the number of units sold, revenue generated, and any changes in customer behavior or trends. 
  
• Project status report: This business report sample gives an update on the status of a particular project, listing the tasks that were finished during the week, any problems or difficulties that were encountered, and the anticipated time frame for completion.
  
• Marketing report: The marketing report summarizes the marketing strategies undertaken during the week, including marketing plans, any new campaigns or initiatives executed by the marketing team, marketing goals, the performance of existing campaigns, and any insights or data gathered through market research. 
  
• Financial report: Weekly financial statements provide an overview of the company’s financial performance during the week, including revenue, overhead costs, loss statement, any changes in profit margins, and cash flow issues.
  
• Report on customer service: This report gives a summary of the activities related to customer service throughout the week, including the quantity of questions or complaints received, the typical response time, and any comments or insights from consumers.
  
• Operations report: An operations report gives an update on how the company is currently operating, including any difficulties or problems that have been encountered, modifications that have been made to processes or procedures, and any noteworthy accomplishments.
  
• Report on human resources: This report gives a summary of the week’s human resources operations at the organization, including new recruits, training initiatives, worker performance, and any modifications to company policies or procedures.

Photo by Lukas on Pexels

Why It’s Important to Create Weekly Reports

Creating weekly reports is a valuable practice for businesses. Let’s explore the top reasons why you should create them too.

Keep Stakeholders Informed and Up-to-Date

Producing weekly reports is a good approach to keeping involved parties informed and up to date on a project’s, company’s, or team’s development. The reports promote transparency by providing a detailed overview of the progress being made on a project or business. This helps to build trust and credibility with stakeholders and fosters a culture of openness and honesty.  

Keep Employees Engaged

By setting clear goals and expectations in the weekly report, employees have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and can focus their efforts on achieving those goals.

Weekly reports provide transparency into the work being done, which can help build trust between employees and management. This sense of transparency can help employees feel more engaged in the success of the business or project.

Also, weekly reports can include recognition of individual and team achievements, as well as feedback on areas for improvement. As a result, employees will feel more motivated and valued.

Track Progress and Identify Areas for Improvement

A project weekly status report provides a snapshot of the progress made during a week, allowing you to track the progress towards goals and objectives. This helps to ensure that the project or business is on track and that tasks are being completed as planned.

Weekly reports also help you identify areas for improvement by highlighting any challenges or issues encountered during the week. By analyzing these challenges, you can make adjustments to their processes or strategies, helping to optimize performance and maximize efficiency.

The Top 5 Steps to Producing a Weekly Report 

When creating a weekly report, it can be overwhelming to know where to start or what information to include. Here are the top five steps you need to take:

• Set goals and objectives for the week: Start by setting goals and objectives for the week. Include any specific tasks, projects or objectives that you want to achieve. 
• Outline tasks and activities for the week: Once you have set your goals and objectives, outline the tasks and activities you need to complete in order to achieve them. Be specific, set key performance indicators, and include deadlines and time frames for each task. 
• Track progress and results: Throughout the week, track your progress and results against your goals and objectives. To ensure you are on pace to achieve your goals, you can use tools like spreadsheets or project management software.
• Provide a summary of achievements and challenges: At the end of the week, provide a summary of your achievements. Include a detailed account of your progress, as well as any issues or obstacles you faced. 
• Set goals and objectives for the following week: Finally, set goals and objectives for the following week based on your achievements and challenges. Use the insights gained from your weekly report to identify areas for improvement and make any necessary adjustments to your plan.

What Is Included In a Weekly Report?

A weekly progress report should include several key elements:

• Accomplishments and achievements: A summary of the tasks or projects completed during the week and the progress made towards achieving goals.
• Goals and objectives for the week: A list of the goals and objectives that were set for the week, along with progress updates and any changes or updates to the goals.
• Progress and results: An overview of the progress made towards the goals and objectives set for the week, including any key success metrics or data points that show progress.
• Issues and challenges: Any obstacles or challenges encountered during the week, along with a plan for addressing them.
• Action items and next steps: A list of action items and next steps that need to be taken to continue making progress towards goals and objectives. 
• Additional notes or comments: Any additional information or comments that may be relevant to the week’s activities, including successes, failures, lessons learned, or feedback from team members. 

How to Use Focus for Weekly Check-Ins and How to Integrate it with Slack and Discord

Focus is a simple tool that takes care of goal setting, OKRs, daily and weekly check-ins, and task management, making it perfect for managing remote teams.

By using Focus and integrating it with Slack or Discord, you can streamline the reporting process, increase accountability, promote transparency, and gain valuable data insights that can help optimize workflows and improve productivity.

To integrate Focus with Slack or Discord, follow these steps:

• Install the Focus app on Slack or Discord.
• Connect Focus to Slack or Discord using the integration feature.
• Schedule the check-in for the desired time and date.
• When the check-in is due, team members will receive a notification in Slack or Discord and can complete the check-in directly from the app.

The Bottom Line

A weekly report is a useful tool for any business since it facilitates communication with stakeholders, tracks progress, and identifies opportunities for development. Regularly creating and reviewing weekly reports can also improve collaboration among team members, leading to better outcomes and increased productivity.

By following the tips outlined in this article, you can master the weekly report creation and ensure everyone in your organization has a clear picture of their progress toward goals and objectives and make informed decisions.

The post What is Weekly Reporting and Why Is It Important for Every Business appeared first on Focus.

With fewer commutes, the freedom to work from literally anywhere, and an international employment pool, it’s no surprise that remote work is so popular. It does, however, present a unique set of difficulties. Managing a remote team and monitoring your project’s tasks through their various stages from start to finish is very different from managing employees in a physical office.

In this article, we’ll outline some of the most common challenges for managers and the best methods for managing remote teams and streamlining task management.  

The Biggest Challenges of Managing a Remote Team 

At some point, every business managing a remote team may face the following challenges that are common in a remote work setting: 

• Getting work done on time. To complete their work on schedule, employees require standardized, effective work methods. But implementing those methods can be challenging, especially for bigger projects when work is divided across several teams and employees.
  
• Tracking tasks. Managers may waste a lot of time tracking and delegating each dependent job and subtask by hand. An automated task management program can greatly streamline this procedure.
  
• Less insight into productivity. Updates are not as simple as a five-minute office chat when your team operates in a remote work environment. Additionally, holding endless video chats is neither effective nor sustainable. Task management can give you insight into team performance and progress, you always know where things are at.
  
• Communication. With no task management tool in place, communication can be difficult since each remote team member must switch between different tools to try and comprehend work-related information. In fact, 50% of employees say that job distractions including monitoring different communication channels have a significant impact on productivity.

Photo by Canva Studio

Best Practices for Managing a Remote Team

While you’ll likely face certain challenges inherent to managing a remote team, several foolproof remote team management tips can help you make the most out of it.

Define Expectations  

Managers should clearly define each team member’s expectations for their job responsibilities in order to avoid misunderstandings. What should be done? What types of requirements are there? When does it have to be finished? 

Task management can help remote teams understand the company’s goals as well as how they could contribute to their realization. This guarantees that everyone is moving in the same direction. 

Focus on Communication

Remote teams may not receive the same amount of information as co-located employees. To get around this and streamline task management, you must develop communication strategies that prioritize regular communication and ensure that the knowledge and assistance they receive are sufficient for them to produce high-quality work.

This is even more important at the start of a project when team members need numerous briefings before they can start working. Utilize every remote communication tool you can to make sure that everyone has understood your message.

And since effective communication goes both ways, always pay careful attention to what your team members have to say. This could be crucial to assisting them in finishing their work promptly and efficiently.

Prioritize Results 

Any all-remote environment must have a way to monitor tasks and job progress. Managers need to make sure that team members are focusing on the most important tasks and that nobody is falling behind by keeping an eye on task progress.

With proper task management in place, you can set targets for your workers to achieve on the job, such as daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly SMART goals. This will increase employee engagement and productivity, reduce the risk of micromanagement, and allow for more freedom.

Have Daily Check-In Meetings

Having regular check-ins is the best way to provide employee feedback, give important information, and get your team back on track whenever they wander from the company’s objectives.

Schedule specific meeting times to have one-on-one virtual meetings with each individual employee. This not only helps your team members communicate effectively, but it may also keep them in the loop of the latest corporate developments. Task management software employs automation to create tasks every month or every week, depending on the demands of the remote manager, making sure everyone is informed on time.

Make Collaboration Easy

Having specific SOPs, frameworks, and guidelines in place will help ensure that virtual teams function successfully and cooperatively while meeting high standards. This can include a combination of the earlier best practices discussed, such as outlining the objectives of the business and how to express them, sharing information openly and transparently, and choosing the right technologies for team collaboration. 

Moreover, platforms for task management contain collaboration-enhancing features like user mentions and in-task comments that enable teams to connect with a purpose.

Build Structures

Every employee needs a well-established structure to be productive. But multiple-location workers lack structure, making it easier for them to become disengaged.  

To avoid this, establish team rhythm. Inform team members of one another’s activities so they may understand their roles in the process and define clear schedules for team meetings. The team members can arrange their schedules once they have a general understanding of what happens each week and how it affects their day-to-day duties.

Optimize the Employee Onboarding Process

Not everyone is naturally suited for working remotely. Establishing a well-defined hiring process for each new team member is therefore essential.  

An optimized remote employee onboarding could involve guiding them through the employee manual, introducing them to the company’s internal tech stack for remote work, and pointing out potential locations for crucial information.

Enhance Your Company Culture

Building a strong feeling of business culture with remote team members is more difficult than it would be with an office team. In fact, 17% of remote workers admitted they experience loneliness as a result of their work.

With the right task management solution, you can assist in making remote workers feel a part of the organization and their coworkers. 

Give Employee Recognition

You should always recognize and reward high-performing employees who preserve fundamental company values.

But, since you won’t run into the employee in the halls and give praises, leveraging task management software can help you engage with your workers and give kudos. You could also promote team members’ recognition on social media and establish a dedicated communication channel only for expressing employee gratitude.

Benefits of Task Management Tools

Task management software can streamline the creation, delegation, and completion of tasks. Remote team managers can use it to get the most from their employees. Additionally, they enable better collaboration and speedier productivity. Here are some of the main benefits task management tools offer:

• Simple task organization. A task management solution gives managers a single hub to organize all tasks and have access to their whole workspace. They can easily assign tasks, keep an eye on them, and take care of any delays or problems right away.
  
• Put tasks in order of importance. Every task is important. But do they all have equal weight? No. When using the right task management tool, managers and their remote teams may focus first on the most important activities before moving on to the ones with less significance.
  

• Enhanced collaboration. Platforms for task management offer collaboration-enhancing features like user mentions and comments that enable teams to connect.
  
• Subdivide large projects into smaller tasks and dependencies. Big tasks might be intimidating because they demand meticulous planning and execution considering that even minor delays could have a huge influence. To simplify the tasks for remote teams to handle, task management solutions like Focus allow you to establish dependent tasks.
  
• Remove time-zone barriers. Your remote team won’t need to badger their supervisors or other team members for it. Instead, they can all see a relevant board with all of their duties listed on it. This is particularly important for teams operating in a virtual environment where employees work in different time zones and have different working schedules.

Photo by RODNAE Productions

The Bottom Line

It makes sense for businesses to enhance their remote team management practices as remote working is expected to become the norm for the foreseeable future. Building a culture that is trustworthy, highly accountable, open, and communicative while fully utilizing technology can help you streamline task management, increase remote work efficiency and have a more productive team. Investing in the right remote task management software is one of the best ways to start managing your remote workforce. With Focus, you can easily keep your team aligned and goal-oriented.

The post Task Management for Remote Teams: 9 Tips and Best Practices appeared first on Focus.

Inviting your team members is the first step in setting up and using Focus so you can successfully manage and track the OKRs of your organization. By inviting them you can ensure that everyone in the organization has access to the tools needed to focus on completing the company goals.

You can do this, by clicking on the Invite Team Member button from the left side panel. 

Once you input the emails from your team members you can click on the “Send Invitation” button to send out the invitations to them.

The team members will receive an email with a link to join Focus. They will need to click on the link and follow the instructions to create an account and join Focus.

Once team members have joined Focus, they will be able to overview the public OKRs and tasks and ones that have been assigned to their team or them. This way they can easily track their progress toward achieving them. They will also be able to update their check-ins or edit them.

Creating teams and adding members

By creating teams, you can assign specific goals and objectives to each team. This helps to ensure that teams are focused on their specific areas of responsibility and that they are working towards their goals in a coordinated and aligned manner.

Once your team members complete the process of joining Focus, you can go to the Teams & Members Section from the left side panel of the Focus dashboard and create the teams, give names, and assign members to each. 

Managing team members 

If you have multiple teams that have managers you can assign roles to each member of your team according to their position. 

In this section have a complete overview of your entire team. Admins can also make edits to the members information and see the number of times they’ve completed a check in. 

Here you can also assign other team members to be admins to your company profile. 

Removing someone from the team

If you wish to have a team member switch teams you can easily do that here by accessing the drop down menu for the desired team member and choosing a new team for them.
But, if you wish to entirely delete that member, all you need to do is to click on the ellipsis button and delete that member. 

The post Team Management appeared first on Focus.

OKR is the abbreviation for Objective and Key Results.

In its simplest form, Objectives are the what, and the Key Results are the how.

You should use OKRs to make sure everyone is in sync with the company’s goals, at any given time.

An objective is something you want your team or company to achieve. Or have an employee accomplish as their personal goal. It’s a big-picture statement that describes what you want to accomplish. They should be qualitative rather than quantitative and should set the stage for what you want to achieve in the next quarter or year. For example:

I want my team members to feel valued at work(O), so I will schedule one-on-one monthly meetings (KR) with each person on my team where we can talk about their professional development goals and how they can improve their performance at work.

Key results show how you’ll achieve the objective. They are a measurable benchmark to complete the Objective. These should be specific, measurable, and time-bound. For example: “Achieve an 85% NPS score for our new product offering among customers who have used it at least three times in a given month”

KRs should be used to assess the progress toward an Objective. They should be specific to the objective and realistic but challenging enough to stretch your teams and motivate them toward their goals. Each Objective should have 2-5 key results. They should help you answer the question: “How will this objective get done?”

If you are aiming for 5 key results per objective, it’s important to keep in mind that this target number doesn’t have to be exact if they all fit within the context of your objective.

Another good practice is to renew OKRs every quarter to give teams a chance to refresh their priorities and stay agile as the company grows.

Typical mistakes with OKRs:

• OKRs don’t match or follow company goals
• Setting up a huge bulk of OKRs and overwhelm your team
• Procrastination of updating the OKR progress

Good examples of OKRs

For teams

Objective: Launch a web page for the new service

Key results: 

• Create a wireframe 
• Write Headline and Body copy 
• Create 3 related articles
• Create pricing plan 

There is a specific objective that needs to be accomplished and the key results are quantifiable so they are easy to track. 

Individual

Objective: Send out 400 outreach emails in June

Key results:

• Create new email address
• Create A/B templates
• Upload Email list

This OKR is a great opportunity to set monthly goals for teammates in your outreach team. The objective is quantifiable and time bound, and the key results are also easy to do tasks that will help you accomplish your objective. 

Bad examples of OKRs 

Teams

Objective: Retain Newsletter subscribers

Key results: 

• Send out more newsletters
• Design new templates
• Assign new copywriters

This OKR is bad since there is no set way to measure the success of the objective itself. The key results are also hard to track if they are fulfilled or completed since they are not measurable. 

Individual

Objective: Become a better colleague  

Key results: 

• Accomplish yearly goals
• Help coworkers
• Be proactive

This OKR is bad since there is no certain criteria that determines the success of the objective. As we mentioned before OKRs should be used to keep track of your progress and setting key results that are unmeasurable and hard to track are bad practice.

How to set OKRs in Focus?

From your dashboard, you should select the objective section on the left panel. Here you can create, manage and oversee all the objectives you have set for your team. 

Create new objective 

Once you’ve determined your objectives, you can set them. It’s important to keep in mind that an objective is qualitative in nature — it describes what you hope to achieve down the line.
You can assign the specific objective to a team and also assign an owner, a person responsible to track, and oversee the progress and success of the objective. 

Despite creating the objective at the moment, you can still choose a different status for the same. There are 3 options to choose from: on track, behind or at risk. For example, If you feel like you are already behind on completing the mentioned objective you can choose exactly that.

Also, objectives should have due dates, but remember that OKRs should be realistic but challenging. 

Next up is setting up the Key Results. 

When thinking about what your key results will be for a given objective, make sure that they are not unrealistic. For it will make it harder for teams to connect or achieve the given result. And it will end up making the whole tracking OKRs concept a demotivating process. And the most important – they need to be measurable. 

You have 3 key results types that you can choose from: Number, Binary and Milestone.

Let’s say that your Objective is to “Grow your Newsletter list” and see how you can use all of them.

1. Number (start/current/goal)

• Set up 3 popup forms on your website
• Share 5 Linkedin posts inviting people to sign up to your newsletter list
• Share 3 Tweets with QR codes to have people sign up to your newsletter list

So each of them has a goal number and you can track those as time passes  and as you complete each of them. 

2. Binary (true/false)

• Decrease the number of clicks on the forms on your website to 2 per sign up
• Run A/B test on the form on the main page
• Create a first-time offer for people who sign up

Once a key result is completed you can choose true and it will be marked as done. 

3. Milestone

• Redesign your newsletter template
• Clean up your current list from soft bounce emails
• Create new popup designs for your website so users can sign up easily

For the Key Results you can assign multiple people that need to take over and complete them. So each key result can have one or multiple people involved. And the best practice is to keep it up to 5 key results per objective.

Furthermore, you can set up parent objectives for each objective. And adjust the privacy on the objective itself. It can be visible for the whole company, a specific team or private – only for the person who created the objective itself.

Milestones and OKRs

Each company or team has significant events that they are working towards achieving and those can be simply called milestones. 

So we can say that objectives are something towards which work is directed – the what and a milestone is a meaningful point in a project or occasion for the company.

Milestones examples: 

• Start of a new project
• End of a project
• New employee 
• New department creation/division
• Signing new client
• Product launch

Milestones can also be used to track the progress toward your Objectives. Since they can help others understand your OKRs and can be used as checkpoints and help people understand whether an achievement has been completed or simply postponed (which could result in confusion).

Milestones can be a great way to challenge yourself and grow as a professional. They not only help you set specific goals in your work, but they also give you something to strive for that is bigger than just the day-to-day tasks of your job.

By focusing on milestones instead of tasks, you’re able to think more long-term about what you want to achieve at work and how you want to get there. This makes it easier for managers and employees alike because everyone knows where the goalposts are without having any confusion about whether or not certain tasks were completed on time or with enough quality.

It’s important that both managers and team members understand how milestones work within an organization so there is no confusion about what needs doing next – which allows teams to stay focused on achieving their goals in a timely manner without getting bogged down by unnecessary busywork.

Updating OKRs in Focus

There are two ways in which you can update an OKR. 

1 – Clicking on the left side of the set OKR will open a side panel in which you can see the timeline and the progress of the objective and each key result.  On the bottom of this side panel there is also a field in which you can leave a comment for the given update. Once you are done, click save. You can also view the action history of the objective and see which teammate did the update.

GIF showing how to access this option

2 – By clicking on the right side of the objective where the owner is you will initiate a drop down overview of the objective key results’. Here you can also update each key result for your objective but you won’t be able to see the chart or access the action history. 

GIF showing how to access this option

Editing your OKRs in Focus

The ability to edit an OKR is only available to whoever created the said OKR. You can access this in the Objectives section on the platform. Find the OKR you wish to edit and click on the Edit button. This will load a new window where you can make changes to your objective and the key results.  

Tasks and how to use them for OKRs

How to create tasks in Focus

On your left side menu you can access the Tasks in Focus. Here you can see all previously assigned tasks and manage them or create new ones. 

You click on Add Tasks and fill out the fields requested for the given task. You can choose if this task is High, Average or Normal priority. Then you can either assign the task to yourself or someone from your team. You should also add a due date for the given task so it doesn’t end up forgotten and the assignee knows so they can manage their time to get it done. Beside being able to designate this task to an objective you can also appoint it to a specific key result. 

Tasks are an easy way to get the Key results completed if they require more actions. 

For an example let’s take a look at a team OKR. 

Objective: Launch a web page for the new service

Key results: 

• Create a wireframe 
• Write Headline and Body copy 
• Create 3 subject related articles
• Create pricing plan 

In this case, let’s say that you need 2 people on your team so the articles are written. You can assign tasks to each of them to get this key result completed. For example, you can assign person A with writing the articles and assign person B with proofreading and editing them. Bear in mind that one task can only be assigned to one person so don’t create overly complicated tasks. 

Each member can access its own tasks and the tasks he/she gave to someone else and mark them as completed once they are finished. 

Percentage tracking and how it’s calculated 

The progress of each OKR is shown in percentages and each is calculated differently depending on what type of Key Result you decided to use. 

Number

If you decide to use the number approach then each Key Result will have different values at a different time. And the overall progress will be a result of adding all current percentages and dividing them by the number of Key Results that are in the given Objective. 

Here is an example: 

Binary

If you decide to use the binary approach, each Key Result will have equal value to the overall progress and percentage of the Objective.

Meaning, if you create an OKR with 3 Key Results, if one is completed that will result with 33.3% progress in the Objective. 

Here is an example: 

Milestone

In summary, Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are goals set by companies and their employees to help keep teams moving in the same direction toward prioritized objectives that support meeting big picture goals. OKRs also help keep everyone on track with what they’re supposed to be doing—even if things change throughout the year. The best part? You can use them even if you’re not working in an organization that uses them already!

The post What is an OKR and how to use it? appeared first on Focus.

How to create a Check-in?

You can create check-ins by accessing the Check-ins Dashboard through the left side panel. 

Once you click on Create New Check-in you’ll be taken to a new page where you can set all the details regarding the check-ins you wish to receive from your team members. 

Firstly, you need to decide how you will name your check-in campaign.

Next are the Check-in Questions. These are the questions your members will receive automatically to answer on the dates you set. 

You can pre-set as many questions as you like. Our suggestion is to not set more than 4 questions and to keep things to the point so you don’t waste too much of your team members’ time. 

You can also adjust them to be optional or required if you feel like they must be answered. 

There are 4 options to choose from for types of questions: 

• Text field
  • You should choose this option if you wish to set your own questions
• Single select
  • You should use this option if you want your team members to choose one from the few preset answers
• Multiple select
  • You should use this option if you want your team members to choose multiple from the few preset answers
• OKR select 
  • You should use this option if you want to set a question linked to some of your OKRs

Check-in Settings

• Check-in Team

Here you can choose who will receive the questions for the newly created Check-in. It can be set to everyone from your team, a specific team, or specific teammates. 

• Check-in Visibility

Each check-in can be set to be visible to everyone, the team members from the team it was set for, or it can be set as private – visible only to the admin and the user who created this check-in. 

• Time zone setting and check-in frequency 

Depending on where your team is located, you can choose multiple time zones so the desired team members will get notifications according to the time you set. 

You can also set the interval to Daily, Weekly, or Monthly depending on how often you wish your team members to receive a Check-in question. As well as choose a specific day of the week.

Getting your team members notified about a Check-in

Team members can receive a notification about their Check-in either through email, Slack, or both. When it comes to Slack, you can either create a new channel and have users receive the notification in that one, or choose an existing one that is already used by the users that should complete the Check-in. 

As for notification for completed check-ins, admins can also choose when they wish to receive notifications about completed Check-ins. There are 4 options to choose from: Once a day, once a week, biweekly, or once a month. Admins can opt-in to choose to receive a complete report each Sunday for the previous week at a specific time.  

Note that if a Check-in was set to public, everyone can see all the answers in the Check-in menu.

Answering Check-ins

There are two options you can choose to get your team members engaged with a Check-in. 

• Slack 

Answering Check-ins in Slack

Once you connect your Focus account with Slack you can send out the check-ins through the Focus App in Slack. 

Team members who received a notification for a Check-in  through the Focus App in Slack can choose to answer them in Slack or the Focus platform.

Here is an example: 

So they can choose to stay in Slack and submit their answers there or move on the website and answer the questions in Focus.

Once they submit their answers they get a notification that they are saved. 

• Email

Answering Check-ins through email

Admins can also choose to send out the Check-ins through emails in cases when their team is not using Slack. 

Each member will get an email prompting them to go to Focus and submit their answers. 

Answers from Check-ins & Status 

As an admin you can access the Check-in settings where you have an overview of all created Check-ins. Here you can activate, deactivate or delete a certain check-in. Or you can make edits if needed. 

You can see all answers and Check-ins and you also have an overview in the right panel who completed the Check-in and when.

Editing the answers of your Check-in

Each member that submitted answers to a Check-in can also make edits to the same. This can be done through accessing Check-ins through the left side panel while on the Focus platform. 

Here they can choose to see only their own submitted answers through the dropdown menu and select their username. All of their submissions will show up and they can edit them and submit the changes

Popular Check-in questions

Before setting the Check-in you should bear in mind that every team has different goals and different issues. Also, you should have a specific goal in mind for what you wish to achieve with these Check-ins. Is it to just stay in touch with your team or maybe track their progress. Either way here are some examples that you can use: 

Monthly check in: 

• What excites you most about work lately?
• How can the team help you achieve your goals?
• What resources or tools will you need in the upcoming months to reach your goals?
• What can your manager do to help you reach your goals next month? 
• What problems have you solved the past month?
• Did you feel supported by your managers?
• What task is overwhelming you?

Daily Check-in: 

• What are you going to be working on today? 
• What is your priority for today?
• Do you need help with anything?

Check-in statistics

Admins can access check-in statistics through Analytics in their left side panel. These statistics are only visible to admins.

Here admins can see total users and active users, for which they can see the following data:

• Total Check-in answers and weekly answers
• Total Weekly Update answers and weekly answers
• Total Weekly Plan answers and weekly answers

The post What are Check-ins? appeared first on Focus.

However, many of us still need to gain basic knowledge of task management techniques or task management as a whole. The most common misconception is that task management is merely related to a simple to-do list. What you may not know is that successful task management involves diligent planning, reporting, analyzing, and assessing. 

In this article, we’ll shed light on what company task management actually entails and its significance for your company.

What Is Task Management 

Task management is establishing, prioritizing, assigning, and overseeing tasks to make sure they are finished by the deadlines set. At its core, task management dissects a specific project or method of operation into several smaller tasks. It involves making decisions to account for changes that may happen in real-time, directing the workflow, removing bottlenecks, and managing the task’s budget, scope, time, and resources. Company task management is a fantastic technique to improve both team and individual productivity and enhance task completion. 

Difference Between Task Management and Project Management  

Project management refers to the practice of overseeing a project through its stages of planning, application, tracking, and concluding stages. Project managers typically oversee several ongoing projects with varying priorities but always have the big picture in mind. Repeated tasks are less common in project management, and the process of strategic project planning is usually more thorough.

On the other hand, task management is breaking down a project into specific tasks. The tasks could be given deadlines, assigned to people, and organized by priority. Task management involves overseeing a task from inception to completion and calls for micro-focus. 

Successful project mаnagement depends on efficient task management as it helps get through with projects on time and in the right order.

Why Is Task Management Important for Companies  

Starting work on tasks as you go is inefficient and counterproductive. For instance, you could accidentally focus on tasks with low priority and postpone essential or time-bound tasks which likely have to rush last minute. Or, you’ll flip between projects too often, making little-to-no advancement on each one.

Therefore, task management is crucial for companies. It gives a clear picture of the work you and your team need to complete and organizes it so you can identify what tasks to tackle first. Using task management, you can see what you are working on now and what is coming up. It also helps you identify your priority tasks, determine how much time is needed for each one, and what’s the best approach to schedule your workload.

Photo by airfocus on Unsplash

Benefits of Task Management Software

Task management software is the easiest way to implement an effective task management system within your organization. This digital platform offers the best task management solution, assisting both individuals and teams in handling their duties. There’s a wide range of features these tools offer, the most common being task scheduling and task assignment, task customization and organization, time tracking, task tracking, task progress tracking, and accurate reports.

Let’s discuss some of the benefits related to implementing online task management software in your company:

Subdivision of Projects Into More Manageable Assignments and Task Dependencies

Larger projects can be intimidating. They demand extensive planning and flawless execution since even small delays or errors can have a big impact. To make it simpler to handle, taѕk management programs like Focus let you break down complex projects and establish dependent and subordinate tasks.

Automation of Repeatable Tasks

Some activities, such as a quarterly meeting or a monthly report, take place at set times each year. Utilizing automation and project templates, the best task mаnagement tool will create specific tasks at a specific time, according to the demands of the project manager, as opposed to setting up each of them manually.

Remote Teams Support

Тask management is crucial for enhancing team collaboration and providing better support. All team members will be able to see task boards where they can find all their tasks assigned, so they won’t need to nag their task managers or fellow team members looking for basic information. This is specifically important for hybrid or fully remote teams where members have diverse work schedules and time zones. 

More Effective Communication and Effective Collaboration Across Teams

You can instill a collaborative culture and dramatically improve communication between teams in your company by choosing the appropriate task management platform. In-task comments are one of the key elements that help teams work effectively together. Job conversations will take place where the work is being done, or in context when adding comments to tasks. Therefore, the necessity to hop between tabs and apps to access general information, updates, or modifications is eliminated. This would result in increased productivity and, more importantly, a happy team. 

Task Prioritization

Although it may seem obvious that some tasks are more important than others, it’s common to lose track of the task priority levels when so much is to be finished. For example, you begin your workday in the morning and occasionally get sidetracked by finishing minor, low-priority tasks, postponing the major ones for another day. Inadequate management may result in missed deadlines or tasks needing to be completed properly. With simple task management software, you can manage and prioritize your critical tasks in one centralized space so that everyone can focus on the most important ones first and meet them effectively.

Enhanced Performance Level  

Task management helps with the delegation of tasks and coordination of team members to work towards a common goal from one centralized dashboard. For instance, if the project manager observes that a certain action is delaying the schedule of the project or causing a disparity in the activities that follow, they will encourage the project participants to be more effective and productive, thus creating a stimulating environment.

Streamlined Workflow

You’ll rarely have the luxury of focusing on one task at a given time. Most of the time you’ll likely be juggling several tasks at once which could easily lead to chaos. Getting your duties organized to streamline the entire task managemеnt workflow will significantly increase the entire team’s efficiency and help you achieve your goals.

Better Time Management

Task management lessens time wasting, which is a crucial factor in most workplace mistakes. By reducing the time wasted on assignments and their completion, there will be more time for your team to focus on other key projects. Moreover, setting deadlines using task management makes it possible for you to complete assignments on schedule. Additionally, it frees up more time for you to spend on yourself rather than spending it on pointless duties.

Creative Problem-Solving

To manage many of our daily tasks and perform at our highest levels, we require creativity. Task management gives us the knowledge we need to handle problems promptly and creatively. People are able to break up difficult jobs into manageable pieces and solve them fast depending on the situation.

Photo by airfocus on Unsplash 

The Bottom Line 

Every project is built on individual tasks that help translate intentions into accomplishments. Task managemеnt helps you structure the responsibilities to produce the best results. You’ll be able to break down complex tasks, prioritize, delegate, and collaborate effectively.But while it may seem simple, task management is complex process that requires a skilled manager and the right tools, ideally a specialist task manager tool. Focus is a comprehensive task tool with intuitive features that gives you a dedicated space to set to-do task lists and actionable items, connect daily operations to strategic objectives, and measure your project progress in real-time, thus enhancing team alignment and focus.

The post What Is Task Management and Why Do Companies Need It appeared first on Focus.

However, OKRs are frequently implemented incorrectly, which prevents the anticipated benefits from materializing. Therefore, if you want to take advantage of the OKRs benefits and get the best results, it’s crucial to understand when and how to successfully employ OKRs. 

In this guide, we’re revealing the best time for OKR implementation and how to organize a successful rollout strategy.

When is it a Good Time to Set OKRs? 

OKR is a flexible framework, so there are no limits as to when you can start using it. In short, there’s never a bad time to set OKRs, so you shouldn’t delay by waiting for a specific part of the year. The ideal moment to begin is right now.

Let’s quickly examine how successful implementation of OKRs would appear at various periods throughout the year.

At the Beginning of Q1

The most popular choice is to implement an OKR at the start of the year. Leadership usually goes through an annual planning process at the start of the year. Therefore, this is a great period to revise the annual direction of each team and the entire organization. This fits in with the OKR planning and implementation, making it a perfect moment to bring about change. 

At the Beginning of Q2/Q3

When it comes to business success, the key is to move quickly and implement steps that lead to improvements as soon as possible. So, OKR implementation at the beginning of Q2 or Q3 gives you the perfect opportunity to reflect and align the company’s priorities. 

Mastering OKR indeed takes time. Even then, it can take a few tries before you settle into your ideal pattern. When implementing OKRs in the middle of the year, you’ll have enough time to get the hang of the framework so you can start the next year on the right foot.

At the Start of Q4

You may think the year’s end is too late for OKR implementation. So why not simply hold off until the next year? Well, because, implementing OKRs right at that point gives you the chance to think about the past year and apply what you’ve learned to make the most out of it.

Don’t undervalue the need for devoted time to prepare, train, and educate your teams for OKR implementation. You may want to use Q4 to train your team members on the tracking technology, educate and train the organization on how OKRs work, and create documentation that describes your organization’s use of OKRs in detail, so you are well-equipped to start with OKR implementation immediately in Q1.

Photo by Ricardo Arce on Unsplash

How to Organize the OKR Timeline and Rollout Strategy

If you’re getting ready to roll out OKRs, here are a few tips and tricks on how to organize the timeline and set the ground for successful OKR implementation:

Up to six weeks before the quarter: brainstorm yearly and/or quarterly organizational goals. Senior executives should begin formulating top-line organizational OKRs. This may also a good moment to set your annual strategy, which can help shape the course of the organization if you are setting OKRs for Q1.

Two weeks before rollout: share objectives and key results for the entire organization for the upcoming quarter and/or year. 

Start of the quarter: share team-level OKRs. Set targets, and share them with everyone involved to ensure the entire team is on board.

One week following the rollout: have individual contributors communicate their OKRs. Contributors and managers may need to discuss this, usually in one on one meetings.

During the quarter: have regular check-ins. Employees should track and communicate their progress during the quarter with their managers. This practice helps contributors to evaluate their chances of completing their OKRs in full and make any necessary modifications.

Around the end of the cycle: reflect back and score the OKRs.

How To Implement OKRs  

Get everyone on board. Explain the framework clearly and thoroughly, and offer examples of other businesses’ successes using OKRs. You should point out the OKR framework’s advantages and how it will precisely address your team’s particular needs, desires, and issues.

Share success stories. Talk with your team members and mention some of the reputable businesses that have effectively incorporated OKRs, such as Netflix, Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter. By explaining how others have reached success with OKR implementation, you can help them realize how the framework can be tailored to your organization’s achievement.  

Create no more than 3-5 objectives with 3-5 key results for each. The basic principles of the OKRs framework are prioritization and clarity. The OKR approach will assist executives in better directing focus on OKRs with the highest potential for positive impact on company-level goals, even if it can be a demanding process.

Decide the cascading of OKRs. Since there are numerous methods for managing goals, it’s crucial to prepare ahead and give your framework implementation process some serious thought.  

Create an OKRs advocate within your organization. Piloting is an excellent approach to creating champions and advocates for using OKRs within your business, as people are frequently wary and resistant to organizational change. To serve as the finest resource to other teams, consistently record areas of success and weakness in your OKR plan for future reference.

Never mistake OKRs with performance reviews. Remember that an OKR is significantly different from an employee performance review. OKRs are not intended to be used to evaluate how your employees are doing but as a tool for inspiring and bringing individuals together to work as a team.

Be prepared to learn. The first time your business uses OKRs, it probably won’t go perfectly. Don’t be surprised if it takes your company some time to get on board with OKRs fully or if it doesn’t go as planned because there is typically a period of trial and error. The last few months of Q4 are an excellent time to evaluate the good and bad of the previous year, choose a course for the coming months, and establish an OKR rhythm for the new year.  

Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash

The Bottom Line 

In addition to assisting in the alignment of the objectives and purposes of your entire company and your teams, this effective tool also adds accountability and transparency to the process. OKR is an amazing tool for helping your business expand and keep track of your long-term objectives.

You will have to do significant modifications before you proceed with OKR implementation. However, after everyone has been up to speed, you will notice a significant improvement in your organization’s culture, productivity, and bottom line; thus, it will ultimately be well worth the effort.

The post When Is The Appropriate Time to Start With OKRs Implementation appeared first on Focus.

In this guide, you’ll learn about the strategies that will enable you to achieve your goals and how to track OKRs successfully.

Who Can Use OKRs

With businesses expanding exponentially, change is the only constant in today’s world. Unfortunately, many companies react slowly to these developments because they are unsure how to handle them. As a result, they can’t help but feel exposed, which has a negative impact on their profitability, sustainability, and staff engagement.

Excellent execution of good ideas is made possible by the OKR framework. Unlike KPIs, OKR goals are bolder and more ambitious. Setting OKR goals makes it possible for a business to be adaptable, flexible, current, and experience exponential growth. They can help you boost high-performing teams and tighten employee engagement. 

Although OKRs were widely employed by technology businesses initially, any company that appreciates the ideas of openness, responsibility, and accessibility can embark on an OKR journey. Companies like Allbirds, Google, and Netflix, are some of the top companies that use OKRs.

Photo by RODNAE Productions

How To Plan and Track Company OKRs

Since aligning and cascading OKRs can be quite complicated, OKRs should be viewed as company-wide initiatives where various functional teams work toward an objective and are accountable for the key results. OKRs are therefore viewed as team OKRs rather than individual OKRs. Cross-functional team OKRs are often considered to work best. 

That being said, if you want to improve the results of your work, keeping track of your OKRs is essential. This practice will help you identify what and how to assess, and provide a clearer understanding of your team’s overall progress. You can effectively design and track OKRs using these nine best practices.

Focus on Descriptive Objectives and Measurable Outcomes

Utilize concise, descriptive language to pinpoint the attributes you wish to improve when writing your objectives. You should then use the descriptions to write well-informed key results. Conversely, key results should be expressed in measurable, quantitative terms that support the company objectives.

Write Benchmarks for Every Key Result

Not every key result necessitates the same level of effort. For instance, if you’ve written an objective with four key results, it doesn’t mean you’re halfway done when two of the key results are achieved. Using weighted measurements for every key result will help you compute your progress more accurately and provide a more precise progress indicator.

Set Accountability and Responsibility for Every Key Results

There will probably be several teams or individuals allocated to the key results. To confirm that all participants can contribute to ensuring that all associated activities are performed, clearly outline the expectations and obligations for every key result.

Loop In the Whole Team  

Not all OKRs will require the entire team to be involved in every OKR, but communicating the objectives and key results transparently will keep everyone informed about the company priorities and the goals you’re trying to achieve.

Schedule Regular Performance Reviews

The best company strategy to monitor progress and analyze the current success rates is to examine your OKRs regularly. To review your OKRs, schedule monthly, weekly, or daily meetings, based on the set timelines.

Discuss What You’ve Learned 

It is crucial to revisit the key results achieved, along with the steps used to achieve them and what you can learn from them. For example, one of your key results for the quarter was to boost the number of newsletter subscribers by 20%, but you’ve only boosted it by 17%. If you want the team benefits from this outcome, talk about why this key result was unsuccessful.

Examples for Company OKRs

Each company’s OKR can focus on outcomes in different areas, such as revenue, brand, product, culture, service, and growth initiatives. Here are some of the top company OKR examples that can help you successfully implement yours. 

Growth Company OKR Examples

Objective: Expand into the Italian market and achieve a 20% market share in 12 months.

Key Result 1: Conduct a comprehensive market study by January 15.

Кey Result 2: Launch an Italian-language product version with the top 3 requested features by April 1.

Key Result 3: Train and employ 5 bilingual customer support reps by March 15. 

Brand OKR examples 

Objective: Maintain an awesome customer experience

Key Result 1: Accomplish a Net Promoter Score of at least 25  

Кey Result 2: Boost Net Customer Retention to at least 95%

Key Result 3: Accomplish 85% or higher WAU for product engagement

Objective: Win customer love and trust

Key Result 1: Identify customer requirements and add design features accordingly

Кey Result 2: Address customer needs and pain points

Key Result 3: Enhance the implementation process for managed customers 

Culture Company OKR examples 

Objective: Create an excellent company culture

Key Result 1: Launch an OKR platform to nourish company transparency

Кey Result 2: Accomplish an Employee Pulse Survey score of at least 8 within 5 business days

Key Result 3: Celebrate 5 or more “small wins” in our weekly meetings.

Objective: Build an OKR-centered company culture

Key Result 1: Achieve an average of 80% progress on company OKRs

Кey Result 2: Ensure 90% of key results are updated every two weeks

Key Result 3: Achieve an OKR design score of 75 on average

Customer Service Company OKR Examples

Objective: Enhance consumer retention to boost the profit margins

Key Result 1: Enhance product onboarding 

Кey Result 2: Create a long-term nurturing strategy 

Key Result 3: Improve client lifetime by focusing on corporate MQLs

Product OKR examples

Objective: Make our product a “must have” product

Key Results 1: Grow from 1,000 to 3,000 users

Кey Results 2: Attain 5,000 engaged users

Key Results 3: Enhance consumer experience by implementing competitor features

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

The Bottom Line

Company OKRs serve as the foundation for organizational, departmental, and individual activities by outlining the company’s top priorities. However, a company OKR program isn’t meant to cover everything your business needs to get done because having too many of them might undermine organizational effectiveness through complexity and complication. When appropriately implemented, company OKRs assist individuals in producing practical and motivated work and assist leadership in connecting with the most crucial business objectives.

The post Company OKRs Guideline – How To Plan And Track Objectives and Key Results appeared first on Focus.