2 OKR examples for Devops Practices

What are Devops Practices OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

Crafting effective OKRs can be challenging, particularly for beginners. Emphasizing outcomes rather than projects should be the core of your planning.

We have a collection of OKRs examples for Devops Practices to give you some inspiration. You can use any of the templates below as a starting point for your OKRs.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read more about the OKR meaning online.

Best practices for managing your Devops Practices OKRs

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tability Insights DashboardTability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRs

Tip #2: Commit to the weekly check-ins

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tability Insights DashboardTability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples below). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Building your own Devops Practices OKRs with AI

While we have some examples below, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. There are 2 options available to you.

Best way to track your Devops Practices OKRs

The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

  • It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
  • It will highlight poorly set OKRs
  • It will surface execution risks
  • It improves transparency and accountability

Most teams should start with a spreadsheet if they're using OKRs for the first time. Then, once you get comfortable you can graduate to a proper OKRs-tracking tool.

A strategy map in TabilityTability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.

Devops Practices OKRs templates

We've covered most of the things that you need to know about setting good OKRs and tracking them effectively. It's now time to give you a series of templates that you can use for inspiration!

You will find in the next section many different Devops Practices Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to improve organizational DevOps practices with DORA

  • ObjectiveImprove organizational DevOps practices with DORA
  • Key ResultReduce mean time to recovery (MTTR) for critical incidents to X minutes through improved incident response processes
  • Key ResultIncrease deployment frequency by X% through continuous integration and delivery
  • TaskImplement automated testing to identify and fix issues early in the development process
  • TaskStreamline the build and release process to minimize manual intervention
  • TaskInvest in continuous integration and delivery tools for seamless and frequent deployments
  • TaskEstablish a robust version control system for efficient code management
  • Key ResultAchieve X% increase in test automation coverage for application releases
  • Key ResultImprove employee satisfaction by X% through promoting a culture of collaboration and learning

OKRs to improve organization's DevOps practices and monitoring systems

  • ObjectiveImprove organization's DevOps practices and monitoring systems
  • Key ResultImplement real-time monitoring for critical systems
  • TaskSet up necessary hardware and infrastructure for real-time monitoring
  • TaskResearch and select a real-time monitoring software solution
  • TaskCreate a checklist of critical systems to be monitored in real-time
  • TaskTrain staff on using the real-time monitoring system and troubleshooting potential issues
  • Key ResultAchieve 99% uptime for all production services
  • TaskImplement automated monitoring systems to detect and resolve service interruptions promptly
  • TaskCreate redundancy in server infrastructure to prevent single points of failure
  • TaskEstablish a robust backup and disaster recovery plan for all production services
  • TaskRegularly schedule and perform maintenance tasks to optimize system performance and stability
  • Key ResultReduce mean time to resolution (MTTR) for incidents by 20%
  • Key ResultIncrease adoption of DevOps practices across all teams
  • TaskImplement automated CI/CD pipelines for faster software delivery
  • TaskEncourage cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing between teams
  • TaskRegularly review and optimize existing processes to ensure continuous improvement
  • TaskProvide comprehensive DevOps training for all teams

More Devops Practices OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

OKRs resources

Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.