12 OKR examples for Efficiency Improvement
What are Efficiency Improvement 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.
Formulating strong OKRs can be a complex endeavor, particularly for first-timers. Prioritizing outcomes over projects is crucial when developing your plans.
We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Efficiency Improvement to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read more about the OKR meaning online.
Best practices for managing your Efficiency Improvement 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
Focus can only be achieve by limiting the number of competing priorities. It is crucial that you take the time to identify where you need to move the needle, and avoid adding business-as-usual activities to your 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.
Tip #2: Commit to the weekly check-ins
Having good goals is only half the effort. You'll get significant more value from your OKRs if you commit to a weekly check-in process.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
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 Efficiency Improvement 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.
- Use our free OKRs generator
- Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives
- including a GPT-4 powered goal generator
Best way to track your Efficiency Improvement OKRs
Your quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly in order to get all the benefits of the OKRs framework. 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
We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.
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.
Efficiency Improvement 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'll find below a list of Objectives and Key Results templates for Efficiency Improvement. We also included strategic projects for each template to make it easier to understand the difference between key results and projects.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
OKRs to enhance the efficiency of indirect purchasing
- Enhance the efficiency of indirect purchasing
- Reduce indirect purchasing costs by 10%
- Negotiate better contracts with suppliers to obtain lower prices
- Implement a centralized purchasing system to reduce overhead costs
- Identify and eliminate unnecessary spending in the indirect purchasing process
- Improve vendor satisfaction scores from indirect purchasing by 20%
- Implement feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement
- Streamline procurement processes for faster processing
- Regularly conduct satisfaction surveys among all vendors
- Decrease purchasing process time by 15%
- Training staff on time-management and productivity techniques
- Streamline approval workflows for quicker decision making
- Implement efficient digital tools to expedite the purchasing process
OKRs to achieve optimal efficiency in engineering operations
- Achieve optimal efficiency in engineering operations
- Lower engineering error rates by 10% through enhanced quality control measures
- Regularly monitor and review error reports
- Conduct regular training for quality control measures
- Implement rigorous testing protocols for every engineering process
- Reduce operation downtime by 20% through improved preventative maintenance procedures
- Implement strict equipment servicing and inspection schedules
- Develop detailed preventative maintenance protocols
- Train personnel in efficient troubleshooting techniques
- Increase operational efficiency by 15% via process improvement initiatives
- Implement new strategies to streamline processes
- Regularly assess and adjust improvements for optimal efficiency
- Identify inefficiencies in current operational procedures
OKRs to amplify efficiency and scalability of Business Operations' internal processes
- Amplify efficiency and scalability of Business Operations' internal processes
- Increase team's operational efficiency by 25% through process automation and training
- Reduce operational delays and errors by 30% via enhanced internal quality controls
- Monitor and assess performance for continuous improvement
- Train employees on revised operational procedures
- Implement stringent quality control checks at each stage
- Expand the volume capacity by 20% through better resource allocation and staffing strategies
- Review current resource allocation for efficiency improvements
- Implement optimal staffing strategies to increase productivity
- Source additional resources to accommodate 20% volume increase
OKRs to enhance efficiency of month end reporting process
- Enhance efficiency of month end reporting process
- Automate 30% of manual reporting tasks
- Implement and test automated tasks
- Choose appropriate reporting automation software
- Identify repeatable and time-consuming manual reporting tasks
- Increase report accuracy by eliminating all data discrepancies
- Develop a standardized data input procedure
- Train staff on data accuracy best practices
- Implement regular data auditing processes
- Reduce average report generation time by 25%
- Implement automation software to expedite tasks
- Train staff to efficiently utilize reporting tools
- Review and streamline the current report generation process
OKRs to minimise and optimise operational expenditure effectively
- Minimise and optimise operational expenditure effectively
- Increase operational efficiency by 15% through the utilisation of lean methodologies
- Train team in lean methodologies and continuous improvement principles
- Continuously monitor, measure and adjust for improved efficiency
- Implement lean tools, such as 5S, to optimize processes
- Implement at least 3 cost-saving initiatives within various departments
- Develop and present cost-saving initiative proposals
- Identify potential cost-saving areas in different departments
- Implement selected cost-saving strategies in respective departments
- Achieve a 10% reduction in total operational costs without compromising output quality
- Negotiate lower prices with vendors
- Implement lean processes to reduce waste
- Evaluate and optimize energy usage for cost efficiency
OKRs to enhance financial operations for continuous improvement
- Enhance financial operations for continuous improvement
- Minimize financial waste by identifying and reducing unnecessary expenses by 5%
- Implement strategies to cut identified expenses by 5%
- Identify non-essential expenses across all categories
- Analyze all financial statements for last one year
- Implement at least two efficiency-improving process changes in the finance department
- Research industry standards for efficient practices
- Introduce technology to automate financial processes
- Identify inefficiencies in current financial operations
- Increase quarterly profits by at least 10%
- Implement cost-saving measures throughout all departments
- Develop and execute an aggressive sales strategy
- Expand product or service offerings to generate revenue
OKRs to efficiently meet annual audit plan commitments
- Efficiently meet annual audit plan commitments
- Finalize and implement a resulting action plan from 80% of audits
- Develop action plans based on audit results
- Analyze findings from 80% of completed audits
- Implement devised action plans systematically
- Achieve 100% on-time completion for all scheduled audits
- Regularly monitor audit progress and completion rates
- Create a structured, detailed audit schedule
- Assign and communicate specific deadlines to auditors
- Identify and deliver financial improvements in 2 or more audited areas
- Analyze recent audit reports to identify areas of financial improvements
- Develop feasible strategies to improve audited financial areas
- Implement and track the impact of the improvement strategies
OKRs to streamline service offering assistance process
- Streamline service offering assistance process
- Achieve 95% customer satisfaction score for service offerings
- Enhance and improve service offerings based on reviews
- Analyze feedback regularly and address negative responses
- Implement robust customer feedback collection method
- Train 100% of customer service team on new streamlined process
- Monitor implementation and provide follow-up training as needed
- Develop training program focused on new streamlined process
- Schedule mandatory training sessions for all team members
- Reduce service offering process steps by 30% to improve efficiency
- Implement automation for repetitive tasks
- Identify and eliminate redundant steps in service process
- Train staff for streamlined service process
OKRs to increase efficiency and effectiveness of product development through continuous process improvement
- Increase efficiency and effectiveness of product development through continuous process improvement
- Achieve a customer satisfaction rating of 90% by addressing product development pain points and enhancing quality
- Decrease resource wastage by 10% through optimized resource allocation and utilization
- Identify and prioritize areas where resource wastage is currently occurring
- Monitor and track resource usage regularly to ensure ongoing reduction in wastage
- Implement streamlined processes and systems to improve resource allocation and utilization efficiency
- Conduct a thorough assessment of current resource allocation and utilization practices
- Increase the percentage of successful product launches by 15% through improved workflows and collaboration
- Foster cross-functional collaboration through regular team meetings and knowledge sharing sessions
- Conduct a thorough analysis of existing workflows to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies
- Implement a project management tool to streamline communication and task tracking
- Establish a feedback loop with stakeholders to continuously improve product launch processes
- Reduce product development cycle time by 20% through streamlined processes and automation
OKRs to improve efficiency and effectiveness of our CRM system
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness of our CRM system
- Increase sales productivity by 25% through better CRM system integration with sales processes
- Implement necessary upgrades and modifications to CRM system for seamless integration
- Analyze current CRM system and identify areas for improvement and integration
- Monitor and measure sales productivity regularly to track progress and make further adjustments
- Train sales team on effective utilization of CRM system and integrated sales processes
- Improve customer satisfaction by achieving a 15% increase in CRM system usability
- Regularly monitor user feedback and make incremental adjustments to enhance CRM system usability
- Collaborate with UX designers to redesign the user interface based on user feedback
- Conduct user research to identify pain points and areas for improving CRM system usability
- Implement training sessions to educate employees on how to effectively utilize CRM features
- Reduce time spent on data entry by 30% through automation and streamlined processes
- Implement data entry automation tools and software
- Analyze data entry processes and identify bottlenecks for streamlining
- Train employees on efficient data entry techniques and tools
- Regularly monitor and evaluate data entry processes for ongoing improvements
- Increase user adoption rate of the new CRM system by 20%
- Implement regular communication channels to share success stories and benefits of the CRM system
- Assign CRM system ambassadors who can provide ongoing support and guidance to users
- Provide comprehensive training sessions for all employees on using the new CRM system
- Offer incentives and rewards for employees who actively use and promote the CRM system
OKRs to enhance chargeback recovery process efficiency
- Enhance chargeback recovery process efficiency
- Reduce chargeback cases by 20% through advanced fraudulent activity detection
- Regularly update fraud identification patterns
- Implement advanced fraud detection software system
- Train staff on new fraud detection tactics
- Reduce processing time by 15% by optimizing internal workflows and procedures
- Evaluate the impact of the optimizations
- Identify bottlenecks in current workflows and procedures
- Implement solutions to optimize identified inefficiencies
- Increase successful recovery rate by 30% employing new tracking methodologies
- Assess and adjust strategies based on initial recovery results
- Train staff on utilizing new tracing techniques effectively
- Implement new tracking methodologies in the recovery process
OKRs to improve efficiency and accuracy of Salesforce data migration process
- Improve efficiency and accuracy of Salesforce data migration process
- Enhance cross-functional collaboration by conducting regular knowledge sharing sessions with relevant teams
- Develop agendas focusing on cross-functional topics
- Schedule weekly knowledge sharing meetings with all necessary teams
- Assign team leaders to facilitate each session
- Increase data migration accuracy rate to 95% through rigorous data validation and testing
- Implement regular data validation procedures
- Enhance data migration testing techniques
- Regularly assess and adjust accuracy rates
- Reduce data migration time by 20% through the implementation of automation tools and streamlined processes
- Review current processes to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement
- Research suitable automation tools for the data migration process
- Implement automation and revise protocols to streamline workflows
More Efficiency Improvement OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
OKRs to develop a voice-of-the-customer program OKRs to promote high-performance ethos across all company levels OKRs to bolster customer loyalty and retention OKRs to reduce scope creep on critical projects OKRs to improve satisfaction and find improvements for engineering stakeholders OKRs to improve customer support quality
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: Complete 2024 OKR cheat sheet
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples