4 OKR examples for Operational Excellence
What are Operational Excellence 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.
OKRs are quickly gaining popularity as a goal-setting framework. But, it's not always easy to know how to write your goals, especially if it's your first time using OKRs.
We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Operational Excellence 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 Operational Excellence 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
Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.
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
Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.
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 Operational Excellence 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 Operational Excellence OKRs
OKRs without regular progress updates are just KPIs. You'll need to update progress on your OKRs every week to get the full benefits from the 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
Spreadsheets are enough to get started. Then, once you need to scale you can use a proper OKR platform to make things easier.
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.
Operational Excellence 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!
We've added many examples of Operational Excellence Objectives and Key Results, but we did not stop there. Understanding the difference between OKRs and projects is important, so we also added examples of strategic initiatives that relate to the OKRs.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
OKRs to implement operational excellence in product development
- Implement operational excellence in product development
- Train 100% of development team on Lean Six Sigma tools by quarter end
- Provide training material to all team members
- Schedule Lean Six Sigma training sessions for the team
- Confirm all team members complete the training
- Reduce product development cycle time by 20%
- Provide employee training on rapid prototyping techniques
- Implement efficient project management methodologies
- Streamline approval processes and eliminate unnecessary steps
- Introduce 3 new metrics to monitor operational efficiency in product development process
- Implement tracking systems for chosen metrics
- Identify potential metrics for tracking operational efficiency
- Train team on understanding and utilizing new metrics
OKRs to enhance customer satisfaction and operational excellence in sales operations
- Enhance customer satisfaction and operational excellence in sales operations
- Implement at least two new initiatives for improving operational efficiency
- Implement and evaluate selected initiatives
- Identify areas of operations that need improvement
- Research and design potential efficiency initiatives
- Reduce operational errors in sales processes by 15%
- Develop real-time monitoring system for sales operations
- Implement comprehensive training for sales team on best practices
- Perform routine audits to identify possible mistakes
- Achieve a 10% increase in positive customer satisfaction survey responses
- Implement regular customer service training for all staff
- Develop an incentive program for positive survey completion
- Introduce a post-service follow-up system to address issues
OKRs to elevate operational excellence and customer experience
- Elevate operational excellence and customer experience
- Increase customer satisfaction scores by a minimum of 15%
- Implement thorough, user-friendly customer service training for all staff members
- Information gathering - Survey customers to identify common satisfaction issues
- Develop an effective customer loyalty program with exclusive benefits
- Implement at least 2 new process improvements, increasing efficiency by 10%
- Identify areas in the workflow that require improvements
- Create and implement 2 new efficient strategies
- Monitor and measure efficiency increases
- Reduce product delivery time by 20% within the quarter
- Implement more efficient packaging methods
- Streamline the order fulfillment process
- Enhance courier partnerships for expedited delivery
OKRs to boost sales operations by advancing customer satisfaction, innovation, and operational excellence
- Boost sales operations by advancing customer satisfaction, innovation, and operational excellence
- Implement 2 new innovative strategies to optimize sales procedures
- Research emerging sales strategies in our industry
- Develop and document two new optimized sales procedures
- Train the sales team on newly implemented strategies
- Reduce operational inefficiencies by 10% through data-driven action plans
- Analyze current operational data to identify inefficiencies
- Develop data-driven action plans targeting identified areas
- Implement action plans and monitor progress regularly
- Attain a 15% increase in positive customer feedback on sales service
- Initiate a customer feedback improvement plan
- Enhance the post-sale follow-up process
- Implement comprehensive sales representative training program
More Operational Excellence OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
OKRs to increase player base by 20% OKRs to increase SEO by addressing all broken links OKRs to enhance employee satisfaction with total remuneration OKRs to develop a winning sales strategy OKRs to enhance stability and resilience in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) OKRs to boost participation in wellness events through strategic alignment
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