Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been a reliable methodology for measuring performance in the workplace for a long time. Like me, many managers have used them for years. And while they still work, like all things, they need to evolve in order to stay competitive in the global market.
Always keep improving performance management.
When I join a new team as a manager, the first thing I do is review their performance management system. I always make improvements to it. After all, if I can’t improve a team’s performance, then why was I hired at all?
In business you need to constantly improve yourself. You should review every process and ask: “How can I do that better?”. There are a lot of newer, fancier methods for measuring performance out there. Combining these new methods with KPIs can help you get the most out of your team.
When working with companies that use KPI based systems, I recommend upgrading to Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). With OKRs you set inspirational quarterly goals and measure their performance with Key Result metrics every week.
Staying in your comfort zone will get you nowhere. Our competitors are definitely doing it and if you keep using a system just because it works, you will lag behind.
Benefits of OKRs over KPIs.
I believe that OKRs have 2 very distinct advantages over the KPI system and so far all the teams I’ve used them in, have proved me right.
- Inspirational goals – With KPIs employees often only work toward cold heartless numbers. Inspirational goals. Using Objectives gives my team members a perceivable and unifying goal, something that tells them: “We are working toward one thing”. That, in turn, improves teamwork and engagement. With OKRs, all goals and progress are visible, so each employee can easily understand that if they accomplish their KRs, they are helping other people in their team as well.
- Weekly monitoring – While also done with KPIs in some companies, OKRs encourage constant monitoring of progress. Each week I ask my employees to show how their KRs have improved and explain to them how that furthers company’s goals. That way they understand their work has impact. It also makes sure our goals are always in front of us and we don’t deal with tasks and projects that don’t move us forward.
Learn more about the difference between OKRs and KPIs.
Using OKRs in Weekdone
You can set OKRs and KPIs in Weekdone to always have a clear overview of your company’s and team’s progress. The beauty of Weekdone is that you can always stay up to date. You can log on once a day from any device, and immediately see who has updated their KRs and understand how this affects all of the aligned Objectives.
If there is a problem (e.g. some task lagging behind) you can tackle it before it drags everyone down. Scott Wolfe Jr, CEO of zlien, told us that “Weekdone as a tool offers instant high-level visibility and information on what is going on with your company objectives”
You can try out Weekdone and OKRs right now. If the system seems too complicated, you can try out the simplified Lean OKR system. And if you need help, you can contact us at any time to help get set up.