OKRs for All

CHAPTER 8Aligning and Cascading Your OKRs

In this chapter, you'll learn how to take the OKRs you've established at a leadership level and cascade them to each department and team. This process can be tricky, but remember to stay flexible. Not every department is built the same, and not every department will neatly fit into each box. This process is collaborative and takes iteration to get right.

There are different ways you can cascade OKRs across your company. Ultimately, you'll pick a structure that makes the most sense for the objectives you're trying to reach and the people who will play a part in them.

In general, top‐level (company) objectives should be outlined first to give the rest of the company direction. Departments and teams need to plan their goals with these topline business needs in mind, and their goals should align up to the company OKRs.

I talk more about the process for the planning and meetings involved in Parts III and IV, but in general terms, once the topline business OKRs are defined, the remaining OKRs for departments, teams, and individuals can be set to either directly align to the company level OKRs or, if there is a core outcome a specific department needs to drive that doesn't fit neatly, to stand alone. A general rule of thumb that my team recommends is that 80% of OKRs should be aligned to the level above them, but 20% not being aligned is acceptable. ...