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Gamifying OKR’s

"Gamifying OKR’s" | Talia Lancaster & Angie Doyle

, Talia Lancaster

March 23, 2020

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Is your organization battling to focus on what matters? Are you struggling with teams pulling in different directions, even though you have a defined strategy?

Many companies have adopted OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to help with focus, alignment, transparency, and engagement. But this new way of talking about and measuring value can be hard to get right at first.

In this session, we will go through what makes an excellent Objective. You will also get to play a game that helps teams negotiate their Key Results. The outcome of the game is a qualitative and aspirational Objective, along with three measurable and quantitative Key Results.

This is a practical session where teams will have the opportunity to play a board game to identify an Objective and Key Result for a case study. We make the process fun through points, rules and wildcards to encourage out-the-box thinking. At the end of the game, the Objective will be defined and the team will have 3-4 Key Results for the Objective.

About The Presenters

Photo of Talia Lancaster

About Talia Lancaster

Founder @Sketching Scrum Master

Talia started her career as a Management Consultant in the Learning and Development industry as an Instructional Designer. She then moved into the IT industry finding her passion working as a Scrum Master in Agile teams, and subsequently coaching Agile Teams – helping to improve team collaboration and communication by encouraging new ways of working. She founded her own company, Sketching Scrum Master, which helps businesses visualise content with a focus on graphic recording, creative, consulting and design. Talia has always been a “compulsive note-taker”. In meetings, training and conferences she has used this as a way to concentrate and understand certain topics. Over the years this doodling has evolved into more of a visual note-taking technique and a visual thinking approach which she now shares with teams. She has continued to explore this form of note-taking and its role in activating different modes of learning.

Photo of Angie Doyle

About Angie Doyle

Partner @Think Agile

I don’t think I have ever minded change… Over the course of my career, I have shifted from working face-to-face with customers (Business Operations), to articulating what customers need (Business Analysis and Process Engineering), to working with teams delivering the solution (Product Development and Product Ownership), to evolving ways to deliver the solution (Agile software development at a team level), to improving collaboration of many teams working together (Business and Enterprise Agility). I help create delivery-focused environments where:

  • Exceptional performers are the new normal
  • Individuals and teams share accountability for achieving goals
  • There are high levels of team morale and trust
  • Conflict is a creative, constructive force in the team
  • There is clarity on roles and who does what
  • There is a strong customer-centric focus

 

Video Transcript

Welcome, everyone, to our session on gamifying OKRs. Thank you, Erwin, for the introduction. My name is Angie Doyle. I’m a coach and consultant with Think Agile.

And I’m Talia Lancaster. In addition to that kind introduction, I work for Absa as an Agile Coach in the RvB space.

Understanding Goal-Setting

We’d like to start by asking a question: how many of you set New Year's resolutions? Just raise your hand. Wow! Many of you do, even if you’re not sticking to them. Now, keep your hands up if you feel like you've made progress toward that resolution. Keep them up if you feel like you’ve fully achieved that goal. Okay, only a month in—be kind to yourselves.

The reality is that goal-setting is common in our personal lives, but when we move to an organizational setting, we sometimes stumble. Organizational goals often resemble personal resolutions—more like hopes and dreams rather than something concrete and actionable. So today, we’re talking about goal-setting.

Traditional Goal-Setting Approaches

In the past, organizations have used various approaches to goal-setting. Most of you have likely heard of SMART goals. Raise your hand if you've used or currently use SMART goals. It’s a popular technique: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. While SMART goals are great for defining a goal, they don’t help tie individual goals into the organization as a whole.

Another popular method is KPIs—Key Performance Indicators. These measure the success, output, quantity, or quality of an ongoing process or activity, much like a car’s dashboard shows fuel levels, speed, or temperature. However, KPIs don’t always indicate where an organization is heading. They track current processes but don’t necessarily foster innovation.

The third common approach is the Balanced Scorecard, which measures performance across four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning & growth. As Evan mentioned earlier, organizations tend to hyper-focus on financials during tough times, often at the expense of other critical areas, leading to negative behaviors.

Introducing OKRs

There is a better way to set goals—one that is holistic and adaptive: OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). One challenge with traditional methods is that they often follow an annual cycle, much like New Year’s resolutions. We set goals at the beginning of the year and spend the next 12 months chasing them, often without regular reflection. OKRs help address this issue by allowing for shorter feedback loops.

How many of you are currently using OKRs? Great! For those who aren’t, don’t worry—we’ll cover enough so you feel comfortable participating in the upcoming activity.

OKRs, popularized by Google, help organizations with focus, transparency, alignment, and results. They prioritize projects at an organizational level, ensuring that teams align with broader goals. Leadership shifts from top-down goal-setting to more of a guidance role, and organizations build a culture of achieving tangible results.

The History of OKRs

OKRs have been around for decades. Peter Drucker introduced the concept of Management by Objectives in the 1950s. When Andy Grove joined Intel, he saw the shortcomings of traditional management methods and introduced a new way of measuring goals—what we now call OKRs. In the 1970s, John Doerr joined Intel, learned about OKRs, and in 1999, introduced them to Google. Google has since attributed much of its success to OKRs, and other Silicon Valley giants, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Adobe, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix, have followed suit.

Shifting from Output to Outcome

Organizations love OKRs because they shift the focus from output to outcomes. The framework is simple: Objectives define where we want to go, and Key Results measure whether we are getting there.

An objective should be inspirational and aspirational—clear but not quantitative. For example, if you want to climb Mount Everest, the objective is to reach the summit. Key Results define measurable steps to achieve that goal, such as increasing fitness levels, acquiring the right gear, and planning acclimatization climbs.

Example OKRs

Here’s an example OKR that aligns with Evan’s earlier discussion on customer obsession:

  • Objective: Improve customer satisfaction.
  • Key Results:
    • Increase overall customer satisfaction from 7 to 8 out of 10.
    • Improve average turnaround time for queries to less than 24 hours.
    • Exceed customer feedback rating scores of 90%.

Each OKR consists of a handful of objectives with three to five measurable key results. They are reviewed monthly or quarterly, rather than annually, to ensure agility.

Challenges in Implementing OKRs

Despite their simplicity, OKRs can be difficult to implement. Common challenges include:

  • Vague goals: Statements like "We want to be the best in South Africa" or "We will solve world hunger" lack clarity.
  • Too detailed: Leadership sometimes micromanages by specifying how objectives should be achieved rather than allowing teams to define key results.
  • Unachievable goals: While stretch goals are encouraged, unrealistic targets can demotivate teams.
  • Safe goals: In cultures where failure isn’t accepted, teams may set easy goals to avoid risk.

Gamifying OKRs

To make OKR adoption smoother, we developed a game to facilitate top-down and bottom-up conversations. Games create a structured yet engaging environment where all voices—introverts and extroverts—can contribute. They encourage collaboration, engagement, and tangible outcomes.

The board game we’ll play today is designed to help teams refine their OKRs. Here’s how it works:

  • Each team has a board, a set of player cards, and a set of discussion, definition, and action cards.
  • Players take turns rolling the dice and moving tokens based on their key results.
  • Depending on the color they land on, they pick up a discussion, definition, or action card.
  • Teams discuss the question on the card for two minutes and record insights.
  • The goal is to refine the initial OKRs and generate actionable steps.

Key Takeaways

The game simulates a collaborative process for refining OKRs. Instead of blindly accepting top-down goals, teams analyze whether objectives and key results are well-defined, measurable, and relevant. The discussions drive alignment and ensure buy-in.

Once teams have refined their OKRs, they use structured techniques like 25/10 Crowdsourcing to finalize key results. This prevents endless debate and ensures progress over perfection.

Final Thoughts

OKRs provide a powerful framework for aligning organizational goals with tangible outcomes. However, they should never be tied to performance reviews, bonuses, or salary increases. Doing so encourages sandbagging—teams setting easy, risk-averse goals.

Instead, performance evaluations should incorporate peer feedback and broader contributions. OKRs should challenge teams to strive for ambitious yet achievable outcomes.

Who’s ready to try this game with their teams? If you’d like a copy, come find us afterward!

Thank you!

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