In Smart Working, the modern manager leads a team of professionals and manages the resources involved. The modern manager facilitates and helps his collaborators, aware that widespread knowledge is not a concept contained in a single person, but that affects all the members involved in the project. The modern manager plays a different role in the modern organization: he is no longer a mere “controller”, but more a coach who works on the uniqueness of the individual trying to bring out and strengthen his potential in order to achieve both personal goals and professional.
How to make sure that the results and work of each worker and the entire organization are aligned and transparent? Successful companies like Google, LinkedIn and Oracle have introduced the use of OKR meaning (Objectives and Key Results). The OKRs constitute the structure on which both managers and workers can reflect on the importance of individual contributions to the corporate business strategy. The objective set should be courageous and be meaningful for both the individual and the organization to which he belongs.
The key results, key findings, must make the goal possible, measurable, bounded in number and time. The key results are structured on several levels, starting with the single worker, and ending with the entire team.
How can OKRs be applied to companies that adopt Smart Working?
The creation of OKRs is a team effort that starts with the individual worker. They are the main architects of the organization’s success. Instead of being told what to do, workers take control by managing key goals and results. Once the objectives are set, a meeting will be organized between managers and employees to review the OKRs together. In the next phase the OKRs of the individual workers are discussed with a larger group, for example, a department or department. In the final phase, the previously agreed and discussed objectives are presented during a meeting to everyone in the company.
Focuses on key objectives are important: it is better not to work on too many goals at the same time. It is preferable to set 4-6 goals with 5 or even fewer key results. The main results, achieved or not, are shared in an absolutely transparent manner with the entire organization, in real time thanks to digital dashboards. There is Workboard software an online tool that can be used to measure OKRs.
OKRs are set in quarters or every six weeks – depending on the size of the company. Google is a great example. Every 3 months, Larry Page and the other managers of the company meet with the organization. Reviewing team by team. Leaders set goals and how they will be measured. The successes are shared on Google’s internal network and are accessible to everyone in the organization.
