Succeeding with OKRs in Agile (2nd edition)

Praise for the first edition

Free book when you subscribe

Foreword

Preface

Preface to the second edition

Short quick lessons

3 Questions

1. IWhy OKRs

1.Introducing OKR

1. Dissecting OKRs
2. OKRs and agile
3. Best within constraints
4. Think broadly, execute narrowly
5. Iterate
6. Ambition over estimation
7. Psychological safety

2.Why use OKRs?

1. Mid-term planning
2. Quarterly, three months, 12 weeks
3. Test-driven OKRs
4. Communication
5. A team API
6. The team
7. Warning
8. Summary

3.Focus

1. OKRs create focus
2. Digital distractions
3. Summary

4.OKR history

5.Outcomes, value and benefits

1. Business benefit and value
2. Business
3. Value
4. Pieconomics
5. Estimate value
6. Summary
7. IIWriting OKRs

6.Writing OKRs

1. Team setting
2. Mark aspirations
3. Limited number
4. Priority
5. Effort
6. Working backwards
7. Avoid planning by OKR
8. The trouble with pre-work
9. When to set OKRs
10. Not money
11. Summary

7.Objectives

1. Background analysis
2. Objective value
3. Obvious value
4. Wide objectives
5. Feature factories
6. One for the team
7. Testing trouble
8. Take time but not too much time
9. Summary

8.Key results

1. Test first
2. Testable key results
3. Binary or analog?
4. Summary

9.Four types of key results

1. Type 1: Acceptance criteria
2. Type 2: Plan
3. Type 3: Lego bricks
4. Type 4: Vertical slices
5. Contrast
6. Implications for cascading
7. Domino effect
8. Summary

10.Objective worked example

1. The date
2. Minimal?
3. Context and constraints
4. Pharmacy
5. MVP
6. Full-size
7. What is key?
8. Summary

11.Measuring

1. Quantify
2. Measurement
3. Measuring the impossible
4. Removing the subjectivity
5. Unintended consequences
6. Don’t boil it down
7. Summary

12.Key result tricks

1. Experiments
2. Hypothesis-driven development
3. Time-boxed
4. Survey
5. Knowing when to stop
6. Summary

13.OKR cycle

1. OKR cycle
2. Cycle length
3. OKR-setting is not work planning
4. What about work planning?
5. Estimation?
6. Summary

14.Planning players

1. Product Owner, Product Manager or what?
2. Product Owner
3. Stakeholders
4. Managers are stakeholders too
5. Summary

15.Planning to plan

1. Schedule the events
2. When to set
3. Start late
4. During the cycle
5. End-of-cycle review
6. Mid-cycle review
7. Summary
8. IIIWorking with OKRs

16.Organizing to deliver OKRs

1. OKRs everywhere
2. Bigger team, fewer OKRs
3. Sprint planning with OKRs
4. Traffic lights and status
5. Summary

17.OKRs and the backlog

1. OKRs, not backlogs
2. Backlog first
3. The bottomless pit
4. OKRs first
5. An experiment
6. Return of the sprint goal
7. Summary

18.BAU – keeping the lights on

1. Software always changes
2. Option 1: suppress BAU
3. Option 2: reduce or remove BAU
4. Option 3: make BAU better
5. Option 4: objective zero – add BAU
6. Downside
7. Summary

19.Executing

1. Keeping focus
2. Prioritize
3. Visual display
4. Revisit often: sprint planning
5. Time-slice
6. Summary

20.Going off-piste

1. Unplanned but valuable
2. Prepare for the unexpected
3. Track distractions
4. Summary

21.Beyond the quarter

1. Three horizons
2. Rolling roadmap
3. OKR roadmaps
4. Feedback
5. Summary
6. IVLeadership

22.Strategy

1. Big goals
2. Strategic intent
3. Agile makes strategy more important
4. Strategy elements
5. Opportunity cost
6. What not to do
7. The backlog
8. Don’t forget the technology
9. Technical liabilities
10. Shared mental model
11. Summary

23.Leaders

1. Culture, goals and strategy elements
2. Day-to-day
3. Leaders and culture
4. My big failure
5. Bottom-up more than top-down
6. Summary

24.Culture

1. Delivery culture
2. Customers
3. Openness and feedback
4. Psychological safety
5. Ambition
6. Summary
7. The next Google?

25.Leaders and planning

1. Broad–narrow
2. Forward planning
3. Cascade up, not down
4. Orbiting satellites
5. Summary
6. VForewarnings

26.Aspirations

1. Utility mode
2. Predictability
3. Creating aspirations?
4. Leaders and culture
5. An OKR adoption route
6. Exercise: where are you?
7. Summary

27.Everyday pitfalls

1. ‘OKR buffet’
2. Late-arriving OKRs
3. Adding to the story hierarchy
4. Counting problems
5. Respect for specialists
6. Respect for managers
7. Summary

28.Trouble with targets

1. Targeting the measurable
2. Questions measurement can’t answer
3. Goodhart’s Law
4. Goal displacement
5. Overcoming tunnel vision
6. Rules of thumb
7. A final warning: targets
8. Summary

29.Individuals and performance reviews

1. Integrating employee reviews with OKRs
2. Disagree and commit
3. OKRs for individuals
4. Behaviours
5. Summary
6. Close

Closing words

1. Get out of jail free
2. Finally

Please review

Further reading

OKRs extra - coming soon

Acknowledgements

Also by Allan Kelly