Cascading Goal Setting and Management (Objectives and Key Results - OKRs)

Successful outcomes begin with goals being integrated across all parts of a construction business, including multi-company project teams. Management is what ultimately ensures these goals are regularly reviewed and adjusted to stay on track.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Leadership Tools: Cascading Goal Setting and Management. Book: Measure What Matters by John Doerr.

 

What are our broad aspirations for our organization and the concrete goals against which we can measure our progress?

This is the first of the five interlinked questions that define strategy.


 

Starting at the very top level of the company, these goals must be broken down within each part of the business. See The Contractor Business Model and your own Organizational Chart to visualize all elements of the business. 

Consider breaking your goals down into four broad categories:

  1. Standard Work: These are the routine habits that will most likely lead to the expected outcomes. Standard work defines both how and when things get done. This is the foundation of any job role or team and is the best method for achieving consistently good results. 
  2. Committed Targets: These are the outcome expectations that your business model, plans, and basic incentive compensation programs are built around. Accountabilities by role are built around these. 
  3. Stretch Targets: These may be 20–50% or more above the committed targets, based on some lower-probability factors. They are used to drive innovation and inspiration. There is an upside to hitting these without any downside.
  4. Improvements: These are over and above standard work and have a lot to do with success in achieving the stretch targets. 

Every person and team in the organization should have goals in at least the first two categories. In the field, this may be standard installation methods for different units of work such as standard production rates. Job Role Descriptions should incorporate most of the standard items. Stretch goals and improvements are typically added in as part of the regular planning process


 

Whether the system you use is Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), 4-Disciplines of Execution (4DX), or Rocks and Metrics from Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), the basic principles and challenges are the same. 

Regardless of the tool, the biggest execution variables are:

  • Creativity of the team in aligning goals.
  • Ability of the team to think in terms of “Prioritized Outcomes” rather than “Things to Do”
  • The discipline to continually “Force-Rank” priorities until the organization is just down to a few true priorities.
  • The discipline of routine execution even as the process runs into challenges during the first few cycles.

An experienced and unbiased 3rd party can help your team find the best tools for where they are at, clearly define the goals, ensure integration, align the team, and keep pressure on your vision. Please contact us to learn about our wide range of experiences with different systems and teams. 


 

LEARN MORE

Cascading Metrics Integrated with Org Structure - Cash Flow Example

Key Results and Leading Activities (Standard Work) Example

Measure What Matters (Book)

Google's OKR Playbook (From Book Website)

 

 

 

 



Related Training

5C Troubleshooting of Performance
Ask great questions around the five interrelated categories that cause most failures in outcomes or process, including choice, capabilities, capacity, controls, and the conditions in which all those occurred.
Resource - The First 90 Days (Navigating Job Role Transitions Effectively)
Mastering job role transitions is a critical capability for a growing contractor and for individuals. Transitions include promotions, joining a new company, joining a new project team, or same job role but at a different stage of growth.
Return on Equity and Debt Leverage (2023)
Construction contracting is a risky business that should yield appropriate returns. We did this fun comparison looking at different types of contractor's financial benchmark returns and debt leverage against some selected other companies for 2023.