Execution · Proving to Growing
Rock, OKR or project: which do you choose?
You put every piece of work in the right type: a rock, an OKR, a project, a KPI or a standalone task.
Does this sound familiar?
- Your list of priorities has twelve items on it, and by the end of the quarter two are done.
- 'Marketing' is on your list of priorities. Three quarters later it's still there.
- Someone puts 'six intakes every week' down as a priority, when that's simply their job.
Who it's for, and when
For founders and members of the leadership team who set the quarter's priorities and find everything ends up in one pile. It starts in Proving, with your first priorities each quarter.
The model
Alongside the day-to-day work, there's work on the business: a new system, a second location, more customers coming back. The type you choose decides how you track progress and when something's done. For each piece of work, ask four questions in this order, and stop at the first yes.
Does it come back every week or month? Then it's a KPI on the scoreboard. Is it small and does it happen once? A standalone task. Does it have to be done this quarter, and do you know what done looks like? A rock. Is the result a number that has to move, and you don't know the way there yet? An OKR. If you're left with work that carries on with no end, it's a project.
The decision rule is how Boldcaster sorts the work. Rocks come from Gino Wickman, Traction (2007), and Verne Harnish, Scaling Up (2014); OKRs from Andy Grove at Intel and John Doerr.
Rock
One result, done by the end of the quarter, and you know in advance what done means. Example: the new planning system is running for all the engineers.
A rock you actually hitOKR
A goal for this quarter, with numbers that show whether you're getting there. You know where you want to go, but not yet how. Example: more customers come back, measured by the percentage of repeat purchases.
OKRs: a goal, and how you know you've got thereKPI
Work that keeps coming back goes on the scoreboard: intakes, quotes, on-time deliveries. It doesn't belong on the list of priorities.
Result KPIs and driver KPIsProject
Work that belongs together and keeps running, with no quarter attached: ISO, the newsletter, the vehicle fleet. It has to happen, but it isn't a step in this quarter's strategy.
Standalone task
Something small that has to happen once, like replacing the printer. A standalone task on Priorities, or on the week board.
Pitfalls
Ongoing work as a rock
'Improve marketing' has no end. If it's been on the list for three quarters, make it a project, with at most one rock for what can be finished this quarter.
A project as a hiding place
Parking strategic work in a project feels calm, because a project has no quarter. But then nobody sees it falling behind. If it has to move forward this quarter, make it a rock or an OKR.
Watch and read
What a rock is, in two minutes: a few priorities for the next ninety days, and why fewer gets you more.
Watch on YouTubeThe inventor of the OKR in two minutes: an objective is the direction, a key result is measurable. Put it next to the rock and you'll see the difference.
Watch on YouTubeRead
Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't
Verne Harnish · 2014 · ISBN 9780986019593
Puts the quarter's priorities next to the goals for the year and for three to five years, on one page. That shows you which work counts this quarter. Published in Dutch as Scaling up: de groeiformule (Business Contact, 2016, ISBN 9789047008682).
View the bookApply it
- 1
Put everything on one list
Everything you and your leadership team want to do on the business this quarter. Don't sort it yet, and don't cross anything off.
- 2
Go through the four questions, item by item
Recurring: KPI. Small and one-off: standalone task. Done this quarter and you know what done looks like: rock. A number that has to move: OKR. Whatever's left and keeps running: project.
- 3
Go through the projects once more
Does a project need to take a step this quarter that counts for your strategy? Pull that step out as a rock or an OKR. The project itself just carries on.
Examples
An installation company
On the list: a new planning system, more maintenance contracts, keeping VCA (the Dutch safety certificate for contractors) up to date, ten call-outs every week. The planning system becomes a rock: by the end of June it's running for all the engineers. More maintenance contracts becomes an OKR, with the number of contracts and the share that renews as key results. VCA is a project. The call-outs go on the scoreboard as a KPI.
An accountancy firm
Everything was an OKR, including the move to new practice software, with 'software live' as its only key result. That move became a rock: from 1 April everyone works in it. More advisory revenue stayed an OKR, with advisory hours per client as the key result. The quality review by the professional body became a project.
Do this in your own business
Everything up to here is free. What you fill in for your own business, you keep in Boldcaster.
- Go to Priorities. Under New, choose Rock, OKR, Project or Standalone task. Use Type in the toolbar to filter by rocks, OKRs or standalone tasks; projects have their own section. A KPI goes on the scoreboard.
- You assign the lesson to your team and see who has done it.
- The quiz counts towards your progress, and you see which lesson comes next.
Four weeks free. You'll land straight in this lesson.
Quiz
5 situations. You need 4 of 5 right. You can try again at any time.
1.You want the new planning system running for all the engineers by the end of this quarter. You know exactly what needs to happen. How do you set it up?
2.You want more customers to come back: from 20 to 30 per cent repeat purchases this quarter. You don't know yet how you'll do it. What do you choose?
3.An account manager wants to put 'six intakes every week' down as a priority. What do you say?
4.You have an ISO certificate. Every year the auditor comes, and in between you keep documents and improvement actions up to date. Where does that belong?
5.Buying a small competitor has to move forward this quarter, but someone puts it under projects 'because it'll take longer anyway'. What's the risk?
Nothing is saved here. In the app, the quiz counts towards your progress.
Read next
- A rock you actually hit · You write a rock that's either done or not done on the last day of the quarter, give it one owner, and see early enough whether it's falling behind.
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