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Co-founder of Google, Larry Page, credits the Objectives and Key Results method for much of the company's success: “OKR has helped lead us to 10x growth, many times over.”
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a popular framework organizations use to monitor and reach team goals. They help to define, align, and execute strategy. Setting ambitious, inspiring company goals and closely monitoring incremental milestones is what drives corporate success.
Studies show that implementing OKRs improves strategic communication and aligns objectives in all company hierarchies. This, in turn, translates to better objective fulfillment and increases the overall profitability of businesses. Take, for instance, the Infosys Knowledge Institute, which documented a 20% YOY sales growth with OKR implementation.
What is an OKR tool?
Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a popular goal-setting framework organizations use to define and track objectives and their corresponding measurable results. However, implementing it effectively can be challenging without a centralized platform. That’s what an OKR tool is used for.
An OKR tool provides a centralized platform for setting, communicating, and aligning strategic goals across all organization levels. It streamlines the OKR process, making it more efficient and effective for companies seeking to drive focus, alignment, and performance. These tools typically include features for progress tracking, performance analytics, and real-time visibility into how individual and team objectives contribute to the business’s larger goals.
How to choose the best OKR software
Still trying to decide which OKR software to choose? Here are some key factors to keep in mind:
- Pay attention to the software's user interface. Is it intuitive and easy to navigate? This is important because it can significantly impact user experience and productivity.
- Consider integration capabilities with existing tools. Will the software work seamlessly with your current workflow? This is essential to minimize disruptions and avoid duplication of effort.
- Customization options are crucial because they help to align the software with your needs. Look for solutions that offer a high degree of flexibility to adapt to your organization's goals and objectives.
- Prioritize software that offers functional collaboration features, progress tracking, and analytics for valuable insights. These features can help you stay on top of your goals and adjust your strategy.
- Look for comfortable and affordable scalability options that will facilitate your future growth.
You can also evaluate user reviews to see practical experiences. This can give you valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each software option. Alternatively, try out free plans to check them out for yourself.
By carefully weighing these aspects, you can make an informed decision and maximize the effectiveness of your goal management strategy.
5 best OKR performance management software and tools
Let's explore five industry-leading resources to see how you can implement OKR methodology in your company to drive success.
Oboard
Oboard is one of the most popular OKR software solution.
Key features
- Multiple Key Result types
- OKR Levels
- Custom fields and weighting
- Planning space
Profit.co
Profit.co is one of the most popular OKR software solutions. It allows you to execute strategies for the upcoming one to five years by breaking them down into prioritized quarterly lists. You can set up the Plan-Execute-Engage-Learn cycle every quarter, promoting high employee engagement levels with collaborative features.
Image source: Capterra
Key features
- Goal setting and alignment dashboard
- Cascading goals
- Seven measurable key results types
- 400+ inbuilt and custom KPIs
- OKR templates
- Goal visualizations & heatmaps
- Additional modules for strategy tracking, task management, employee engagement, and employee development
- Seamless integration with Slack, MS Teams, Jira, Salesforce, and HubSpot, among other tools. You can also develop your own with the Profit Integration Engine.
Pricing
Profit.co has a free Launch version for up to five users. The optimal plan is Growth for $7/month/user billed annually or $9 when billed monthly (with a 30-day free trial). There is also a custom Enterprise plan for large companies with specific needs.
Lattice
Lattice is a cloud-based OKR software and people management system with employee performance reviews. The platform provides you with all the tools necessary to set strategic objectives with input from the team – you can connect individual employee goals to your organization's objectives to increase engagement and motivation.
Image source: Software Advice
Key features
- Public “Praise Wall” for transparent team member wins celebrations
- Building and running engagement surveys for employees
- Wide selection of productivity tools integrations (e.g., Slack, G Suite, Salesforce, BambooHR, Jira, as well as direct reminders, updates for one-on-ones, and task deadlines)
- Actionable, measurable goals (both individual and for the entire organization)
- Growth plans
- Career track progress views
- Automated reporting and analytics
Pricing
Lattice pricing options depend on your desired features and the number of members using them. Here are the prices for the individual tools:
- Performance management + Company OKRs and Goals – $11/person/month when bought in a bundle or $8/person/month when purchased separately
- Engagement features – +$4/person/month
- Growth features – +$4/person/month
- Compensation features – +$6/person/month
There is also custom enterprise pricing available for multi-product and large-volume purchases.
Hirebook
Hirebook is an innovative tool designed for high productivity, with options to measure progress and motivate teams. Large enterprises like IBM use it for high-level OKR management. However, the tool's structure focuses on more than just business executives. The software ensures all users get quantifiable benefits from OKRs and always know what they're doing.
Image source: G2
Key features
- Great customer support
- Automated check-ins and virtual meetings
- Cascading OKRs
- Key Performance Indicators
- One-on-one smart agendas
- Real-time data analysis dashboards
- Recurring reports
- Free Hirebook University courses with award-winning workshops and company assessments
- Management tools for managing multiple teams in different locations
- Integrations with many popular tools, such as Asana, HubSpot, Salesforce, Jira, Slack, MS Teams
Pricing
Hirebook operates on a Fair Billing Policy with one fixed price per user, including all available modules. The Business plan is $10/month/user when billed annually or $15 monthly. There is also a custom Enterprise plan for large businesses or companies operating in regulated industries, which includes Enterprise Security, Offline backup, and advisor and Board Observers.
15Five
15Five is primarily a performance management platform. It includes an OKR software solution, but that isn’t its main product. This platform is popular among HR workers, as it supports simple communication and alignment between all company departments.
Image source: Software Advice
Key features
- Detailed data insights and reports on OKRs available for managers
- Company level and individual OKRs
- Shareable real-time continuous feedback
- Heat-mapping dashboards
- Weekly check-ins for feedback and performance management
- 30 evidence-based surveys that accurately illustrate employee engagement
- “High fives” for celebrating wins
- One-on-one meetings
- Integrations with Slack, Teams, Jira, Salesforce OKR, and Google Calendar
Pricing
15Five offers three pricing plans. The basic Engage plan is $4/user/month (billed annually) without the OKR software tool. The OKR function is only available with the Perform ($10/user/month) or Total Platform ($16/user/month) options. There is a 14-day free trial.
Mooncamp
Mooncamp is an OKR tool developed in Germany. It focuses primarily on ease of navigation, with options for visualizing alignment and filtering goals. You can also track progress through Microsoft Teams, with notifications about mentions and check-ins.
Image source: G2
Key features
- Manage your team's productivity and OKRs directly through a tab within MS Teams
- Network view of all OKR goals so you can see how they're connected
- Customizable goal-setting framework
- Data dashboards and analytics
- Robust search tool for leadership transparency and cross-departmental objectives
- Unlimited goals, initiatives, and hierarchy levels
- Planning spaces for teams
- Goal weighing and multi-alignment (in Professional plan)
- Integrations with communications and project management tools, e.g., MS Teams, Slack, Jira, Asana, Google Sheets
Pricing
Mooncamp comes with three pricing options:
- Essential – €6/user/month
- Professional – €10/user/month
- Enterprise – custom
There is also a 14-day free trial.
Best OKR software & tools: Comparison table
Conclusion
Simply writing down your company's objectives and results won't get you to results of the likes of Google or Intel. But implementing OKR software might. Having this data constantly visible and updated across your team makes your goals much more accessible – especially if you align them with employee OKRs.
OKR software is a powerful tool for driving strategic, agile alignment, increasing organization accountability, and focusing resources on the aspects of the greatest importance. Together with KPIs, OKRs provide a holistic view of business progress and improve the effectiveness of reaching desired outcomes.
Hopefully, this article helped you pick the top OKR software for your company. Before paying for one of these tools, try out their free plans and consider their feature sets to judge what would fit you best.
FAQs
What is OKR management software?
OKR software is a digital tool or platform designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations effectively set, track, and manage their objectives and key results. An OKR framework typically provides goal setting, progress tracking, alignment visualization, collaboration, and reporting features. All of these enable users to streamline the OKR process and attain company objectives.
Which is the best OKR software?
The choice of the right OKR software depends on your organization's objectives and needs. There are multiple tools, all of which offer slightly different solutions.
Consider which platform offers the features you're looking for. The best OKR software should come with a free plan to test its capabilities and grant you the best value for money.
What tool does Google use for OKRs?
Google has been using OKR management software since 1999. Its OKRs are updated quarterly and open to everyone working in the company.
It currently works on its own custom-built OKR software (Google OKRs) specifically designed to support the company’s implementation and management of OKR progress. This tool is proprietary to Google and not available for external use.
Which big companies use OKRs to track progress?
Many large enterprises track OKRs to monitor progress and align their strategy with business goals. These include Amazon, Spotify, Twitter, LinkedIn, Airbnb, and Intel. Their specific implementation may vary, as OKRs can be customized to suit each organization's needs and culture.
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