OKR to Set You and Your New Employer Up for Success in the First 90 Days of Your Engineering Management

The following personal Objectives and Key Results (OKR) are a potential set to help you achieve positive results.

The priority order and/or relevance will depend on you and the business.

Tracking in Notion

Committed and Aspirational OKR

When setting OKR, it’s important to distinguish between committed and aspirational OKR. This distinction helps ensure clarity in expectations and alignment with business goals.

• Committed OKR: These are objectives that must be achieved within the defined period of time. They are closely tied to key business priorities, and their successful completion is expected. Missing a committed OKR signals a gap in execution that needs to be addressed.
• Aspirational OKR: These are ambitious goals that push beyond current capabilities and aim for breakthrough performance. They are often long-term and may not be fully achieved within a single cycle. Aspirational OKR inspire innovation and drive significant progress.

Applying This to Your First 90 Days

• Some OKR in the examples below, such as "We Have a Budget Plan", are committed OKR, meaning they need to be completed.
• Others, such as "We Have a Defined Set of Cultural Norms and Values", may be aspirational OKR, aiming for deeper cultural alignment over time.
• It’s critical to align expectations with your manager and peers to determine which OKR are committed and which are aspirational.

Example

Objective 1 - We Have the Team We Need

Understand if and how to grow your team to materially increase your productivity as an organization.

1. I have identified 100% of the key roles we need to meet our objectives and documented them in a hiring plan.
2. I have created Position Descriptions for at least 90% of our identified hiring needs.
3. I have reached out to at least 5 qualified individuals in my direct network that match our hiring needs.
4. I have developed and executed a communication strategy to reach at least 3 external hiring channels.

Objective 2 - We Are Delivering Value Efficiently and Have a Plan for Continuous Improvement

Make sure you are providing customer value efficiently and continually improving the way you do so.

1. I have conducted structured discussions with key stakeholders across 100% of the business functions to identify at least 5 pain points or bottlenecks.
2. I have documented a tactical plan with at least 3 immediate actions to improve our delivery efficiency.
3. I have documented a strategic plan outlining at least 3 long-term initiatives for improving our delivery efficiency.
4. I have established and communicated at least 5 system-of-work sensible defaults for continuous improvement, with at least 1 feedback mechanism in place.

Objective 3 - We Have a Budget Plan

Ensuring you understand any budget constraints so you can make good decisions on any spend.

1. I have gained 100% visibility of our budget, including a breakdown of allocations.
2. I can track at least 90% of our spend against our budget using a transparent reporting method.
3. I have documented a budget utilization plan that aligns at least 80% of spending with high-value initiatives.

Objective 4 - We Have Engineering Function Objectives and Key Results

Plan for the future and build a language for talking about what you want to achieve as a business.

1. I have reviewed and summarized 100% of the business case in a one-page document.
2. I have documented and communicated at least 3 commercial Objectives and Key Results.
3. I have developed an engineering function strategic Objectives and Key Results plan for the next quarter, and shared it with 100% of my cross functional peers.

Objective 5 - We Have a Ubiquitous Language to Align with the Broader Business

Ensure you and your new peers are using the same words with similar interpretations.

1. I have identified 100% of the functions within the business and documented their roles.
2. I have mapped 100% of the functions to their key stakeholder.
3. I have created and shared at least 1 structured meeting agenda for discussions with 100% of the key stakeholders.
4. I have conducted at least 3 stakeholder meetings to capture language and terminology used.
5. I have documented and shared at least 1 version of a ubiquitous language reference document within the company.

Objective 6 - We Have a Defined Set of Cultural Norms and Values

Understand how your new peers work and live their lives so you can align, build relationships, and motivate your team.

1. I have conducted one-on-one discussions with at least 80% of the engineering team to understand cultural norms and values.
2. I have facilitated discussions with 100% of the key stakeholders in other business functions to align on cultural norms and values.
3. I have documented and shared at least 1 version of a vision statement for the engineering function.
4. I have documented and communicated at least 1 version of our engineering function core values that align with 100% of our business objectives.
5. I have documented and circulated at least 1 version of a cultural norms guide within the organization.
6. I have made our engineering function’s cultural norms and values publicly visible to the broader business through at least 1 internal communication channel.

Objective 7 - We Understand the Architecture and Technology to Utilize to Meet Our Objectives

Find out what is being used and what is being looked at for the future.

1. I have documented a comprehensive summary of 100% of our current technology stack and its respective use cases.
2. I have conducted at least 3 discussions with key technologists in the business to assess future technology considerations and innovations.