5 Lessons on OKRs

Here are a few lessons that I've learned after wrestling with OKRs over the last 6 years.

1. Don't obsess about the OKR methodology, focus on content first: People obsess too much about the nuances of how to implement OKRs, when OKRs are a simple translation of "What are your top 2-3 goals for the quarter" and "how are you going to measure success?"

2. Product teams should not go into the quarter with unresearched OKRs: Teams should have at least some level of validation of product value and their approach to achieve their OKRs (continuous discovery please!). I have found that when teams go into a quarter just with metrics and no idea on approach, they are much more likely to fail.

3. Alignment with the business: At talabat Product and Tech investments need to be paired with what gets executed on on the ground. The commercial and operational parts of a business need to be very well aligned to Product OKRs for maximum impact.

4. Don't skip the debates: OKRs work best when you welcome feedback - let the debates happen so that you can truly come up with priorities that matter.

5. Discipline matters: If you don't check in on OKRs frequently, they will be forgotten.

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