Video: How we apply the OKR Model with Atlas Goals at Atlassian
February 14, 2024 edited
One of my colleagues, Thomas, shared a post a few weeks ago about using goals in Atlas. In this video, I share how we apply the OKR model using Atlas Goals at Atlassian.
The OKR model, or Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting methodology that we've adopted to push our teams towards achieving our biggest goals and to help stakeholders monitor our progress.
I'll explain the difference between objectives and key results, how we nest key results, and the importance of monthly updates and scoring.
If you're interested in learning more about the OKR model, check out the links below the video.
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Thank you, Miles, that is a nice overview on how you use the goals in Atlas.
May I ask how you work with the OKR's after they are completed? I assume you have lessons learned for your projects and your continuous goals, and I wonder how they tie into Atlas and how you use them to get better at planning and executing projects and initiatives?
I have worked many years as a consultant in the E-commerce segment, and one of the things I often experienced was that companies sold projects without doing the lessons learned part. As a result, they often repeated the same mistakes over and over again, which led to failed projects.
This was especially common in fixed price projects, where the price was reused in new projects, even though the original project went over time and budget. Since there were no lessons learned that would adjust the time and cost aspect, it remained the same and projects kept failing as a result.
One of the key reasons to track OKRs and Goals is to create a form of predictability and learning from project to project on how to better measure and predict work that we do, so how do you handle that at Atlassian, and how do you connect that to your short term goals, but also your long term themes and strategic goals?
There are a bunch of different ways that we apply learning loops in Atlassian. Traditionally, we've used Confluence templates (Eg. Better Retros) to capture learnings, or more ad-hoc templates to capture learnings across a quarterly or annual timeframe.
More recently, as Atlas has become ubiquitous within Atlassian, we have started leveraging Atlas Learnings. Our projects are connected to our OKRs, and by applying Tags to projects we can review retrospective learnings for a Topic (a group of projects connected by a common Tag) when we're deciding on how we'll refresh our OKRs for then next delivery cycle or adjust our longer term strategic direction.
This doesn't come for free though. Even after a Project has shipped, Project Owners must continue to report on the impact, consider the expected-vs-actual outcomes, and log the learnings in Atlas. Without that culture of continuing to report after the project as shipped, it's easy to fall into that trap of failing to learn from past mistakes.
I have experienced this in the E-commerce segment. I guess it is common. The cost of the time needed to retrospect on project delivery isn't factored into the fixed price, or if it is a line-item on the quote the client will probably strike it out!
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