MBO (which stands for “management by objectives”) has been a popular management tool and SMART Goal guidelines for decades. But there’s an alternative approach that’s gaining a lot of traction at the moment: OKR (or “objectives and key results”)
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SMART Goals Vs OKRs Explainer Video
History of OKR: In 1975, John Doerr, at Intel, attended a course by Andy Grove where he was introduced to the theory of OKRs, then called "iMBOs" for "Intel Management by Objectives". In 1999, Doerr, introduced the idea of OKRs to a start-up Kleiner Perkins had invested in 
. Doerr published Measure What Matters in 2017. Larry Page, the CEO of Alphabet and co-founder of , credited OKRs within the foreword to Doerr's book: "OKRs have helped lead us to 10× growth. Since becoming popular at , OKRs have found favor with several other similar tech start-up organizations including 
, 
, 
, and 
.
- Ref: 
Wikipedia ©
Conversations, Feedback and Recognition (CFR) and OKRs together provide a clear path to setting and achieving the most inspired to the most trivial goals businesses and teams pursue. OKR Stars™ software integrates with CFR approach, tools, apps 
(Microsoft Teams 
and Slack 
) to Automate Team Collaboration on Goals.
Ref. Measure What Matters, World's 1st & #1 Book on OKRs
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OKR-Setting and Business performance management made easy.
Think beyond email and promote Conversation, Feedback and Recognition on Goal updates inside Slack.
Self track the progress of Epic, Story, Task & Bugs by KPI integration automatically.
Think beyond email and promote Conversation, Feedback and Recognition on Goal updates inside Microsoft Teams.
History of Performance Management System (PMS) and SMART Goals 1954: Peter Drucker, an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator and author develops MBO (Management By Objectives) practice. 1968: Andy Grove, CEO, Intel develops OKR (Objectives & Key Results) Framework. 1974: John Doerr joins Intel and learns OKR. 1981: Dr. George T. Doran introduces SMART Goals & Objectives. 1999: Co-Founder Larry Page gets introduced to OKRs by John Doerr. 2017: Creating OKRs popularized by Measure What Matters book by Doerr (available at 
). - Ref: Wikipedia ©
Conversations, Feedback and Recognition (CFR) and PMS together provide a clear path to setting and achieving the most inspired to the most trivial goals businesses and teams pursue. Skills2Talent™ PMS software integrates with CFR approach, tools, apps (Microsoft Teams and Slack ) to Automate Team Collaboration on Goals.
Creator of the S.M.A.R.T acronym. © Ref. Wikipedia® 
Goal-Setting and Business performance management made easy.
Think beyond email and promote Conversation, Feedback and Recognition on Goal updates inside Slack.
Self track the progress of Epic, Story, Task & Bugs by KPI integration automatically.
Think beyond email and promote Conversation, Feedback and Recognition on Goal updates inside Microsoft Teams.
We have highlighted the key differences. You can also have either one, both or as per the target requirements based on your road-map. Contact us → for a free 30 min. consulting/demo. SMART Goals Vs OKRs Explainer Video
Managing your talent and organizational objectives is critical for success. It ensures employees can identify and work towards common goals, it encourages responsibility, ownership and autonomy within a role, and assists in executing overall organizational strategy. There are multiple ways to manage this. Two goal-setting approach are SMART (Guideline) and OKR (Framework) and whilst both are inherently designed to track, manage, and appraise output. Contact us → for a free 30 min. consulting/demo.
SMART Goal focuses on"What" part of Goal. We have various basic/advanced KPI automation & Jira Software Integration as well.
Our OKR automation focuses on both "What" and "How" part of Goal. We have various basic/advanced KPI automation & Jira Software Integration as well.
Annual Cycle. Check-in is synchronous with a performance review cycle. We have various custom best practices automation (multiple goal plans). Talk with us for a free 30 min. consulting.
Quarterly or Monthly Cycles. We have multiple automatic check-ins for KPI Integrations (Jira software). We have various custom best practices automation. Talk with us for a free 30 min. consulting.
Goals are Private or Siloed. Goals are visible to HR, Employee and 1st/2nd/3rd line managers...
Goals are public and transparent to all employees (BoDs, CXOs to lowest level of employees).
Top-down approach from Top management to downwards department/teams/individuals.
Depts, teams, individuals to Upwards (Bottom-up) or Sideways (inter-depts, teams, individuals).
Always linked or tied to Compensation & Benefits based on the approved appraisal ratings/grades in PMS. This may run the risk of bringing skewed results.
Mostly not linked or tied to Compensation & Benefits. We have various custom best practices automation. Talk with us for a free 30 min. consulting.
SMART-PMS is, by nature, pragmatic and risk-averse. SMART-PMS goals are sanctioned free for alls of "get there any way you can". They are very individualistic, unlike OKRs which are collectively committed and "how" part is transparent to all employees.
OKRs are committed but also Audacious, Aggressive, and Aspirational goal type. They inherently have an OK to fail mentality, provided the "how" part is transparent and collectively committed. This in stark contrast to SMART-PMS, which is individualistic.
OKR Stars™ is the world's "first" OKR + CFR combined and only scalable services including Talent Management products (Skills2Talent™) from same company. Thus you have the convenience of getting Full Implementation Services (Coaching) and SaaS (Software) as one stop solution. Contact us → for a free 30 min. consulting/demo.
Integrate with CFR tools (Microsoft Teams and Slack ) to Automate Team Collaboration on Goals.
Instead of a single overstuffed inbox, Goal conversations in CFR tools happen in dedicated spaces called channels.
Goal updates in CFR tools channels makes team to do visible conversations or find important info in search.
Unlike email, Goals info in CFR tools lets you choose which conversations are most important - and which can wait.
Brings goals and collaboration together, giving greater context to the team members perform daily.
Learn MT Integration →
Make goals updates right where daily work happens, and keep team's top of mind with smart alerts.
Learn Slack Integration →
Not using CFR tools (Microsoft Teams and Slack ), no worries, our built in features would enable the same in OKR Stars™ and Skills2Talent™.
Our REST API data integration with SSO (Single Sign-on) push updates directly to your frequently used CFR tools (Microsoft Teams and Slack) about goals' progress.
The KPIs progress that matter for Key Results are smartly notified in CFR tools (Microsoft Teams and Slack ), by integration in real-time that need attention.
Collaborating in channels in CFR tools (Microsoft Teams and Slack ) gives everyone in your team a shared view of Goals progress, purpose with files & tools in one place.
Use our premium and ready data integration capabilities to connect with goals to update their progress automatically, without manual data entry.
Our REST API data integration links directly to your Jira and by JQLs gathers key data points relevant to your needs.
Integrate Jira to automatically track Progress, Count of Tickets, Time Spent and Estimate (Original & Remaining) KPIs.
The KPIs that matter for Key Results are linked, which means the integration auto update in real-time that need attention.
Fit your KPI framework using Jira data of Scrum, Kanban, Mixed methodologies to scale software Agile delivery.
Connect your existing systems to automatically update the progress of your Key Results to meet your Objectives.
Our Software as a Service (SaaS) products pre integrated directly with Whatfix DAP to deliver user wise personalized journeys and adjust your employees' product onboarding needs.
Our mission is to empower companies to maximize business outcomes by eliminating technology complexities for their users.
Ref. Gartner's Digital Adoption Solutions Category, Gartner peerinsights™
Our DAP integration simplifies any HR process by providing step-by-step in-app guidance using "walk-thrus".
We simplify your employee experience and boost productivity by breaking old habits and drive real product adoption.
Our DAP uses contextual awareness to engage your employees by role and the product with alerts, contextual tooltips.
Reduce HR & IT support (internal). No more frustrations with support tickets & efforts, help employees find answers by themselves.
With our Talent Capital Management add-ons you can recruit, manage OKR & performance, enable coversations-feedback-recognition, develop skills, digitize learning, manage timesheets and offboarding as "one system".
Align distributed team and individuals to the org’s top priorities and accelerate growth with Talent and Data Integration.
Communicate outcome based Goal management transparently, accurately and continuously with Productivity Data.
Think beyond email and promote Conversation, Feedback and Recognition (CFR) and develop people.
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USR Infotech Solutions Pvt Ltd, operating under the brand OKR Stars, is a leading whitelabel Software as a Service (SaaS) company. Specializing in multi-type goal management, employee engagement, performance reviews, and talent management solutions, OKR Stars offers a unique white-label licensing model.
Our reseller-friendly approach empowers HR and People advisory service providers with a rapid go-to-market strategy, eliminating upfront capital expenses. With a decade of proven product-to-market fit, OKR Stars delivers cutting-edge technology solutions, including impressive UX/UI design, AI-powered goal discovery, mobile-first app experiences, and advanced integration capabilities, ensuring businesses thrive in the digital age.
Strategic Success On-the-Go!
Boost productivity with our "Mobile Goal Tracker" in OKR Stars™. Track multi-type goals including OKRs, SMART Goals, and Projects & Tasks for effective strategy execution. Collaborate seamlessly with CFR (Conversations, Feedback, and Recognition).
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