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tability.ioWhat are Development Team OKRs?
The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.
Crafting effective OKRs can be challenging, particularly for beginners. Emphasizing outcomes rather than projects should be the core of your planning.
We have a collection of OKRs examples for Development Team to give you some inspiration. You can use any of the templates below as a starting point for your OKRs.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Development Team OKRs examples
You will find in the next section many different Development Team Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).
Hope you'll find this helpful!
OKRs to integrate security controls into development sprints
ObjectiveIntegrate security controls into development sprints
KRSuccessfully incorporate security controls into two sprints by end of Week 6
Implement security controls into sprints in Weeks 4-6- Develop detailed security control integration plans by Week 3
- Identify security control requirements for both sprints in Week 1
- KRFully train the team on security control integration by end of Week 3
- Provide comprehensive learning materials and resources for the team
- Evaluate team members' comprehensive understanding by end of Week 3
- Schedule mandatory team training sessions on security control integration
- KRAchieve a decrease in security incidents by 40% by end of Week 9
- Implement a comprehensive cybersecurity training program for all employees
- Foster a company-wide culture of security vigilance
- Upgrade existing security infrastructure and software
OKRs to increase value proposition for a staff training videogame development company
- ObjectiveIncrease value proposition for a staff training videogame development company
- KRIncrease revenue from sales of training videogames by 15%
- Enhance product features and user experience to boost customer satisfaction and loyalty
- Develop partnerships with industry influencers or organizations to expand sales reach
- Improve marketing strategies to create greater awareness and interest in training videogames
- Analyze current market trends and identify target audience for training videogames
- KRIncrease customer satisfaction rating for training videogames by 10%
- Implement gamification elements to increase engagement and enjoyment
- Conduct regular surveys to gather feedback and address customer concerns efficiently
- Improve gameplay mechanics based on customer feedback
- Enhance customer support response time and effectiveness
- KRDevelop and launch at least 2 new interactive and engaging staff training videogames
- Design and develop user-friendly interfaces for seamless gameplay experience
- Test and debug the games thoroughly to ensure optimal performance and functionality
- Research and identify suitable game development platforms and tools
- Collaborate with subject matter experts to create engaging content for the games
- KRIncrease client retention rate by 20% through effective value proposition communication
- Conduct a comprehensive market research on clients' needs and preferences
- Implement regular client feedback surveys to continuously improve value proposition alignment
- Train all sales and customer service teams on effective value proposition communication
- Develop clear and concise value proposition statements for each target client segment
OKRs to boost teamwork and development via regular manager-employee meetings
- ObjectiveBoost teamwork and development via regular manager-employee meetings
- KRImplement a standardized meeting schedule for managers and their onsite teams by week 2
- Select a consistent time and day for weekly manager-team meetings
- Communicate proposed schedule to the managers and teams
- Incorporate feedback and finalize weekly meeting schedule
- KRAchieve a 20% increase in the employee development index by quarter end
- Implement mandatory professional development workshops
- Foster a mentorship program within the organization
- Increase feedback and coaching sessions
- KRConduct at least two remote team-building activities each month
- Facilitate the planned team-building sessions
- Schedule the activities on team calendar
- Identify suitable remote team-building exercises
OKRs to establish a high-performance software development team
- ObjectiveEstablish a high-performance software development team
- KRImplement weekly team-building exercises to boost team collaboration and morale
- Assign a team member to facilitate each exercise
- Schedule weekly time slots for team-building activities
- Research effective team-building exercises suitable for the team
- KRRecruit and onboard five experienced software developers by the end of the quarter
- Post job listings on industry-related job search platforms
- Facilitate onboarding process for selected individuals
- Shortlist and interview potential candidates
- KRAchieve a 90% or higher satisfaction rate in quarterly team feedback surveys
- Improve on constructive feedback from previous surveys
- Implement regular team bonding and communication drills
- Address individual team member concerns promptly
OKRs to enhance leadership abilities in developing new software functionalities
- ObjectiveEnhance leadership abilities in developing new software functionalities
- KRAchieve over 95% positive feedback in the team's quarterly performance review
- Consistently offer constructive feedback and support to team members
- Implement regular training and development sessions
- Improve team communication and collaboration regularly
- KRComplete advanced leadership course in software development by quarter end
- Dedicate a few hours each day for coursework and study
- Enroll in advanced leadership software development course
- Finish and submit all assignments before course deadline
- KRLead a team to successfully deliver a new feature without delays
- Effectively delegate tasks according to team strengths
- Establish regular check-ins to monitor task progress
- Clearly define the feature requirements and scope of work
OKRs to establish a high-performing software development team
- ObjectiveEstablish a high-performing software development team
- KRImplement a comprehensive team training program, ensuring 100% completion
- Set a system to track and ensure every team member completes training
- Develop engaging and effective training content for the team
- Identify necessary skills and knowledge to include in the training program
- KRIdentify and hire five skilled software developers by achieving a hiring efficiency rate of 70%
- Implement an effective interviewing and hiring protocol
- Conduct efficient candidate screening processes
- Develop a detailed job post for skilled software developers
- KRDeliver the first software project successfully, maintaining less than 10% bug ratio
- Establish robust coding and QA protocols for minimal errors
- Prioritize bugs and fix high-priority ones promptly
- Implement frequent testing cycles to identify bugs
OKRs to improve development team productivity
- ObjectiveIncrease development team productivity
- KRReduce average time taken to complete development tasks by 20%
- Provide developers with necessary training and resources to enhance productivity
- Implement agile development methodologies and prioritize tasks based on importance
- Encourage open communication and collaboration among team members to expedite task completion
- Identify bottlenecks in the development process to streamline efficiency
- KRImprove unit test coverage by 10% for critical components
- KRReduce the number of production bugs reported by customers by 25%
- Conduct regular code reviews to identify and fix potential bugs before deployment
- Implement automated unit testing for critical components and frequently executed code
- Increase the frequency of software releases to address and resolve issues more promptly
- Improve communication channels with customers to encourage reporting and capturing of bugs
- KRIncrease code review completion rate by 15%
- Schedule regular team meetings to discuss and address code review concerns
- Provide comprehensive and concise code review guidelines for reviewers
- Encourage timely and constructive feedback during code review discussions
- Implement a clear and streamlined code review process
OKRs to achieve a balance between team learning opportunities and routine tasks
- ObjectiveAchieve a balance between team learning opportunities and routine tasks
- KREstablish a rotating task schedule to ensure all team members gain varied exposure
- Monitor and adjust the rotation schedule as needed
- Identify all tasks and assign them to team members evenly
- Implement a cyclical rotation system for task assignment
- KRImplement a structured learning program for all team members by end of quarter
- Develop a comprehensive and structured learning program
- Identify learning needs and preferences of all team members
- Roll out the program to the entire team
- KRMeasure 15% increase in team productivity due to new skills acquired
- Identify baseline productivity before skills acquisition
- Evaluate productivity levels post-training
- Implement new skills training for team
OKRs to develop personal and professional growth
- ObjectiveDevelop personal and professional growth
- KRIdentify and engage in a new hobby for personal satisfaction
- Regularly allot time to engage in chosen hobby
- Research various hobbies that align with personal interests
- Choose one hobby to pursue and gather necessary supplies
- KRComplete one skill-improvement course related to my professional field
- Enroll in selected skill-improvement course
- Successfully complete all coursework and assessments
- Identify relevant online courses in your professional field
- KRRead and summarize at least one self-improvement book
- Write a summary of the book
- Select a self-improvement book to read
- Read the chosen self-improvement book
OKRs to become proficient in React.js
- ObjectiveBecome proficient in React.js
- KRComplete an online React.js course with a passing grade by end of quarter
- Enroll in an online React.js course
- Dedicate consistent study hours each week
- Complete and pass all required assessments
- KRRead and understand documentation for 5 React.js libraries
- Thoroughly read the documentation for each library
- Summarize key functions and features of each library
- Select 5 React.js libraries for review and understanding
- KRBuild and deploy a small, functional web app using React.js
- Test the app locally to ensure full functionality
- Develop a small React.js web app following online tutorials or guidelines
- Deploy the web app on a preferred hosting platform
How to write your own Development Team OKRs
1. Get tailored OKRs with an AI
You'll find some examples below, but it's likely that you have very specific needs that won't be covered.
You can use Tability's AI generator to create tailored OKRs based on your specific context. Tability can turn your objective description into a fully editable OKR template -- including tips to help you refine your goals.
- 1. Go to Tability's plan editor
- 2. Click on the "Generate goals using AI" button
- 3. Use natural language to describe your goals
Tability will then use your prompt to generate a fully editable OKR template.
Watch the video below to see it in action 👇
Option 2. Optimise existing OKRs with Tability Feedback tool
If you already have existing goals, and you want to improve them. You can use Tability's AI feedback to help you.
- 1. Go to Tability's plan editor
- 2. Add your existing OKRs (you can import them from a spreadsheet)
- 3. Click on "Generate analysis"
Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRsTability will scan your OKRs and offer different suggestions to improve them. This can range from a small rewrite of a statement to make it clearer to a complete rewrite of the entire OKR.
You can then decide to accept the suggestions or dismiss them if you don't agree.
Option 3. Use the free OKR generator
If you're just looking for some quick inspiration, you can also use our free OKR generator to get a template.
Unlike with Tability, you won't be able to iterate on the templates, but this is still a great way to get started.
Development Team OKR best practices
Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.
Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇
Tip #1: Limit the number of key results
The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.
We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.
Tip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins
Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row
Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.
As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.
Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.
How to track your Development Team OKRs
The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:
- It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
- It will highlight poorly set OKRs
- It will surface execution risks
- It improves transparency and accountability
Spreadsheets are enough to get started. Then, once you need to scale you can use a proper OKR platform to make things easier.
If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.
More Development Team OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to implement a sustainable system for organizational growth
- OKRs to enhance the overall safety and wellbeing initiatives in the workplace
- OKRs to enhance customer satisfaction in local car rental service
- OKRs to enhance the effectiveness and impact of the company newsletter
- OKRs to implement a robust performance measurement system
- OKRs to reduce staff turnover across the company