Tability is a cheatcode for goal-driven teams. Set perfect OKRs with AI, stay focused on the work that matters.
What are Engineering 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.
OKRs are quickly gaining popularity as a goal-setting framework. But, it's not always easy to know how to write your goals, especially if it's your first time using OKRs.
To aid you in setting your goals, we have compiled a collection of OKR examples customized for Engineering Team. Take a look at the templates below for inspiration and guidance.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
The best tools for writing perfect Engineering Team OKRs
Here are 2 tools that can help you draft your OKRs in no time.
Tability AI: to generate OKRs based on a prompt
Tability AI allows you to describe your goals in a prompt, and generate a fully editable OKR template in seconds.
- 1. Create a Tability account
- 2. Click on the Generate goals using AI
- 3. Describe your goals in a prompt
- 4. Get your fully editable OKR template
- 5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards
Watch the video below to see it in action 👇
Tability Feedback: to improve existing OKRs
You can use Tability's AI feedback to improve your OKRs if you already have existing goals.
- 1. Create your Tability account
- 2. Add your existing OKRs (you can import them from a spreadsheet)
- 3. Click on Generate analysis
- 4. Review the suggestions and decide to accept or dismiss them
- 5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards
Tability 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.
Engineering Team OKRs examples
We've added many examples of Engineering Team Objectives and Key Results, but we did not stop there. Understanding the difference between OKRs and projects is important, so we also added examples of strategic initiatives that relate to the OKRs.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
OKRs to foster continuous improvement on Engineering metrics
ObjectiveFoster continuous improvement on Engineering metrics
KRAchieve a 10% increase in team's average productivity metrics
Introduce incentives for meeting or surpassing productivity goals- Implement training sessions to improve skills and efficiency
- Optimize workflow by eliminating unnecessary procedures
- KRImplement weekly trend analysis reports for every team member
- Schedule and distribute weekly trend analysis to each team member
- Establish report templates to track weekly trends for each team
- Automate data collection and trend analysis processes
- KRReduce error rates in engineering processes by 15%
- Enhance quality control and testing procedures
- Regularly review and improve existing engineering processes
- Implement training programs to update engineering knowledge and skills
OKRs to enhance engineering team's productivity
- ObjectiveEnhance engineering team's productivity
- KRIncrease project completion rate by 20%
- Conduct weekly project progress and status checks
- Implement a detailed project schedule for better tracking
- Provide timely training and resources to team members
- KRImplement a new efficiency-enhancing tool with full adoption by team
- Develop comprehensive training for tool usage for the team
- Select efficiency-enhancing tool based on team's tasks and workflows
- Regularly monitor, assess, and provide feedback on tool usage
- KRReduce engineering errors by 15%
- Enhance collaboration and communication within engineering teams
- Implement regular skill improvement workshops for engineers
- Introduce stringent quality control and testing processes
OKRs to enhance accuracy in story estimation by software engineering team
- ObjectiveEnhance accuracy in story estimation by software engineering team
- KRAchieve 90% team satisfaction rate with the improved estimation process
- Implement weekly training sessions for the new estimation process
- Consistently communicate the benefits of the new process
- Collect feedback and make necessary improvements
- KRReduce average estimation error to less than 10% in next 100 tasks
- Implement more accurate estimation tools and techniques
- Review and adjust estimations after each task
- Train team on precision estimation strategies
- KRTrain 100% of the team on advanced estimation techniques and methods
- Follow up on training outcomes and comprehension
- Schedule team members for training sessions
- Identify appropriate advanced estimation training course
OKRs to improve interoperability between data engineering teams
- ObjectiveImprove interoperability between data engineering teams
- KROffer biweekly data interoperability training to 90% of data engineering teams
- Identify 90% of data engineering teams for training
- Develop a biweekly interoperability training schedule
- Implement and monitor the data interoperability training
- KRReduce cross-team data discrepancies by 50%, ensuring increased data consistency
- Regularly audit and correct data discrepancies across all teams
- Implement a standardized data entry and management process for all teams
- Utilize data synchronization tools for seamless data integration
- KRImplement standardized data protocols across all teams increasing cross-collaboration by 30%
- Train teams on new standardized protocols
- Identify current data protocols in each team
- Draft and propose unified data protocols
OKRs to enhance workflow efficiency and productivity
- ObjectiveEnhance workflow efficiency and productivity
- KRImplement at least 3 significant improvements identified from the workflow analysis
- Develop strategies to implement these improvements efficiently
- Evaluate success of implemented improvements periodically
- Prioritize the 3 top improvements identified from workflow analysis
- KRReduce workflow steps or stages by 10% to streamline operations
- Implement new workflow and analyze for efficiency improvement
- Review and analyze current processes for unnecessary stages
- Develop a revised workflow eliminating redundant steps
- KRIncrease process efficiency by 20% through process re-engineering
- Identify bottlenecks in the current process
- Train staff on newly engineered process
- Develop a streamlined process blueprint
OKRs to enhance the reliability and efficiency of our infrastructure
- ObjectiveEnhance the reliability and efficiency of our infrastructure
- KRIncrease server response time by 20% for faster processing
- Optimize application code to reduce processing time
- Upgrade server hardware for improved performance
- Implement effective load balancing techniques
- KRImplement an upgrade to the latest networking technology, improving speed by 25%
- KRAchieve a 15% decrease in system downtime incidents
- Implement a robust incident response plan
- Provide routine maintenance and updates to system software
- Assess system regularly for potential vulnerabilities and areas of improvement
OKRs to implement a robust chaos testing system in our production environment
- ObjectiveImplement a robust chaos testing system in our production environment
- KRAchieve 90% system resilience score post chaos testing and fixing identified vulnerabilities
- Develop resolutions for identified system weaknesses
- Measure system resilience post-fix, aiming for 90% score
- Implement chaos testing to identify system vulnerabilities
- KRIdentify and document 10 potential points of system failure by month-end
- Compile findings into comprehensive document
- Review system for possible vulnerabilities or weaknesses
- Record 10 potential failure points
- KRDevelop and deploy chaos experiments to simulate 50% of identified points of failure
- Implement and execute the chaos experiments
- Design chaos experiments to simulate these failures
- Identify the key potential failure points in the system
OKRs to ensure adoption and compliance with circuit breaker standards
- ObjectiveEnsure adoption and compliance with circuit breaker standards
- KRImplement two new practices or technologies that promote circuit breaker standards compliance
- Incorporate the new technologies into the existing workflow
- Obtain and provide training on chosen practices or technologies
- Research and select two technologies that enhance circuit breaker compliance
- KRConduct five workshops on circuit breaker standards for relevant employees
- Identify potential attendees related to circuit breaker tasks
- Schedule five workshops on circuit breaker standards
- Prepare comprehensive workshop materials
- KRAchieve 100% completion of compliance checklists by all relevant departments
- Implement mandatory compliance training sessions
- Track checklist completion in real-time
- Assign compliance checklists to all relevant departments
OKRs to become proficient in Cisco switches configuration and the Headsup app project
- ObjectiveBecome proficient in Cisco switches configuration and the Headsup app project
- KRMaster 100% of training controls and instruments for effective control handling
- Regularly review manual for training controls
- Attend workshops for continuous learning
- Practice using instruments in simulated scenarios
- KRComplete Cisco certification coursework with a grade of 85% or higher
- Set a daily study schedule for coursework
- Enroll in Cisco certification course
- Regularly review and practice course material
- KRSuccessfully run a test project utilizing the Headsup app with zero major errors
- Monitor, find and instantly resolve minor issues, if any
- Plan and execute a simple project using the Headsup app
- Understand the functionality and features of the Headsup app completely
OKRs to enhance the performance of Databricks pipelines
- ObjectiveEnhance the performance of Databricks pipelines
- KRImplement pipeline optimization changes in at least 10 projects
- Start implementing the optimization changes in each project
- Identify 10 projects that require pipeline optimization changes
- Develop an actionable strategy for pipeline optimization
- KRReduce the processing time of pipeline workflows by 30%
- Implement automation for repetitive, time-consuming tasks
- Upgrade hardware to enhance processing speed
- Streamline workflow tasks by eliminating redundant steps
- KRIncrease pipeline data load speed by 25%
- Implement data compression techniques to reduce load times
- Simplify data transformation to improve throughput
- Upgrade current servers to enhance data processing capacity
Engineering 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
Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.
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
Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.
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.
Save hours with automated OKR dashboards
Your quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly if you want to get all the benefits of the OKRs framework. 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 Tability to save time with automated OKR dashboards, data connectors, and actionable insights.
How to get Tability dashboards:
- 1. Create a Tability account
- 2. Use the importers to add your OKRs (works with any spreadsheet or doc)
- 3. Publish your OKR plan
That's it! Tability will instantly get access to 10+ dashboards to monitor progress, visualise trends, and identify risks early.
More Engineering Team OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to increase brand awareness and credibility through webinars
- OKRs to enhance productivity in grain crop farming
- OKRs to enhance warehouse OTIF performance
- OKRs to increase Help Desk Quality Assurance Rating
- OKRs to establish indisputable proof of need
- OKRs to improve financial operations for increased efficiency and effectiveness