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tability.ioWhat are Professional Development 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.
Creating impactful OKRs can be a daunting task, especially for newcomers. Shifting your focus from projects to outcomes is key to successful planning.
We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Professional Development to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Professional Development OKRs examples
You will find in the next section many different Professional Development 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 enhance proficiency and knowledge through ongoing professional development
ObjectiveEnhance proficiency and knowledge through ongoing professional development
KRAttend at least 3 webinars or workshops related to my professional field
Research upcoming webinars/workshops in my professional field- Schedule time to attend these events
- Register for chosen webinars/workshops
- KRRead and analyze 5 industry-related books to broaden expertise
- Allocate daily reading time for each book
- Select five relevant industry-related books
- Write a summary and analysis on each book
- KRComplete two relevant industry certifying courses with at least 85% scores
- Take, pass courses with minimum 85% scores
- Schedule consistent study hours for course preparation
- Research and select two industry-relevant certification courses
OKRs to enhance employee recruitment, mentorship and development strategies
- ObjectiveEnhance employee recruitment, mentorship and development strategies
- KRRecruit and onboard 15 new high-potential employees
- Identify talent through LinkedIn and job board searches
- Arrange interviews with selected candidates
- Develop comprehensive onboarding plan for new hires
- KREstablish mentorship programs impacting 80% of team
- Identify potential mentors within the organization
- Develop a structured mentorship program outline
- Implement program and monitor participation rates
- KREnsure 70% of employees engage in at least one development program
- Monitor and announce progress towards target regularly
- Promote benefits of development programs to all staff
- Oversee individual sign-ups for at least one program
OKRs to excel in team building and professional development services
- ObjectiveExcel in team building and professional development services
- KRDeliver professional development workshops to 50 different organizations
- Schedule and coordinate workshop logistics with each organization
- Identify and reach out to 50 potential organizations for workshops
- Prepare detailed, engaging content for professional development workshops
- KRIncrease client satisfaction ratings by 20% through enhanced service delivery
- Implement regular trainings to improve staff service skills
- Conduct surveys to understand areas of dissatisfaction among clients
- Develop personalized communication strategies to enhance client engagement
- KRAcquire 15 new long-term corporate clients for team building services
- Leverage professional networks for potential client introduction and acquisition
- Develop and implement a targeted marketing campaign for corporate clients
- Offer exclusive packages for continuous team building services
OKRs to improve professional development through agreed certifications
- ObjectiveImprove professional development through agreed certifications
- KRAttend 3 industry conferences or workshops
- Arrange travel and accommodation if needed
- Register and pay for attendance at each event
- Identify 3 industry conferences or workshops of interest
- KRObtain positive feedback from manager on professional growth
- Actively ask for manager's engagement in professional development
- Showcase work improvement and better decision-making skills
- Consistently exceed targets and expectations at work
- KRComplete 2 relevant certifications by end of period
- Complete course materials and pass exams
- Research suitable certifications related to your career goals
- Enroll in chosen certification programs
OKRs to boost productivity across all team operations
- ObjectiveBoost productivity across all team operations
- KRImplement a project management tool and decrease missed deadlines by 20%
- Train staff members in tool's optimal usage
- Research and select a suitable project management tool
- Monitor and measure the decrease in missed deadlines
- KRArrange bi-weekly professional development workshops to improve skill efficiency by 10%
- Identify relevant topics for bi-weekly professional development workshops
- Secure skilled presenters or facilitators for these workshops
- Schedule and communicate workshop dates and details to the team
- KRReduce meeting times by 15% to increase work hours
- Encourage concise, effective communication in meetings
- Assess and eliminate non-essential topics from meeting agendas
- Implement a stricter timetable for meetings
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 to enhance my competence and influence as a reputable Mentor
- ObjectiveTo enhance my competence and influence as a reputable Mentor
- KRSuccessfully mentor 5 individuals in achieving their career goals
- Identify and understand individual goals of each mentee
- Provide regular feedback and guidance on progress
- Develop a customized, achievable success plan for each person
- KRObtain a minimum of 90% satisfaction rate from all mentoring sessions
- Implement suggestions from feedback to improve sessions
- Provide personalized mentoring tailored to individual needs
- Regularly gather feedback from mentees after sessions
- KRAcquire two new relevant certifications to bolster my mentoring credentials
- Register and complete two chosen certification programs
- Research reputable certification programs related to mentoring
- Add completed certifications to professional portfolio
OKRs to improve performance and efficacy of reading teachers
- ObjectiveImprove performance and efficacy of reading teachers
- KRImplement updated literacy teaching strategies in 80% of classrooms
- Monitor and evaluate the implementation process in classrooms
- Identify and analyze recently updated literacy teaching strategies
- Conduct training sessions for teachers on updated strategies
- KRIncrease teachers' engagement in professional development workshops by 30%
- Survey teachers regularly to tailor workshops to their needs
- Implement interactive, hands-on activities during workshops
- Develop engaging, relevant content for professional development workshops
- KRDecrease average struggling reader count per class by 20%
- Implement personalized reading programs tailored to student’s abilities
- Increase frequency and depth of literacy assessments
- Incorporate more interactive, engaging reading materials
OKRs to strengthen communication effectiveness
- ObjectiveStrengthen communication effectiveness
- KRImplement at least three new communication strategies learned from workshop
- Develop a plan for incorporating new strategies into existing communication processes
- Deliver a presentation summarizing the new methods to the team
- Begin integrating learned strategies into daily communication and follow-up
- KRReceive positive feedback on communication from at least 80% of colleagues
- Implement feedback in daily interactions with colleagues
- Regularly seek constructive criticism on communication skills
- Enroll in communication development workshops
- KRAttend a professional development workshop on communication skills
- Arrange necessary transportation and accommodation
- Research and select a relevant communication skills workshop
- Register for the chosen workshop
OKRs to develop a high-quality, effective OKR training presentation
- ObjectiveDevelop a high-quality, effective OKR training presentation
- KRCreate a comprehensive outline for the presentation within the first two weeks
- Organize these points into a clear, cohesive structure
- Develop the full presentation outline from this structure
- Identify key points to present in the meeting
- KRGather relevant, engaging materials and examples for at least 75% of outlined topics
- Collect practical examples for 75% of topics
- Review and organize all gathered materials
- Identify engaging materials relevant to outlined topics
- KRPilot test presentation and incorporate feedback from at least five industry professionals
- Create and finalize the pilot test presentation
- Incorporate feedback into the final version
- Present it to five industry professionals
How to write your own Professional Development 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.
Professional Development 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 Professional Development 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
We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.
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 Professional Development OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to deliver an excellent product with seamless usability
- OKRs to enhance team cross-functionality's overall performance
- OKRs to successfully complete the GPU component
- OKRs to decommission all identified systems by 2024
- OKRs to become a proficient Front End technical lead
- OKRs to enhance engineering team's productivity