Roadmaps & OKRs
A template for defining business objectives and measurable key results that form the foundation of your product roadmap.
Start by creating your 2.2 Roadmaps and OKRs. Our initial list is essentially our catalogue of business objectives we plan to attain, and the key results that clearly state how we will measure success. It will likely continue to grow as the team continues to iterate.
Then, we leverage the roadmaps and OKRs in brainstorming sessions to further inform our business capabilities and functions.
Objectives and key results
In this activity, we’ll refine our business objectives where necessary and create our key results, stated as measurable outcomes. We’ll use the combined objectives and key results as the foundation for our roadmap moving forward. Just keep in mind:
- Objectives are qualitative while key results must be measurable and quantitative.
- Roadmaps are short-term and focus on specific outcomes (not tasks).
An OKR should be a clearly stated objective followed by at least one supporting key result. You can have as many key results as needed to achieve the objective, but having more than five to seven probably indicates your objective is too broad. You might want to refine it — breaking it into several different objectives. If we create objectives that are too big, it becomes hard to prioritize and deliver manageable increments of the system.
The key result is most effective when stated together with the objective, using a format such as, “we will [objective] as measured by [key result].”
Example
| Objective | Function | Key result |
|---|---|---|
| Reduce the number of data errors in the system | Order management | P1 As measured by reducing the number of orders that cannot be fulfilled automatically to less than 1% of all orders in a given day |
| Data cleaning | P3 As measured by reducing the number of data quality errors reported to the support desk from 20 per day to no more than 1 per week |
Roadmap
| Objective | Function | Key result |
|---|---|---|
| Business objective or capability | Functional grouping | P1Measurable definition of key result. P2Measurable definition of key result. |
| Functional grouping | P3Measurable definition of key result. |