9 customisable OKR examples for Engineering Manager
What are Engineering Manager OKRs?
The OKR acronym stands for Objectives and Key Results. It's a goal-setting framework that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s, and it became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s. OKRs helps teams has a shared language to set ambitious goals and track progress towards them.
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 Manager. 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.
Building your own Engineering Manager OKRs with AI
While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.
Feel free to explore our tools:
- Use our free OKR generator
- Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives, including a GPT-4 powered goal generator
Our customisable Engineering Manager OKRs examples
We've added many examples of Engineering Manager 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!
1. OKRs to allocate resources to refactor high-priority tech debt
Reduce technical debt by allocating resources effectively
Implement best practices to avoid future high-priority tech debt accumulation
Achieve a reduction in high-priority tech debt items by 25%
Establish a clear plan for refactoring high-priority tech debt items
Prioritize high-priority tech debt items for resource allocation
2. OKRs to reduce critical tech debt by 50% in six months
Minimize tech debt
Develop a plan of action to address targeted tech debt items
Prioritize critical tech debt items
Conduct a thorough tech debt analysis
Implement new development standards to prevent tech debt accumulation
3. OKRs to enhance workflow efficiency and productivity
Enhance workflow efficiency and productivity
Implement 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
Reduce 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
Increase 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
4. OKRs to achieve optimal efficiency in engineering operations
Achieve optimal efficiency in engineering operations
Lower engineering error rates by 10% through enhanced quality control measures
Regularly monitor and review error reports
Conduct regular training for quality control measures
Implement rigorous testing protocols for every engineering process
Reduce operation downtime by 20% through improved preventative maintenance procedures
Implement strict equipment servicing and inspection schedules
Develop detailed preventative maintenance protocols
Train personnel in efficient troubleshooting techniques
Increase operational efficiency by 15% via process improvement initiatives
Implement new strategies to streamline processes
Regularly assess and adjust improvements for optimal efficiency
Identify inefficiencies in current operational procedures
5. OKRs to eliminate high-risk tech debt over the next year
Reduce high-risk tech debt to improve system stability
Conduct a thorough analysis to measure the impact of eliminating each high-risk tech debt item
Outline and prioritize initiatives to eliminate each high-risk tech debt item
Complete the elimination of at least 50% of high-risk tech debt items
Identify top 10 high-risk tech debt items
6. OKRs to build a robust data pipeline utilizing existing tools
Build a robust data pipeline utilizing existing tools
Successfully test and deploy the data pipeline with zero critical defects by the end of week 10
Deploy the final pipeline by week 10
Thoroughly debug and test the data pipeline
Fix identified issues before end of week 9
Identify and document 100% of necessary features and tools by the end of week 2
Review product requirements and existing toolsets
Conduct brainstorming sessions for necessary features
Document all identified features and tools
Achieve 75% completion of the data pipeline design and construction by week 6
Continually review and improve design stages for efficiency
Allocate resources for swift pipeline design and construction
Establish milestones and monitor progress each week
7. OKRs to improve system availability to achieve 999% uptime
Increase system uptime
Improve system redundancy and failover capabilities
Use load balancing to distribute traffic across multiple servers
Create backup systems in different geographic locations
Regularly test failover and recovery processes
Implement automated failover mechanisms
Implement proactive system monitoring
Regularly review system metrics and identify areas for improvement
Define and create alerts for critical system events
Develop a process for reviewing and responding to alerts
Set up monitoring tools for infrastructure
Increase system performance by 25%
Upgrade hardware and software components as per audit recommendations
Conduct a system audit to identify bottlenecks and inefficient processes
Optimize system settings and configurations to reduce resource consumption
Implement a system monitoring and alert system to minimize downtime
Decrease unplanned downtime by 50%
Conduct regular equipment inspections
Increase spare parts inventory
Improve operator training on equipment maintenance
Implement predictive maintenance program
8. OKRs to improve satisfaction and find improvements for engineering stakeholders
Improve satisfaction and find improvements for engineering stakeholders
Identify and initiate 3 actionable improvement opportunities from stakeholder feedback
Analyze feedback for actionable improvement opportunities
Formulate 3 improvement initiatives and implement plans
Gather and categorize feedback from all stakeholders
Increase stakeholder satisfaction rate by 25% as measured by quarterly surveys
Develop a comprehensive customer feedback system
Implement regular training sessions for customer service
Enhance communication between teams and stakeholders
Reduce issue resolution time by 20% to boost stakeholder content
Invest in regular team training to improve technical skills
Enhance team communication for quick problem identification and resolution
Implement efficient project management tools for faster issue tracking
9. OKRs to improve software engineering skills through effective time management
Improve software engineering skills through effective time management
Increase the number of completed coding tasks by 20% each week
Identify and address any obstacles or challenges that may hinder coding task completion
Enhance collaboration and communication among team members for efficient task completion
Provide regular feedback and support to assist in completing coding tasks
Set clear and achievable coding task goals for each team member
Improve adherence to project deadlines by delivering work on time in 90% of cases
Implement effective communication strategies to address obstacles and ensure timely completion
Set clear and realistic deadlines for each project task
Prioritize tasks and create a detailed schedule to ensure timely delivery
Regularly track progress and provide updates to stakeholders to maintain accountability
Reduce time spent on non-essential activities by 15% during work hours
Set specific time limits for non-essential tasks to ensure efficient completion
Prioritize and eliminate non-essential activities based on their impact and importance
Identify non-essential activities taking up significant time during work hours
Regularly assess and adjust the allocation of time to non-essential activities as needed
Attend and actively participate in at least 2 time management workshops or webinars
Research and identify 2 time management workshops or webinars
Apply the learned time management techniques in daily activities for improved efficiency
Take thorough notes during the workshops or webinars for future reference
Register for the selected workshops or webinars to secure a spot
Engineering Manager OKR best practices to boost success
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.
![Tability Insights Dashboard](https://tability-templates-v2.vercel.app/_next/static/media/tability-insights-board.e70f9466.png)
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.
![Tability Insights Dashboard](https://tability-templates-v2.vercel.app/_next/static/media/checkins-graph.b2aec458.png)
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 turn your Engineering Manager OKRs in a strategy map
OKRs without regular progress updates are just KPIs. You'll need to update progress on your OKRs every week to get the full benefits from the 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 a proper OKR platform to make things easier.
![A strategy map in Tability](https://tability-templates-v2.vercel.app/_next/static/media/tability_strategy_map.2ad25843.png)
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 Engineering Manager OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
OKRs to enhance customer experience in Car Rental booking
OKRs to enhance soft skill proficiency for effective project documentation
OKRs to enhance warehouse inbound efficiency and accuracy
OKRs to achieve promotion to an executive position
OKRs to increase lead generation from organic and paid social media outlets
OKRs to increase player base by 20%
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: What is the meaning of OKRs
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples
Create more examples in our app
You can use Tability to create OKRs with AI – and keep yourself accountable 👀
Tability is a unique goal-tracking platform built to save hours at work and help teams stay on top of their goals.
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