10 OKR examples for It Development Team

What are It Development Team 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.

Formulating strong OKRs can be a complex endeavor, particularly for first-timers. Prioritizing outcomes over projects is crucial when developing your plans.

We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for It Development Team 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.

3 tools to create the perfect It Development Team OKRs

Turn your vision into great OKRs in seconds with Tability

While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here.

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.

Already got goals? Use AI feedback to optimise your OKRs

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 OKRs

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.

You can then decide to accept the suggestions or dismiss them if you don't agree.

Need a quick template? 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.

Our It Development Team OKRs examples

You'll find below a list of Objectives and Key Results templates for It Development Team. We also included strategic projects for each template to make it easier to understand the difference between key results and projects.

Hope you'll find this helpful!

1. OKRs to implement replacement of privilege access management tools

2. OKRs to certify in development using JTA, Blueprint, Item writing & peer reviews

3. OKRs to develop a comprehensive IT upskilling program for colleagues

4. OKRs to enhance proficiency in handling and developing AWS

5. OKRs to accelerate the frequency of software deployment

6. OKRs to successfully migrate on-premises infrastructure to cloud service

7. OKRs to simplify API architecture and retire outdated assets

8. OKRs to optimize ManageEngine for efficient patching and software deployment

9. OKRs to efficiently eliminate the existing datacenter to minimize costs

10. OKRs to enhance usability and efficiency of the internal development platform

It 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

Focus can only be achieve by limiting the number of competing priorities. It is crucial that you take the time to identify where you need to move the needle, and avoid adding business-as-usual activities to your 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

Having good goals is only half the effort. You'll get significant more value from your OKRs if you commit to a weekly check-in process.

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 It Development Team OKRs

Your quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly in order 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 a proper OKR platform to make things easier.

Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

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.