15 customisable OKR examples for Skill Development
What are Skill 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.
Writing good OKRs can be hard, especially if it's your first time doing it. You'll need to center the focus of your plans around outcomes instead of projects.
We understand that setting OKRs can be challenging, so we have prepared a set of examples tailored for Skill Development. Take a peek at the templates below to find inspiration and kickstart your goal-setting process.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Building your own Skill Development 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 Skill Development OKRs examples
We've added many examples of Skill Development 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 boost employee skills development by 20% with minimal budget
Boost employee skills development by 20% with minimal budget
Achieve 85% employee completion of online, self-guided courses
Implement regular email reminders for course completion
Establish incentives for employees who complete courses
Develop engaging, relevant content for online courses
Implement cost-effective, peer-led training programs for 75% of employees
Select a diverse group of employees to undergo leadership training
Assess current training programs and identify areas for peer-led instruction
Develop and launch peer-led training sessions for selected employees
Increase internal mentorship partnerships by 30% to promote skills transfer
Implement a promotional campaign for mentorship program
Establish incentives for participating in mentorship
Identify potential skilled mentors within the organization
2. OKRs to establish a comprehensive skills marketplace
Establish a comprehensive skills marketplace
Develop a catalog with 100+ diverse training modules by end of quarter
Identify topics spanning across various industries for training modules
Compile and organize the training modules into a catalog
Design and develop the individual training modules
Host 15 professional development events engaging 500+ users
Identify potential speakers and topics for professional development events
Launch comprehensive marketing campaign to attract 500+ users
Secure venues and setup registration for each event
Create a user-friendly knowledge base with 1000+ articles sourced and organized
Design a user-friendly interface for the knowledge base
Categorize and organize the sourced articles
Identify and source relevant articles for the knowledge base
3. OKRs to enhance my soft skills competency
Enhance my soft skills competency
Complete a recognized soft skills course with a score of 80% or higher
Research and select a recognized soft skills course
Take the course exam aiming for 80% score
Regularly study the course material
Receive a 20% improvement in feedback scores on leadership and empathy
Schedule one-on-one mentoring sessions regularly
Implement weekly round-table discussions for feedback
Attend leadership and emotional intelligence workshops
Successfully lead one team project displaying improved collaboration and communication
Utilize collaboration tools like Asana or Slack
Assign clear roles to each team member
Implement regular team meetings for open communication
4. OKRs to enhance communication skills and overcome shyness
Enhance communication skills and overcome shyness
Attend two networking events every month to interact with diverse individuals
Schedule two networking events into personal calendar
Research local networking events happening nearby
Regularly engage and interact with attendees during events
Complete an online course in public speaking or interpersonal communication skills
Find and enroll in a relevant online public speaking course
Successfully complete and pass all course evaluations and exams
Actively participate in all course activities and assignments
Engage in weekly activities requiring public speaking or initiating conversation with strangers
Strike up conversation with a new person in a public place daily
Volunteer to present at weekly community meetings or events
Enroll in a local weekly debate club or toastmaster session
5. OKRs to expand organizational size and personnel capabilities
Expand organizational size and personnel capabilities
Implement 100% training for all new hires within their first week
Develop comprehensive training program for all new hires
Schedule training sessions within first week of employment
Monitor and assess new hires' progress post-training
Increase total staff by 10% through strategic recruitment
Identify necessary roles to fill for 10% staff increase
Begin implementing recruitment plan to attract new hires
Develop a strategic recruitment plan targeting these roles
Achieve 15% more workload efficiency through advanced training and development programs
Enroll team in relevant advanced training programs
Identify critical performance gaps in current workload handling
Periodically measure efficiency improvements post-training
6. OKRs to launch data-centric beta marketplace
Launch data-centric beta marketplace
Secure 20+ varied data products and services for marketplace launch
Develop and conduct a robust security review before launch
Identify and list potential data products and services for marketplace availability
Initiate partnerships or contracts with selected data product providers
Create and deliver 5 skills building programs for marketplace users
Develop detailed curriculum for each program
Schedule and facilitate skill-building sessions
Identify required skills for marketplace users
Finalize and test platform features, ensuring 98% operational uptime
Conduct comprehensive testing of all platform features
Implement necessary updates and fixes for identified issues
Monitor and ensure 98% platform operational uptime
7. OKRs to improve leadership skills and knowledge
Enhance Leadership Skills and Knowledge
Apply leadership principles by successfully leading a high-impact project or team
Delegate responsibilities based on individual strengths to optimize efficiency and productivity
Set clear goals and objectives for the project or team
Foster a positive and inclusive team culture, promoting collaboration and celebrating achievements
Communicate effectively and regularly with the team to ensure alignment and progress
Engage in regular mentoring or coaching sessions to receive guidance and feedback on leadership development
Set up regular mentoring/coaching sessions with a trusted leader or professional coach
Implement the advice and recommendations received during mentoring/coaching sessions into daily leadership practices
Prepare questions or topics to discuss during mentoring/coaching sessions on leadership development
Actively listen and take notes during mentoring/coaching sessions to absorb guidance and feedback
Complete a leadership training course covering key leadership principles and strategies
Enroll in the chosen leadership training course and schedule all required sessions
Apply learned leadership principles and strategies in daily work and reflect on their effectiveness
Research and find a suitable leadership training course with key principles
Actively participate in the leadership training course, taking notes and engaging with instructors
Acquire at least three new leadership books and read them to gain further insight
Allocate dedicated time each day to read at least one chapter from the books
Research and compile a list of highly recommended leadership books
Purchase three leadership books from the compiled list
Take notes and jot down key insights or lessons learned from each book
8. OKRs to enhance and refine presentation skills
Enhance and refine presentation skills
Deliver 10 presentations, receiving above 80% positive feedback each time
Request and analyze feedback for improvement
Develop engaging content for 10 distinct presentations
Practice presenting to ensure effective delivery
Successfully complete a professional public speaking and presentation skills course
Enroll in a reputable public speaking course
Practice skills learned and incorporate feedback
Regularly participate in all course activities
Participate in local Toastmasters club meetings twice a month to practice and receive feedback
Attend two Toastmasters meetings per month
Engage and ask for constructive feedback
Identify local Toastmasters clubs and their meeting schedules
9. OKRs to enhance individual skill set through learning and development
Enhance individual skill set through learning and development
Complete four online courses relevant to my field
Submit all required coursework and successfully pass each course
Identify and enroll in four online courses related to my field
Regularly attend all scheduled virtual classes and tutorials
Achieve 85% or higher on post-training quizzes
Dedicate daily study time specifically for learning content
Seek clarification on any topics that appear confusing
Review all training materials before attempting quizzes
Implement learned skills in one live project successfully
Plan the process incorporating these skills into the project
Identify a live project where newly acquired skills apply
Execute the plan, monitoring progress and adjusting as necessary
10. OKRs to enhance and exemplify effective leadership skills
Enhance and exemplify effective leadership skills
Lead a team project, achieving goals within outlined budget and time constraints
Regularly monitor progress and adjust strategies if needed
Develop a detailed, efficient budget plan
Establish clear project objectives and timeline
Gather 360° feedback from 10 colleagues to identify and improve leadership weaknesses
Identify 10 colleagues for feedback collection
Analyze feedback and create an improvement plan
Prepare a 360-degree feedback survey
Complete a recognized leadership training course with a score above 85%
Aim to achieve assessment scores above 85%
Plan and maintain regular study schedule
Research and enroll in a reputable leadership training course
11. OKRs to enhance talent retention strategies
Enhance talent retention strategies
Implement training programs to improve skills of at least 75% of the employees
Implement and monitor said training programs
Develop appropriate training programs in those areas
Identify areas of skill deficiency among employees
Increase employee engagement scores by 15% through enhanced communication strategies
Introduce an open-door policy for improved cross-level communication
Conduct regular, structured feedback sessions to address employee concerns
Implement weekly team meetings to discuss objectives and progress
Reduce staff turnover by 10% by implementing a comprehensive employee satisfaction program
Implement feedback from satisfaction surveys
Develop an employee satisfaction program
Conduct regular employee satisfaction surveys
12. OKRs to achieve unprecedented effectiveness and success in testing methods
Achieve unprecedented effectiveness and success in testing methods
Implement a testing system to improve accuracy by 30%
Develop a testing process based on these inaccuracies
Incorporate feedback loop to continually enhance the system
Identify existing inaccuracies in the current system
Conduct 2 training sessions weekly to enhance team members' testing skills
Develop relevant testing skill modules for team training
Send reminders and materials for scheduled sessions to team
Organize weekly schedule to slot in two training sessions
Minimize error percentage to below 5% via rigorous repeated testing initiatives
Review and continuously improve testing methodologies
Implement repetitive testing for all features
Develop a comprehensive software testing protocol
13. OKRs to enhance cross-functional collaboration in team
Enhance cross-functional collaboration in team
Increase the team's cross-functional skills by 30% by offering relevant training
Identify necessary cross-functional skills for team improvement
Implement regular skill development trainings
Find suitable training programs for these skills
Conduct minimum 3 team-building activities promoting inter-department collaboration each week
Identify suitable inter-department team-building activities
Schedule these activities for each week
Ensure each department's participation
Reduce project completion time by 15% through improving cross-functional performance
Implement collaborative software for seamless cross-functional communication
Streamline workflows across different departments
Provide training to improve cross-functional teamwork
14. OKRs to enhance team cross-functionality's overall performance
Enhance team cross-functionality's overall performance
Increase team's cross-functional tasks completion rate by 30%
Implement a cross-training program to boost overall team skillsets
Develop detailed workflow charts to clarify task ownership and deadline
Promote reward mechanism for successful cross-functional task completions
Implement and run bi-weekly cross-functional team meetings for project updates and learning
Prepare update presentations for each meeting
Organise learning activities for sessions
Schedule recurring bi-weekly cross-functional team meetings
Provide cross-training to all team members on at least two different skills
Monitor team’s progress and give feedback
Identify necessary skills for cross-training within the team
Organize cross-training sessions for different skill sets
15. OKRs to improve leadership skills
Become a more effective leader
Get better at running 1:1s with the team
Develop a plan for regular team check-ins
Practice active listening techniques
Hold virtual meetings with clear agendas
Establish a team feedback system
Delegate 20% of current responsibilities to the team
Complete 4h of training on communication and collaboration
Read at least 2 books on leadership theories and concepts
Attend a workshop or seminar on leadership
Participate in a leadership development program
Research and analyze successful leadership examples
Skill Development 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
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.
![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
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.
![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 Skill Development OKRs in a strategy map
Quarterly OKRs should have weekly updates to get all the 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
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.
![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 Skill Development OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
OKRs to establish an effective goal-setting framework
OKRs to strengthen overall company cybersecurity knowledge and protocol compliance
OKRs to to Increase productivity in financial statement preparation process
OKRs to hire top-level Senior UX Researcher
OKRs to attain Problem-Solution Fit via Customer Development
OKRs to launch machine learning product on website
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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