OKR vs. Task: How OKRs Are Different From Task Management?

Sep 26, 2022
OKR vs. Task: How OKRs Are Different From Task Management?

Organizations frequently mistake tasks for OKRs when creating them. Although it is simple to comprehend why someone unfamiliar with the OKR architecture may think so, it is essential to comprehend the distinction between OKRs and Tasks. Many organizations struggle to make this distinction and thus perceive their OKRs as unsatisfactory.

What are OKRs?

Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs. They are objectives that a business hopes to accomplish. Instead of being employed for business-as-usual operations, they are typically used to reach a stretch objective or a significant, primary aim. This is because they frequently present difficulties and bring about change.

After a quarter, OKRs are often assessed to determine their effectiveness. Your objective is the goal you have when using OKRs. What you desire to do is what it is.

This might take the form of “increasing client satisfaction during our delivery procedure,” for instance. Key Results are the tangible, attainable results that show you how to achieve your goals. The identical example’s Key Results can resemble the following:

  • Items delivered in 3 days instead of 1 day.
  • 90% of customer concerns should be answered right away.

While your primary target typically remains constant, you should constantly assess and update your Key Results based on their performance.

What are Tasks?

To accomplish your goal, you must complete numerous tasks (and possibly numerous projects), yet activities themselves cannot tell you whether you are acting appropriately. You are merely performing them. What is right or what is right for your business, or what is most important for your organization this quarter, is revealed by your OKR goals.

Hence, a task is what you do! You do not want to obtain this outcome after the quarter; it is not a result. In contrast to tasks, goals (such as OKR goals) are outcomes and results. Therefore, at its most basic level, a task is merely an action; to finish a project, you must perform several tasks or activities. And every project has a lot of tasks. Then, to accomplish the objective, you will need to complete a variety of projects throughout the quarter.

Tasks typically involve daily activities on to-do lists, such as responding to company-wide emails and scheduling team meetings.

To get the highest performance and overall alignment of company goals throughout your organization, it is crucial to define the differences between tasks, projects, and OKRs. Employees must accomplish little tasks every day, all the time.

How Are OKRs Different From Task Management?

Tasks are something you carry out. It is what will assist you get there, even though it is not the same as the objective you wish to reach. Your ability to fulfill the objectives you establish using OKRs rests on obtaining the Key Results. Task completion is the only way to attain the Key Results.

A task is a single activity you carry out, although it frequently takes several tasks to finish a single work or project. The completion of numerous projects will therefore be required to meet the OKR objectives. In an OKR, there is just one goal, though. You can accomplish one main goal by completing all of these minor tasks.

Tasks are distinct from the actual OKR process. Senior-level managers are typically unable to keep track of every work that employees are assigned in most firms. However, it is possible to create more expansive, higher-level objectives with OKRs. These prove that workers are fulfilling their assigned jobs if they are met.

One of the most common misconceptions is that tasks and key results in an OKR are the same. That is untrue.

This error is simple to commit because different actions must be completed to accomplish the Key Results. The accomplishment of each of these particular duties aids a business in achieving its Key Results.

Conclusion

You must obtain the Key Results to accomplish your objectives. It would help if you had a strategy and tactics to help you achieve the Key Results.

Here lies the importance of completing tasks. Consequently, putting both into practice (completion of tasks and OKRs) can assist you in achieving your Objectives. Companies that break down work into OKRs are those that exceed their targets.

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