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Succeeding with OKRs in Agile: How to create & deliver objectives & key results for teams
OKRs are about goals bigger than the next story. OKRs prioritise purpose and strategy over backlogs.
Does your agile team get lead astray by burning fires? Do you struggle to keep your agile team focused?
Do you feel the need for more than just doing the top of the backlog every two weeks?
Are you using, or want to use, OKRs with an agile team?
Then this is the book for you! Acclaimed author, Allan Kelly, has written a short guide to OKRs, writing them, organizing to deliver and the pitfalls. Allan is the author of multiple books on agile and has given advice and training for over 10 years. Now he turns his attention to OKRs.
In this book he doesn't try to sell OKRs - others can tell you why they are great. Allan describes his practical experience working with an agile team adopting OKRs, day-by-day, quarter-by-quarter.
Allan’s advice be really specific in setting goals, involve the whole team in setting OKRs, think broad when setting then execute narrowly, set analogue not binary OKRs and, most controversially, throw away your backlog and let OKRs drive everything you do.
Initially skeptical about OKRs, Allan found them a good fit with agile; OKRs became an effective means of focus teams, exposing problems, communicating with senior managers and a powerful means of asking bigger questions about product strategy and value.
OKRs and agile work well together because they are both outcome oriented and results focused. When used right OKR's give power and authority to teams - one could even say OKRs create test first management. Yet OKRs can be a double edge-sword, used poorly they can re-introduce command-and-control and hinder agile working. Allan addresses problems with predictability, aspirations, culture, targets and annual reviews.
"Easy read, super useful book for my current context at work right now!" @c_combe on Twitter
"I especially like the honest portrayal of top-down MBO OKR-setting and its problems. And providing tips on how to go about using OKRs in a different way." @anttiki
"I recommend heartily and have done so openly on the book seller’s site - brilliant, balanced and lived experience and feedback from Allan" @rj_number_one
"Initially, I was thinking to join some OKR training but honestly felt this book is good enough to get one on the right path!" @ProdScrumMaster
This is absolutely brilliant book. If you really wants to learn more regarding OKR in Agile and other important stuff related to it you must read this book. It's truly a master piece. Author had provided excellent examples and explained everything in a detailed regarding OKR that anyone can easily understand. I really enjoyed reading this book and found it very interesting and informative. I strongly recommend to read this book.
- Amazon Review - N Mehta
Having read other books that argue strongly for OKRs as a panacea to achieve a high-performing organisation, the perspectives here from Allan are balanced, informed by lived experience and provide patterns and anti-patterns to watch for. Insightful and powerful - thank you Allan for sharing such well-considered feedback.
- Amazon Review - Richard James
Does your agile team get lead astray by burning fires? Do you struggle to keep your agile team focused?
Do you feel the need for more than just doing the top of the backlog every two weeks?
Are you using, or want to use, OKRs with an agile team?
Then this is the book for you! Acclaimed author, Allan Kelly, has written a short guide to OKRs, writing them, organizing to deliver and the pitfalls. Allan is the author of multiple books on agile and has given advice and training for over 10 years. Now he turns his attention to OKRs.
In this book he doesn't try to sell OKRs - others can tell you why they are great. Allan describes his practical experience working with an agile team adopting OKRs, day-by-day, quarter-by-quarter.
Allan’s advice be really specific in setting goals, involve the whole team in setting OKRs, think broad when setting then execute narrowly, set analogue not binary OKRs and, most controversially, throw away your backlog and let OKRs drive everything you do.
Initially skeptical about OKRs, Allan found them a good fit with agile; OKRs became an effective means of focus teams, exposing problems, communicating with senior managers and a powerful means of asking bigger questions about product strategy and value.
OKRs and agile work well together because they are both outcome oriented and results focused. When used right OKR's give power and authority to teams - one could even say OKRs create test first management. Yet OKRs can be a double edge-sword, used poorly they can re-introduce command-and-control and hinder agile working. Allan addresses problems with predictability, aspirations, culture, targets and annual reviews.
"Easy read, super useful book for my current context at work right now!" @c_combe on Twitter
"I especially like the honest portrayal of top-down MBO OKR-setting and its problems. And providing tips on how to go about using OKRs in a different way." @anttiki
"I recommend heartily and have done so openly on the book seller’s site - brilliant, balanced and lived experience and feedback from Allan" @rj_number_one
"Initially, I was thinking to join some OKR training but honestly felt this book is good enough to get one on the right path!" @ProdScrumMaster
This is absolutely brilliant book. If you really wants to learn more regarding OKR in Agile and other important stuff related to it you must read this book. It's truly a master piece. Author had provided excellent examples and explained everything in a detailed regarding OKR that anyone can easily understand. I really enjoyed reading this book and found it very interesting and informative. I strongly recommend to read this book.
- Amazon Review - N Mehta
Having read other books that argue strongly for OKRs as a panacea to achieve a high-performing organisation, the perspectives here from Allan are balanced, informed by lived experience and provide patterns and anti-patterns to watch for. Insightful and powerful - thank you Allan for sharing such well-considered feedback.
- Amazon Review - Richard James
- GenresBusinessManagement
209 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2021
40 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Allan Kelly
21 books16 followersAllan Kelly has held just about every job in the software world, from system admin to development manager by way of programmer and product manager. Today he works helping teams adopt and deepen Agile practices, and writing far too much. He specialises in working with software product companies and aligning products and processes with company strategy.
He is the author of three books: "Xanpan - reflections on agile and software development" (https://leanpub.com/xanpan), "Business Patterns for Software Developers" and “Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile”; the originator of Retrospective Dialogue Sheets (http://www.dialoguesheets.com), a regular conference speaker and frequent contributor to journals.
More about Allan at http://www.allankelly.net and on Twitter as @allankellynet (http://twitter.com/allankellynet).
He is the author of three books: "Xanpan - reflections on agile and software development" (https://leanpub.com/xanpan), "Business Patterns for Software Developers" and “Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile”; the originator of Retrospective Dialogue Sheets (http://www.dialoguesheets.com), a regular conference speaker and frequent contributor to journals.
More about Allan at http://www.allankelly.net and on Twitter as @allankellynet (http://twitter.com/allankellynet).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 10, 2021
I give a five star review if I believe that I will re-read or repeatedly refer back to a book and I am likely to recommend it to colleagues as essential reading.
Allan Kelly takes us on a logical and comprehensive journey through the whys and wherefores of OKRs, including some of the off-the-wall humour that we have come to expect of him.
My reading of this book was, as always, very active – my copy is full of high-lights and I wrote out 27 pages of A4 notes. As such it is rather difficult to distil down what I particularly liked about it. In the closing section of the book, AK states that he has written the book he wishes he had when he started his OKR journey. I am grateful that he has done so, as this is a truly excellent spring-board for the rest of us.
Allan Kelly takes us on a logical and comprehensive journey through the whys and wherefores of OKRs, including some of the off-the-wall humour that we have come to expect of him.
My reading of this book was, as always, very active – my copy is full of high-lights and I wrote out 27 pages of A4 notes. As such it is rather difficult to distil down what I particularly liked about it. In the closing section of the book, AK states that he has written the book he wishes he had when he started his OKR journey. I am grateful that he has done so, as this is a truly excellent spring-board for the rest of us.
May 14, 2023
A good pretty compendium, but one that still leaves some questions open for me as the author didn't really have long term experience with OKRs. Mainly this book seems to be a good choice understanding OKRs as the other books seem not great too. I would have liked more methodical guidelines, which are not common in this book.
I heard the Englisch audiobook where I didn't like the reading so much, so I might get the real book as this is still a very good compendium.
I heard the Englisch audiobook where I didn't like the reading so much, so I might get the real book as this is still a very good compendium.
February 20, 2021
OKRs brought to life beautifully as a lived journey
Having read other books that argue strongly for OKRs as a panacea to achieve a high-performing organisation, the perspectives here from Allan are balanced, informed by lived experience and provide patterns and anti-patterns to watch for. Insightful and powerful - thank you Allan for sharing such well-considered feedback.
Having read other books that argue strongly for OKRs as a panacea to achieve a high-performing organisation, the perspectives here from Allan are balanced, informed by lived experience and provide patterns and anti-patterns to watch for. Insightful and powerful - thank you Allan for sharing such well-considered feedback.
December 28, 2022
A very good read on OKR and has some great actionable advices. Specially liked the suggestions on how to handle BAUs and Tech debts.
A chapter on how to and how not to frame OKRs would have been great addition. Even after reading this book I am not sure if I know any better on how to frame OKRs. However recommend this book for tech teams and product managers/owners.
A chapter on how to and how not to frame OKRs would have been great addition. Even after reading this book I am not sure if I know any better on how to frame OKRs. However recommend this book for tech teams and product managers/owners.
February 11, 2022
Liked it.
October 31, 2022
This book gives advice how to make OKR work with sprints and backlogs and how to incorporate it in daily wok.
March 13, 2022
Good book if you want to learn what OKRs are all about.
December 28, 2022
I bought and read this book very quickly. Agile and OKRs are two very powerful, contemporary tools for effective project management. Allan Kelly gets to grips with some of the key opportunities and concerns in this short and to the book text.
I use highlights a lot and when I was - as in this case feverishly marking stuff in the first few pages I knew it was the right book at the right time.
I use highlights a lot and when I was - as in this case feverishly marking stuff in the first few pages I knew it was the right book at the right time.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews