What to Present for (OKR) Objectives & Key Results Standups

Foster success with team alignment and feedback management during your OKR standups.

January 3, 2023
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How would you describe your job to a five year old?
What season would you be?
What is a weird food you have tried? Would you eat it again?
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Would you go in the mother-ship with aliens if they landed on Earth tomorrow?
What is your favorite season?
Do prefer working from home or the office?
What is your earliest memory of this job?
What is the best thing you have bought so far this year?
What is the earliest book you remember?
If you had to move to another country, which one would you choose?
You are the best criminal mastermind in the world. What crime would you commit if you knew you would get away with it?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
What was the last thing you ate?
What person from history would you add to Mount Rushmore?
What is a weird fact you know?
What is your favorite part of working from home?
Were the Spice Girls a good team?
Imagine you can instantly learn any language. Which would you choose?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Which fictional team is the best team of all time?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What do you usually eat for a quick lunch?
What simple food will you never eat?
Show us the weirdest thing you have in the room with you right now.
Would you rather stay at a hotel or an AirBNB?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
Are you more productive in the morning or at night?
Who is someone in your community that makes a difference?
Who was your most unique pet?
Choose one famous person from history you want on your team during a zombie apocalypse.
What is a good way to give back to the community?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
Is Hugh Grant funny?
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Would you want to have an imaginary friend today? Did you have one as a child?
What actor or actress would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
What is the best super power?
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You can only eat one food again for the rest of your life. What is it?
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Would you rather join Metallica or Backstreet Boys?
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Show us your phone background and tell the story behind why you picked this image.
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Pick any band to play at your funeral.
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Which superpower would you give to your arch enemy?
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What emoji best describes how you are feeling right now?
If you could live in any country, which country would you pick?
Would you rather live in a city or a town?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is something you accomplished as part of a team?
What is your standard office lunch?
What is your most used phone app?
What is your favorite season?
Have you ever won something as a team?
Imagine you are a professional baseball player. What is your introduction song?
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Have you ever been to a funny comedy show?
Would you rather live at the North Pole or the South Pole?
What is your favorite song to sing?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
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What was the last thing you ate?
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What movie defined your generation?
You are stranded on a remote desert island. Are you alone or with your worst enemy?
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Have you ever told someone Santa is not real?
Do you know how to speak more than one language?
On a scale of 1 – 10, how much of a team player are you?
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
What is your favorite holiday?
What bucket list item do you most want to check off in the next six months?
What is your favorite mythical creature?
What was the first way you made money?
If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
When did you start liking/hating mushrooms?
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Do you take your PTO all at one time, or another way?
Which show do you remember most from your childhood?
Which beverage goes best with pizza?
Would you want to have a personal assistant follow you around everywhere and do what you asked of them?
Have you ever met your idol?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Would you rather live 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
What is your hobby?
When you are alone in the car, what volume is the music at?
Imagine you no longer have to work. How would you spend a Tuesday?
What is your favorite type of sandwich?

Looking for a way to improve alignment on objectives, encourage clear communication within your team, and optimize success? OKR standups are your best bet. 

These regular OKR check-ins are necessary for a successful OKR cycle. They keep the team focused, aligned, and accountable.

But how exactly do OKR standups work, what should you present, and how can you channel insights from the meeting to improve your OKR goals? Read on to find out.

What Is An OKR Standup?

An OKR standup is a short meeting (about 25-20 minutes) where you and your team can reflect on the progress of team OKRs and adjust priorities and objectives where necessary. This structured way of having OKR discussions is vital to implementing the Objectives and Key Results methodology.

OKR standups are similar to daily standups, but one should not be used to replace the other. Just as daily standups are touchpoints for ensuring that your team’s task management is on track, OKR standups ensure that your team’s strategic objectives are on point.

What Is The Goal Of An OKR Standup? 

An effective OKR standup goes beyond ‘standing up’. The main goal is to keep everyone aligned. By having every team member know what everyone else is working on, they can all be on the same page and work in synergy. This also ensures that everyone is making adequate progress on tasks and deliverables. With OKR standups, managers can ensure that each individual is accountable for their goals and objectives.

Another goal of an OKR standup is to improve communication within the team. It creates an opportunity for everyone to share feedback, ask questions, and suggest solutions to blockers. This also helps keep the team focused on achieving key results.

What Information Should You Present At Your OKR Standup?

  1. Progress towards achieving the objectives: This includes any updates on the tasks or milestones completed, as well as any challenges or roadblocks encountered.
  1. Impact of the OKR results on the team's work: It is important to share any insights or learnings from the OKR results, as well as how they may impact the team's work moving forward.

  2. Any blockers or issues: Share any blockers or issues that may be impacting your ability to achieve your OKR objectives, so that the team can work together to find solutions.
  1. Next steps for the OKR: This includes any action items or tasks that need to be completed to continue progressing towards the objectives.
  1. Questions or concerns: If there are any questions or concerns about the OKR results, this is the time to address them and ensure that the team is aligned and moving forward.

How often should you hold OKR standups? 

Unlike daily standups, OKR standups do not need to hold every day. Depending on the length of the OKR cycle, you can have your standups weekly or once every two weeks. This will give ample time to team members to work on their assigned tasks and record progress on each goal. It’ll also ensure that the meeting is not repetitive, monotonous, or boring. 

How often should you check in on OKRs?

It is generally recommended to check in on OKRs at least once a quarter or every three months. This gives the team enough time to make progress toward its goals and adjust as needed. 

How To Effectively Present Your OKR Standup

Before presenting your OKR standup meeting, ensure everyone is on the same page about the current OKR cycle. Once that is out of the way, you can start planning your OKR daily standup workflow. Here are some tips for effectively presenting your standup and ensuring you maintain OKR best practices:

  1. Ensure that every key participant knows what OKRs they are working on. They should be able to clearly explain how well they are progressing. And if not, they should be able to communicate their challenges. This will save everyone’s time and help keep the team on track.
  1. Keep the meetings as short and simple. Just like regular standups, OKR standups should not last more than 10 to 15 minutes. This helps keep participants engaged. Keep track of time, so the meeting doesn’t derail.
  1. Avoid turning OKR standups into status update meetings. The sole aim of the meeting is to check on team progress and clear blockers. It is not the time to go over every detail of each team member’s work. Be sure to create other avenues for status updates or schedule another meeting if there’s a need to brainstorm or figure out any other issues.
  1. Take notes during the meeting and use them to write a summary at the end of the meeting. This ensures that key points, good ideas, and lessons learned are remembered and helps you get the most out of your standup.
  1. Make plans for the next day at the end of each OKR standup. Having a clear action plan for the next day helps solidify the team’s focus. If you have weekly OKR standups, you can encourage your team members to try new things and get creative when setting priorities for the coming week.
  1. Try not to do all the talking. Structure your meeting so that each participant can share their thoughts and ideas. This helps you see things from different perspectives and benefit from their varied experiences. Take note of those who struggle to engage during the OKR standup, and make time to draw them out and have a friendly discussion to figure out ways you can support them or get them to participate actively.

Improve Your OKR Goals With Standup Feedback

One way to make your OKR goals more effective is to manage feedback effectively. As a manager, keeping track of your OKR standup feedback will put you on the right track—but you’ll need to take specific steps to make this happen.

Here’s how:

  • Define the outcome you want to achieve from your OKR standup. You can do this by drafting a detailed OKR meeting agenda.
  • Document everything that was discussed during the OKR standup. If it’s a virtual video conferencing meeting, record the meeting so you can always go back to it. For physical meetings, take notes and make them accessible to other participants. This helps you keep track of all lessons learned and any new ideas that can be used to improve your OKRs. 
  • Take note of new priorities set during the meeting and follow up to ensure that they are properly assigned to team members and added to their plans. 
  • Openly discuss the progress of OKR goals and review the effects that the completed plans have had on the set objectives.
  • Directly ask your team members for specific OKR feedback and take note of suggestions and ideas that can positively affect your OKR goals.

Effective use of questions can help you gain vital insights from team members. Here are some questions you can ask:

  • Are you satisfied with the results of your OKRs?
  • What tasks did you priortize last week?
  • What are your next steps?
  • Are there any challenges hindering your progress? What are they?
  • Do you have any suggestions for the team? 

Once you’ve done these, you can go back to the drawing board and review the suggestions made. Decide which ones are worth implementing and use them to improve your OKR goals.

Shortcut Your Team’s Learning Process With OKR Standups

OKRs are very useful for achieving organizational, departmental, and personal goals. However, it takes patience, agility, and a healthy feedback culture for OKR usage to become effective. 

With regular and well-presented OKR standups, you and your team can adequately improve on your OKR goals, ensuring that you successfully attain your key results at the right time.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Assembly SOC 2 compliant?

Yes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.

What's the ROI for employee recognition?

There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.

Does Assembly offer longer-term contracts?

Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.

The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.

Does Assembly offer onboarding support?

We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.

Is there a free version of Assembly?

Yes. We offer a completely free plan for up to 50 team members. This plan is intended for teams or organizations that are looking to get started with an employee engagement tool. Keep in mind, this plan is limited in features.

All customers can open an Assembly account for free and get started without a credit card. Then you can change plans as necessary.

How much do rewards cost?

At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.

The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.

Does Assembly offer discounts?

We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.

For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.

How do I cancel my plan if needed?

If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.

If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.

What customizations are available?

Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!

Who can give or receive recognition?

While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.

What integrations are available?

Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.  

Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.

What's your average adoption rate?

That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.

Must rewards be set up to use Assembly?

They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.

Are points required to use Assembly?

No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.

Could find the answer you are looking for?

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