Companies usually start adopting OKRs by managing them inside a spreadsheet. While this can work for a very small team, it doesn’t scale. OKRs managed in a spreadsheet are forgotten, they’re not at the forefront of your organization. They’re just some objectives in a file. OKRs have the power of changing your organization for the better and while on paper, them being set in a spreadsheet works, it’s not sufficient.

Spreadsheet solutions are messy and unclear

Visibility is a huge issue for spreadsheet OKRs. The gains from using a dedicated solution are huge. OKRs are no longer stored in on someone’s Office 365 or Google Drive, it has a dedicated website. Dedicated solutions also include dashboards that let you visualize OKRs in different ways. No longer do you need to ping people to keep their OKRs up to date, OKR management solutions takes care of reminding them. They can also have integrations with other tools to automatize the tracking of their goals!

OKR-One lets you easily manage OKRs in a sane way

Ease of use is also an issue while working with spreadsheets. Moving OKRs around, updating them, assigning them, discussing them are tasks of friction. Moving them around in the spreadsheet or updating them can cause data loss. There is no easy way to assign an Objective or a Key Result to someone or for someone to visualize their OKRs. Nor is there any way to discuss the OKRs in the spreadsheet. No traces are left of how the OKRs evolved over time, the only thing at your disposition is the state they’re in now. A lot of insight is lost from using spreadsheets.

Another issue with spreadsheet management of OKRs is the lack of structure. Due to their free-form nature, spreadsheets can become messy quickly. OKRs have a certain structure they should follow and using an OKR Management tool ensures you follow that structure and increase your odds of success.

The main advantages of a dedicated OKR management solution over a spreadsheet are:

1. Increased OKR visibility
2. Less friction while adopting and practicing OKRs
3. Improved organization alignment
4. Better OKRs
5. Accountability at the individual and team level.
6. Higher level of transparency in how the company operates and prioritizes.

In summary, an OKR management solution increases clarity of what is relevant, measures what matters, creates alignment in the organization and creates transparency and accountability for everyone onboard.