Principle #3
Every project we work on within a company should have its own objective, which then aligns with overarching company objectives. Without them, how do you know if you’ve succeeded in what you set out to achieve? And, how do you ensure the project aligns with what your company stands for?
In the wise words of Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google:
“If you don’t actually know what you’re trying to achieve, it’s also hard to measure success. Try it, you’ll see what I mean.”
Always set OKRs from the outset to make things easier for yourself.
Importantly, make sure other teams know their role in supporting the OKRs you have set. It will help you keep in line with your overall objectives, as well as maintaining a consistent and solid goal across the business.
Also, don’t shy away from sharing your successes - if you don’t, no-one else will and this will hugely help buy-in for your department.
Similarly, include the success of other roles like sales, product and marketing within your celebrations. Acknowledging their help will have a huge impact when it comes to asking for their support again down the line.
And, of course, don’t be scared of failures. As C.S. Lewis said, “failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” So, learn from your mistakes, make changes, and become stronger on your path to success.