Change Management from a project or task-related individual performance culture into a result-driven and collaborative organisation is the most challenging part of the OKR implementation.

To pilot OKRs in Leadership teams or specific agile projects, it is recommended to hire an OKR coach or consultant. However for a mass-roll-out in an organisation with hundreds of employees and to maintain the quarterly OKR cadence over time, it is highly effective to have your OKR Champions as facilitators or ambassadors in your organisation.

Profile / Roles & Responsibilities of OKR Champions

As described in detail in module 1 of the OKR champion certification the role is a part-time role in an organisation with similar responsibilities as scrum master in agile. We recommend nominating well-connected individuals in your organisation who have cross-functional or project experience and a minimum of facilitation skills. 

It is the responsibility of OKR Champions to ensure everyone understands the new methodology, to take charge of educating the team, and to implement and facilitate the quarterly OKR process (OKR training, OKR set-up workshops, (bi-) weekly OKR tracking, OKR quarter review workshops). Therefore you can only become a true OKR champion after mastering the ins and outs of OKRs. Then why should you invest time and energy into creating an OKR champion? Listed below are a few reasons: 

1. Increase buy-in from the team

We learned that one of the biggest concerns when adopting a management methodology was the workload and the benefits of implementation. Having an OKR Champion creates an internal trusted ambassador and a person who can help to address any anxieties or issues.

2. Increased adoption  

Adopting the methodology is an important part of OKRs. Yet how can we adapt OKRs efficiently? It is essential to have an OKR Champion who can guide the teams through the process of implementing the new OKRs and adapt them to your organization’s language, style, and needs. 

3. Keeps the discipline and process running smoothly

OKR champions facilitate all necessary meetings and alignments and make sure that everybody or every team updates their results or comments regularly in the OKR tool. By keeping this process running smoothly we make sure that OKRs have both control and transparency benefits for the leadership and teams. Furthermore, any issues or roadblocks to better results can be addressed at an early stage

4. Foster accountability and provide employees with immediate support

Adopting OKRs requires accountability. The check-in process should be completed by someone or a contact person should be designated. In accordance with the best practices of the methodology, the OKR Champions guarantee everyone is doing their share.

To become an OKR champion please take our OKR Champion Certification. In case you are new to OKRs, we recommend you to take first the OKR Practitioner (User) basic certification, which could also be useful for your teams. 

If you would like to train a group of OKR champions with an experience OKR coach, please contact us on transform@asiapmo.com