Mastering OKRs for Tech Teams: Unlock Success with Jira

Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) originated at the engineering-driven Intel, but that doesn't mean they're simple to implement for tech teams.

Check the slides to explore whether OKRs could benefit your team, discover best practices for implementation, learn how to craft impactful OKRs, and hear real-life success stories. We'll also dive into various methods for setting up OKRs in Jira.

This deck was used at Atlassian's ACE Singapore, and you can check the recording here: https://ace.atlassian.com/events/details/atlassian-singapore-presents-mastering-okrs-for-tech-teams-unlock-success-with-jira/

Would love to connect with you in case you have any questions: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margosakova/

1. Mastering OKRs for
Tech Teams
Unlock Success with Jira
#1 OKR app on Atlassian Marketplace based on installs and review rating

2. Quick Facts about me
Margo Sakova
Product Marketing Manager at Oboard

3. What to expect
●What are OKRs
●Common challenges and OKR specifics for tech teams
●Workshop: How to write effective OKRs for product and engineering teams
●Success stories
●Setting up OKRs with Jira
●Q&A

4. ?????? What are OKRs?
OKR = O + KR

Objectives and Key Results


OKRs is the strategic goal-setting methodology based on inspiring
action-oriented objectives & measurable Key Results.

5. OKRs are widely used in Tech Companies
Google
LinkedIn
Oracle
CEO: Safra Catz
Amazon
Amazon
Intel Atlassian
GoPro
Adobe Facebook
Spotify
Netflix
… and many more

6. Aligning teams
to drive significant
change

We bring Jira users across multiple
projects to work together towards
common goals.

8. OKR Examples
Personal OKR

Objective:
Learn to cook well

Key Result 1:
Cook 10 new recipes
Key Result 2:
Host 3 dinner parties for friends
Key Result 2:
Reduce takeout meals to once per week
Business-oriented company OKR

Objective:
Make customers happy
Key Result 1:
Increase Customer Retention Rate by
15%
Key Result 2:
Increase Net Promoter Score (NPS)
from 30 to 60

9. Top 5 Tips for Successful OKR Implementation
?????? Start your OKR implementation at your level

✍ Create 1–5 Objectives with 3–5 Key Results each

?????? Focus on outcomes

?????? Build OKRs together as a team

?????? Connect your Jira issues with your OKRs.

10. OKRs are your ticket
to life beyond the
feature factory

11. How OKRs Help Tech Teams
●Align engineering efforts with business goals
●Provide clarity amidst fast-moving projects and
priorities
●Takes off enormous pressure from endless new
demands
●Encourage focus on both innovation and operational
excellence

12. Common OKR Mistakes for Tech Teams

●Misalignment between product, engineering, and business teams
●Focusing too much on output (features delivered) instead of
outcomes (impact on users)
●Ignoring long-term tech debt
●Setting too many goals

13. Do we need Engineering
OKRs when we already
have Product ones?




It depends

14. Collaboration Between Product, Engineering and Business Teams
●Focus on creating value
●Clear communication between business, product and
engineering teams to ensure shared goals and stakeholders
buy-in
●Create OKRs that balance innovation and stability

15. Measuring Success in Tech Teams
●Use data-driven metrics (performance, code quality,
feature usage).
●Combine quantitative (e.g., speed, uptime) and qualitative
(e.g., user feedback) metrics.
●Adjust OKRs quarterly but monitor progress in real-time
using Jira.

16. Let’s build Product
& Engineering OKRs
together

17. How to Write Strong Objectives
●Put it in simple words
●Start with a verb
●Make it ambitious but yet achievable
How to Write Clear and Measurable Key Results
●Focus on impact instead of work done
●Use quantifiable metrics: percentages, numbers, ratios
●Ensure key results are achievable within the set timeframe

18. Use Case: Our customers are totally unhappy
Objective: Increase customer
satisfaction.
Key Results:
Have 3 team meetings about feedback.
Review feedback from customers.
Track customer responses.

Objective: Improve customer satisfaction by
enhancing product usability.
Key Results:
Increase NPS score from 60 to 75.
Decrease average customer support response
time from 12 to 6 hours.
Achieve a 95% satisfaction rate on the
product’s usability.

19. Use Case: Customers encounter lots of bugs
Objective: Improve code quality.
Key Results:
Conduct more code reviews.
Increase test coverage.
Run weekly code analysis.

Objective: Improve code quality to reduce
bugs and maintenance effort.
Key Results:
Reduce production bugs by 20%.
Achieve 95% test coverage across critical
modules.
Increase automated testing by 30%.

20. Use Case: Our app is outdated, slow and unstable
Objective: Refactor legacy code.
Key Results:
Review all legacy modules.
Reduce codebase complexity by 15%.
Improve system performance by 10%.


Objective: Refactor legacy code to enhance
system performance and stability.
Key Results:
Decrease bug-related downtime by 20%.
Reduce duplicated code by 15%.
Improve response time by 10%.

21. Use Case: Plan to launch a new long-awaited feature
Objective: Build a new feature.
Key Results:
Start development by Q2.
Have 5 brainstorming sessions.
Create initial feature wireframes.

Objective: Successfully launch new feature X
to increase user engagement.
Key Results:
Launch feature X by Q2.
Increase active user engagement with feature
X by 20%.
Achieve 95% feature adoption rate within 1
month.

22. Use Case: We deliver new features slowly than expected
Objective: Improve development speed.
Key Results:
Reduce team meetings.
Implement CI/CD.
Automate build processes.



Objective: Improve development speed
without compromising quality.
Key Results:
Reduce feature delivery cycle time from 4
weeks to 3 weeks.
Increase deployment frequency by 25%.
Reduce defect rate by 10%.

23. Use Case: We started to face frequent downtimes
Objective: Increase system uptime.
Key Results:
Monitor system logs.
Add more servers.
Set alerts for downtime.

Objective: Ensure system reliability for
seamless user experience.
Key Results:
Achieve 99.9% system uptime.
Reduce mean time to recovery (MTTR) from 1
hour to 30 minutes.
Implement real-time monitoring across all
critical systems.

24. Use Case: Our system is too slow
Objective: Implement new technologies.
Key Results:
Evaluate new technologies.
Train the team.
Explore open-source tools.
Objective: Implement new technologies to
improve system performance.
Key Results:
Successfully integrate technology X into the
system by Q3.
Reduce server load by 20% using the new tech.
Decrease API response time by 15%.

25. Use Case: We have high churn rate
Objective: Increase user retention.
Key Results:
Monitor user churn.
Improve customer communication.
Review retention strategies.

Objective: Increase user retention by
enhancing user experience.
Key Results:
Decrease user churn from 25% to 10%.
Increase retention of new users after 30 days
by 15%.
Increase monthly active users by 10%.

26. Use Case: Users leave for competitors due to a huge feature gap
Objective: Collect user feedback.
Key Results:
Send out surveys.
Conduct focus groups.
Analyze data.
Objective: Leverage user feedback to improve
product features.
Key Results:
Collect feedback from at least 200 users.
Implement 3 key improvements based on
feedback.
Reduce feature complaints by 15%.

27. Use Case: Our user acquisition speed dropped dramatically
Objective: Increase product page views.
Key Results:
Improve SEO.
Add more images to the product page.
Post on social media.
Objective: Boost product page engagement
to drive conversions.
Key Results:
Increase product page views by 25%.
Improve conversion rate on the product page
from 2% to 4%.
Achieve a 10% click-through rate from ads.

28. Use Case: We constantly underdeliver on what we plan
Objective: Improve product roadmap
planning.
Key Results:
Discuss product roadmap with the team.
Finalize the roadmap.
Allocate resources for planning.




Objective: Enhance product roadmap
planning for better alignment.
Key Results:
Ensure 80% alignment on product roadmap
across key stakeholders.
Decrease roadmap delays by 20%.
Review and adjust roadmap quarterly based
on feedback.

29. Case Study

Industry: Industrial Devices and Solutions
Location: Lüneburg, Germany
Challenges:
●Difficulty translating strategic goals into actionable
results.
●Lack of clear communication and alignment across
teams.
Solution:
●Implemented OKR Board for Jira with UPHILL
Partners consulting to align strategy with execution.
●Focused on improving leadership buy-in, strategic
goal formulation, and seamless Jira integration.
Results:
●Achieved strategic clarity by defining
long-term goals in OKR format.
●Simplified OKR tracking with Jira
integration, linking tactical tasks to
strategic objectives.
●Successful implementation of an
effective OKR cycle.

30. Case Study

Industry: Computer Games
Location: Villeurbanne, France
Challenges:
●Fluctuating priorities and siloed teams hindered
strategic alignment.
●Lack of long-term planning and a unified company
vision.

Solution:
●Adopted OKR framework with support from Oboard
and integrated with Jira.
●Streamlined focus and fostered cross-functional
alignment through clear objectives and key results.
Results:
●85% of employees reported positive OKR
adoption.
●Over 50% of the studio members now
actively use OKRs.
●Improved project focus and completion
of long-standing initiatives.

31. Case Study

Industry: Software Development, eCommerce
Location: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Challenges:
●Complex product portfolio and siloed
departments hindered cohesive progress.
●Lack of alignment between individual
contributions and company-wide goals.
Solution:
●Implemented OKRs with guidance from OKR
Asia and Oboard’s OKR Board for Jira.
●Launched an OKR Champion initiative and set
unified company-level objectives.
Key Results:
●Strategic alignment across teams,
improving clarity of vision.
●Enhanced employee motivation by
connecting individual efforts to company
goals.
●Increased revenue, service quality, and
collaboration through regular OKR
check-ins.

32. Setting up
OKRs with

34. How OKR Board
Connects Goals to Tasks
Your tasks now automatically contribute
to your strategic goals.

Status is automatically assigned based on the
following:
progress achieved
impact weight
end date

35. How would your
OKR process
look like?

36. Step 1. Outline your future goals and initiatives on a
Strategy Map

37. Step 2. Move Priority OKRs into the next cycle and plan
the timeline

38. Step 3. Work with your team in a customizable
Alignment view

39. Step 4.
Stay on track with
OKR Check-ins

40. Step 5.
Monitor
the Progress
with OKR Reports

41. Now reflect
on the cycle
and repeat

42. Additional features that make an OKR Journey
even better
OKR-Specific
3 Free Seats at
OKR Training Program

Custom OKR Fields

Private OKRs
Atlassian-Specific
OKR Reporting Gadget in Jira
dashboard

OKR Link Gadget in Jira

Bulk search and issue linking via JQL

Users sync with Jira Groups

Free Confluence OKR App as an
addition

43. #1 OKR App
in the Atlassian
marketplace

44. About Oboard
Oboard offers OKR software for Jira,
Confluence, and an OKR App for Web. It
helps companies connect their strategic
goals to execution.
5 years
in the market
3000+
worldwide customers
400+
enterprise customers
100+
countries with satisfied clients
20
employees across 4 countries

45. What
Customers
Say
“OKR Board for Jira Cloud seamlessly
integrates with our workflow, turning
Jira into a goal-setting powerhouse.”
James Hunt, CTO
“OKR Board intuitively made sense to
everyone we showed it to.”
Ryan Robson, Global Education Manager

“Getting started was incredibly easy!”
Jeffrey R., Senior Agile Coach
“OKRs linked to tasks in JIRA help
monitor if everyday work really
contributes to your goals, enhancing the
strategy alignment across the whole
organization.”
Claudia Nowak, Agile Coach

46. Margo Sakova
Product Marketing Manager at Oboard

[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margosakova/

Thank you!
Would love to connect with you