Overview

Eliminate the learning curve to great OKRs - with Co-Author, inspiration for great objectives and key results is just a click away!

Co-Author is part of the WorkBoard Intelligent Enterprise platform. Contact your CSM for upgrade pricing and information.

What are OKRs?

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) foster team connectivity, alignment, and results. They create a common language, transparent framework, and empower teams to articulate goals, focus on measurable outcomes, and learn iteratively with data over time.

Objectives serve as statements of intent, emphasizing the "what" and "why" of our goals. Key Results are a measurable outcome that gauge progress toward achieving an Objective. These specific benchmarks, often numerical, provide a tangible way to assess success and track the fulfillment of larger goals.

Why use Co-Author?

WorkBoard's Co-Author can help to:

• Accelerate time to draft high integrity OKRs to collaborate and discuss as a team
• Draft aligned OKRs that contribute towards upline and leadership results
• Set aspirational, measurable OKRs informed by your top priorities
• Improve OKR quality with Outcome Mindset Method™ best practices

Getting Started

Co-Author is available everywhere you set OKRs in WorkBoard.  From the Create button, choose:

• Team OKR or Individual Goal to quickly create a single OKR
• Draft OKRs in Canvas to start brainstorming with the team

Draft a single Team OKR or Individual Goal with Co-Author

If you want to enter a single OKR quickly, Co-Author can help by offering suggestions for inspirational objectives and measurable key results.

1. Select the Use Co-Author icon on the objective or key result. (If you are creating a new objective, Co-Author will walk you through selecting a team and time period for the OKR)
2. Type a draft objective as a starting point, or click I'm not sure yet, give me some ideas! 
3. After Co-Author responds with a suggestion, you can select whether to Make it more inspiring, Make it shorter, or Add more details. When finished, select Use this.
   • After selecting Use this, you'll be prompted to set Objective fields including owner, data source and more.
4. After creating an Objective, you can ask Co-Author to help draft Key Results by clicking the Co-Author icon.
   
5. Easily tune your key result by asking Co-Author to help you Make it more measurable, Make it shorter, Add more details, Make it a lagging result, or Make it a leading result. When finished, select Use this. 
6. Lastly, adjust your Key Result details or measurement type by selecting More options. 
7. When you're finished adding your Objective and Key Results, select Save to lock in your changes and Done to apply your settings.

Collaborate on OKRs with the team and Co-Author in WoBo Canvas

Canvas provides a collaborative space for seamless goal-setting and to jumpstart brainstorming sessions as a team! Co-Author on Canvas is there to make the discussion more efficient, so the team can spend more time discussing priorities and tradeoffs, and less time debating syntax!

Tips for setting up for a great team discussion!

• Before your OKR session it can be helpful to have the team add their thoughts about priorities and key outcomes to the Canvas. For teams reflecting and resetting OKRs, complete a retro to memorialize victories and observations, and streamline the conversation about shifts to incorporate into the next OKR cycle.
• During your OKR session, ask Co-Author to refine the team's brainstorm notes to be more measurable, inspirational, or shorter Key Results.

Enabling Co-Author to draft OKRs in WoBo Canvas

Getting started drafting OKRs can be challenging. That's why Co-Author can draft an Objective to get something on the page as a starting point.

• Select a blank Objective row in the draft OKR shell in Canvas

• Click the Co-Author icon

• Co-Author will ask you what your priorities are with this Objective. If you have known priorities, enter them. If you'd rather just have Co-Author create something, click I'm not sure yet, give me some ideas!

• Co-Author will generate a draft Objective

• Once an Objective has been generated, you can choose whether to:

  • Use this Objective

  • Make it more inspiring

  • Make it more detailed

  • Make it shorter

  • Try again 

  • Discard

• After selecting Use this Objective, you will have the option to Suggest Key Results for this Objective (only available in the Objective field). 
  

• Select a blank Key Result row in the draft OKR shell on Canvas
• Click the Co-Author icon
• Co-Author will ask you what your priorities are with this Key Result. If you have known priorities, enter them. If you'd rather just have Co-Author use the Objective, click I'm not sure yet, give me some ideas!
• Co-Author will generate a draft Key Result

• Select a draft Key Result row in the draft OKR shell on Canvas
• Click the Co-Author icon
• Co-Author will ask you how you want to refine the Key Result. You can enter you own instructions in the text box, or you can select from the pre-built quick-actions.
  • Make it more measurable
  • Make it more detailed
  • Make it shorter
  • Make it leading
  • Make it lagging
    • Leading indicators are headlight measures that are predictive of completing the Objective. Lagging indicators are taillight measures that show whether an Objective has been achieved -- good OKRs have a mix of leading and lagging measures!
• Select Use this Key Result when you're done drafting
  

Publishing your OKRs from WoBo Canvas

When you've finished drafting with Co-Author, you can quickly publish your OKRs to begin making updates. To publish your OKRs:

• Select Publish OKRs in the upper right-hand corner of your Objectives and Key Results tray
• Verify the Team, Time Period, and View Permissions
• Click the dropdown arrow to review the Key Results and to confirm the Owner, Starting Value, Target Value, Measurement Type, and Update cadence
• To further modify your OKRs, select Save & go back
• When finished, select Publish OKRs

Viewing your Published OKRs

After publishing your OKRs, you can quickly access the Objective details by selecting the icon to open in new tab. From the same toolbar, you can also:

• Move the shell
• Open in new tab
• Hide Key Results
• Copy to Draft
  • This copies the existing shell and opens edit mode for the copied shell.
• Send to back
• Bring to Front
• Lock Position
• Remove (Please note that this is permanent and can't be recovered.)

Frequently Asked Questions

What information does Co-Author use as inputs?

• Team name
• Time period
• The team's upline OKRs
• The team's previous OKRs
• Any inputs that the user makes directly in Co-Author

Find more details about the capability and security of Co-Author here.