As a enterprise, focus and alignment are every part.
There are such a lot of issues you are able to do to maneuver the needle, however which of them must you act on? With so many individuals engaged on so many initiatives, how do you retain everybody shifting in the identical route?
Unlocking these solutions is the distinction between disconnected work efforts and ahead progress to attain your mission.
As we proceed to scale, we have to encourage self-motivation and execute on extra cross-functional work to assist our prospects drive development.
However let’s face it — autonomy with out alignment results in chaos.
That is the place the OGP framework is available in. Your technique is barely nearly as good as the way you execute towards it. And having a framework to allow aligned execution is important.
Ours permits us to proceed offering autonomy with clear alignment on priorities from the highest.
The OGP Framework
OGP stands for Aims, Targets, and Performs.
Earlier than you begin figuring out your OGPs, you must perceive your mission, your values, and align on the technique that guides you.
Consider it as your working system. These are the weather that can inform your Aims and enable you perceive what success seems like at every milestone.
And all of that is pushed by who you serve — your prospects, your purchaser persona, the individuals you’re finally fixing for.
Our government staff makes use of the next slide to drive our OGPs from the highest:
- Mission: What’s our big-picture imaginative and prescient?
- Values: What beliefs and ideas drive the best way we work?
- Technique: How are we going to achieve our imaginative and prescient?
- Strategic Aims: What long-term, company-wide bets are we making over the following ~3 years
- Targets: How will we accomplish our aims on the practical degree over the following 12-18 months?
- Performs: How will we obtain our targets on the staff degree via particular deliverables over the following 3-6 months?
Your Mission and Values don’t change fairly often (if in any respect). They keep fairly constant yr to yr.
Your Technique and Strategic Aims change roughly each three years. Every year at HubSpot, we evaluation our Aims from the earlier yr and determine whether or not we’re going to maintain them constant for the upcoming yr.
However, your Targets and Performs get up to date extra regularly. We replace our Targets yearly and revisit our Performs on a half-yearly or quarterly foundation.
Extra on OGPs
Alignment begins with an understanding of our long-term technique, and our Strategic Aims are decided on the government degree.
We select to stack rank our Aims to supply clear prioritization for the entire enterprise. For instance, we’ve seven Strategic Aims for 2025, and we’ve them organized by order of significance.
Why? To verify our groups have a transparent sense of priorities and steering on learn how to make mandatory trade-offs.
Every Goal has a certain quantity of Targets related to it. We wish to categorize our Targets based mostly on precedence:
- Precedence 0 (P0): Vital to attaining Strategic Goal (doubtless fails with out). There are fewer of those (~5 per Goal). They’re usually extremely cross-functional, and these targets are reviewed by our C-suite on a month-to-month foundation to make sure progress and take away any blockers.
- Precedence 1 (P1): Necessary to driving progress towards Strategic Goal. There are extra of those (~20 per Goal). They’re usually particular to at least one operate, and these targets are reviewed by our practical leaders on a month-to-month foundation to make sure progress and take away any blockers.
Then, there are Performs that roll up into every Objective. These are related to the “how” — the specifics round what you’re going to do to perform your Targets.
Seems like plenty of work, proper? It’s, however belief me — it’s value it.
An essential technique to hold issues operating easily is thru accountability. One important means we’re holding individuals accountable is thru our refreshed DRI mannequin.
The DRI Mannequin
Within the OGP framework, the DRI (or Straight Accountable Particular person) is the one individual accountable for shifting a Strategic Goal ahead. They set the imaginative and prescient for the target, outline the success metrics and work to be accomplished, align cross-functional groups, and navigate any blockers that come up.
Accountability and transparency are the keys to understanding whether or not we’re truly executing our technique all year long.
We use mechanisms — like Quarterly Enterprise Critiques (QBRs) and month-to-month reviews — to create area for standing updates, tackle blockers proactively, and guarantee we’re hitting our milestones.
So, there you’ve gotten it. Simply pop some concepts onto a couple of slides, and you may verify strategic planning off your checklist!
…not so quick.
OGPs are a method to an finish. They may also help create focus, however true alignment comes from doing the exhausting work of considering, planning, and speaking.
For us, the strategic route is ready by the chief staff, however the execution of that technique may be very bottoms-up. Each VP is working with their administrators, managers, and particular person contributors to resolve the “how” of every purpose.
That is the place the alignment from the highest meets the autonomy of practical specialists — and that is the place the facility of OGPs comes from.
How We Make OGPs Work For Us
On the core of strategic planning at HubSpot, we got down to establish a very powerful issues to resolve for our prospects. This permits us to focus our power on the work that issues and align our groups on the work to be accomplished.
The HEART of Success
What actually works for us all through this entire course of is that this: Course and readability about our priorities comes from the chief degree, however the entire firm is concerned within the “how.”
Everybody at HubSpot is a vital a part of strategic planning.
Our Objective Drivers are collaborating with their groups to write down memos that define why their targets are essential, how we’re going to attain them, and what sources are wanted to achieve success.
And our government leaders are setting route on the highest view.
That’s how we create focus and alignment at each degree of group.
How We Proceed to Evolve
Our method to strategic planning evolves yearly. It’s essential that we tweak our framework based mostly on new learnings and suggestions from our staff.
We’re always utilizing information to carry ourselves accountable to the technique we laid out as an organization. For instance, we conduct eNPS surveys and interviews with individuals across the enterprise to know the place we’re excelling and the place we’re arising brief.
It’s comforting to slap an “permitted” framework onto what you are promoting. It offers you plenty of confidence, however you’ll be able to’t simply cease there. It’s worthwhile to determine what works for you because the business grows and your buyer wants evolve.
Focus doesn’t simply occur. It’s a byproduct of shared imaginative and prescient. And imaginative and prescient comes from speaking, sharing, taking a look at information, and updating assumptions.
In the event you’re not doing that work upfront, don’t hassle with OGPs or every other goal-setting framework. None of them will work.
Give It a Attempt
In our tradition code, we discuss hiring individuals with HEART (Humble, Efficient, Adaptable, Outstanding, Clear). We outline efficient as individuals who get sh*t accomplished and take possession for his or her success. You may additionally name this autonomy.
And in an autonomous tradition, individuals can solely thrive after they have a transparent route on the place the corporate goes. That is the place so many corporations find yourself losing prime expertise.
Focus and alignment are every part — and our framework is an extremely useful device to maintain staff targeted on the trail ahead.
This submit was tailored from MSPOTs: the Secret to Focus and Alignment, and has been up to date for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
