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What is the best OKR software / the best OKR tools? – Find the best OKR tool
Depending on the size of the company, organizational form and industry, solution A may be the best OKR software for one company and solution B the best OKR tool for another company.
The answer to the question of the best OKR tools is not that easy. Because the evaluation depends on a large number of properties, which are of different importance from company to company.
The aim is to create transparency through OKR. The company goal or the company goals are published in the form of top-level OKR – as well as the derived objectives through department OKRs and team OKR sets.
Each team member has access to the OKR software – teams update and track their progress in their OKR sets or key results as part of their weekly review (OKR Weekly / Check-In).
A clear trend is the integration of the user interface in tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack or Jira – and thus the daily or weekly OKR tracking from a familiar user interface.
Some OKR tools, especially from the American culture, have often developed from individual performance management with performance reviews – the focus is on the individual employee. The OKR tool is used here as management software with the definition and review of individual employee performance.
Which evaluation criteria or main features decide on the best OKR software for a company
The best OKR software for a company is made from the evaluation and weighting of a large number of product properties, which are of different importance depending on the company.
There are also product characteristics – such as company size, organizational form and industry – that are relevant, but sometimes a matter of taste.
General criteria for the best OKR tools
A user interface (UI) and the associated user experience / user experience (UX) / usability is often a matter of taste. You can consider the following aspects in this regard:
The user interface
- Is the user interface intuitive and do the users find their way around quickly?
- Can less technically savvy people quickly learn how to use the OKR tool – without instruction or training?
- Is the onboarding of new users possible without any problems?
- Is the user interface/interface modern and attractive – or more traditional and functional?
- Is it more practical to work with it or is it fun for the users to work with it?
visualizations
- Is the presentation of the OKRs clear?
- Are there different visualization and display options such as a table, tree or network view?
integration and communication
- Does the OKR tool encourage collaboration between teams through communication features?
- Can team members simply give each other feedback?
- Does the OKR tool support the reconciliation of OKRs across the company?
- Are there reports and dashboards?
- Is there an option to export OKRs?
- Are analysis functions available – in terms of content and methodology?
And last but not least
- Does the cost/benefit ratio fit: How reasonable is the price for the functions offered and for your application?
Company-specific key features for the best OKR software
- Is the OKR software flexible enough to map the organizational structure of your company and your company-specific processes?
- Does the OKR tool support the languages used in your company? Is the OKR software adaptable to your technical terms?
- Can the OKR software be integrated into tools that you use in your company – such as Microsoft Teams or Slack?
- Can key results be automatically updated through integrations with other IT systems and tools used in your company – such as Salesforce, Hubspot, SAP, …?
- Does the OKR software meet your company-specific data protection and data security requirements, such as DSGVO / GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2? Is business continuity guaranteed by disaster recovery measures?
10 criteria to find the best OKR software
Here are the 10 main criteria to find the best OKR tool:
- Support for entering OKRs : Is there a quick entry option? Are there input assistants with KPI databases for the optimal formulation of measurable key results?
- Reconciliation : Are there workflows that support reconciliation of OKR sets by individual departments and teams? Are communication tools such as MS Teams, Chat and Slack used for this?
- Transparency : Are there different views – from tables to network diagrams? Is there a full-text search that can search all OKRs from all teams across the company?
- Graphic visualization : Can the progress of key results in terms of metrics, score and confidence level be visualized through diagrams?
- Check-ins / update reminder : Does the OKR tool remind teams to update their key results regularly?
- Data connection of IT systems : the OKR tool allows the automatic update of the metrics of key results in real time from third-party systems such as Jira, Salesforce, Hubspot, Microsoft (Office 365, Azure, Power BI), Google (GSuite, Sheet, Analytics, Gmail, Tasks), Trello, Zendesk, Asana, Github, Zapier, and many more?
- Dashboards and evaluations : does the OKR tool offer overviews and evaluations in terms of content and methodology?
- Data protection and security : Is the OKR tool GDPR compliant – does it offer data encryption, backup and disaster recovery support?
- Support : Is there support in setting up the OKR software? Is there instruction or training?
- Value for money : How reasonable is the price for the functions offered?
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The best free OKR tracking software
Most providers have paid plans – companies pay a usage fee per user per month – some with a 14-day free trial.
Depending on the provider, there is a free OKR tool for individuals and teams with a maximum number of employees – there is also open source software. More about this in our article OKR Free .
How do I find the best OKR tool?
First of all, you should be familiar with the OKR method. If this is not the case, it is advisable to consult an OKR consultant with a lot of practical experience – here we particularly recommend the OKR experts .
Is there a general answer to the question of the best OKR tool or does it depend on the company?
Counter question: is there a general answer to the question of the best car or does it depend on the driver or owner? Is a small car better – or an SUV? An electric car or a combustion engine?
This is also the case with OKR software: some prefer a modern and attractive one
User Interface / User Interface – the other more plain, traditional and functional.
What most users agree on is that the OKR tool should be intuitive to use without much training.
OKR tools differ most in terms of workflows, graphic visualizations, the data connection of IT systems, dashboards, evaluations and the degree of data protection and security measures.
