Project Management Defined

We define Project Management as the actual execution of a project; the task planning, resource allocation, budget analysis, scheduling, and Gantt charts.  These responsibilities are usually handled by Department Managers and Team Leaders.

In Taiwan, Tech Companies employ PMs or Project Managers to assist RD teams in project management, planning and administration.

OKR doesn’t focus on the details of project management.

For all the OKR literature that we read, it may appear that OKR is a comprehensive and pervasive management system.  But it’s not.

OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is about establishing strategic objectives, and the measurable key results that show how the objective is accomplished.   In other words, OKRs simply point the way.

Here’s an example.

Objective: Develop a revolutionary AI based Python Coding software.

Key Results:

• Show 5 ways that AI coding can cut coding time 50%
• Show how AI coding can cut costs 35%
• Show how AI coding can reduce bugs by 75%

OKRs point the way with an Objective and Key Results.  The actual engineering efforts (project management) of achieving those KRs are left up to the RD teams and individuals assigned to them.

Why separate OKRs and Project Management?

So why establish OKRs when you don’t integrate the detailed tasks you need to execute to achieve those OKRs?

• First – the thinking is, RD teams should be allowed the creative freedom to figure it out by themselves – just give them the goal, and get out of the way.
• Second – Perhaps RD teams already use sophisticated project management software like Jira, Asana, Monday.com. It makes no sense in trying to impose an OKR system over those.
• Third, integrating the details of such an audacious engineering project into OKR planning would be much too complicated.

Initiatives – A bridge between OKRs and Project Management.

It’s still important to bridge OKRs to Project Management, to ensure alignment with some concrete, measurable goal like a Key Result.

This bridge is commonly called an “Initiative”.   It “initiates” the project forward from the Key Result.  From the Initiatives, the executable “tasks” are determined.

Objective > Key Result > Initiative > Task

Let’s look at our example.

The RD team determines that “Build a benchmarking program” is the Initiative that moves the project towards fulfilling the KR.  From there the tasks are determined.  And OKR and Project Management is linked and ready to launch.

So let’s say you have many OKRs and Initiatives planned.  How do you administrate and monitor your OKRs and Projects?

Using Software to administer OKRs and Project Management

It’s possible to administrate all of your OKRs and Project Management using Word documents and Excel Spreadsheets – and some companies actually do.

However, as a company grows, it’s more prudent to take advantage of the specialized online applications.

OKR Software Applications

The best way to administrate OKRs is using any number of dedicated OKR applications like Microsoft Viva Goals, BetterWorks or Profit.co.

In Profit.co, you can even perform basic project management with “Activity Based” KRs which are essentially initiatives with task lists, and simple Gantt charts.

Although Viva Goals doesn’t have project management per se, it’s easy to simulate Initiatives and Tasks within the system and perform basic project management.

These would be applicable to straight-forward task based projects for sales or operations.

However, more complex engineering projects will require more sophisticated project management software.

Project Management Applications

Engineering projects can get complex, and Engineering Team Leaders may already use project management software like Asana, Jiri, Monday.com, or Clickup.   Some of these apps even contain OKR templates and other OKR features within their software.

Best of both worlds – Integration between OKR apps and PM Apps

Profit.co can also integrate with Project Management software like Asana, which can directly link project statuses and progress for display on the Profit.co screens.

Microsoft’s Viva Goals can be used with Microsoft Projects for similar integration.

This is the perhaps the easiest, most practical, and expedient way of administrating OKRs and Project Management independently, while keeping the two connected – best of both worlds.