At What Level Should You Set OKRs? Company, Team, or Individual

One of the most important decisions in any OKR deployment is where OKRs should be set. Should you start at the company level? Roll out to teams immediately? Require individual OKRs? Get this wrong, and even well-designed OKRs can fail.

Your decision to this question can dramatically impact the type of culture you're creating.  

In this episode, Ben Lamorte explains how to thoughtfully introduce OKRs across organizational levels over time. You’ll learn when company-level OKRs make sense (and when they don’t), to structure effective team-level OKRs beyond the org chart, and why mandating individual OKRs can lead to an OKR failure.

Through real-world examples, Ben explores three powerful approaches to defining OKR teams: merging highly dependent teams, leveraging cross-functional squads, and forming teams around strategic priorities. The episode concludes with practical coaching guidance to help leaders build alignment, avoid common pitfalls, and create a scalable, sustainable OKR system.

Ben introduces all 10 deployment parameters in THIS VIDEO

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You get the context for why Ben created "10 universal deployment parameters" (the questions you must answer BEFORE deploying OKRs) as context for the next 10 episodes!

Ben shares a pivotal moment early in his OKRs coaching journey, a training workshop in Paris that did not go as planned. What seemed like a straightforward workshop quickly turned into hours of debate about alignment, KPIs, performance reviews, and how OKRs should actually be deployed.

On the long flight home, Ben reflected deeply and identified a powerful insight: before any OKRs training begins, organizations must first align on a clear set of foundational decisions. He later named these decisions deployment parameters.

You will learn why every successful OKR program begins with clarity on how OKRs will be implemented, and why skipping this step often leads to confusion, misalignment, and weak execution.

The episode also explores one of the most critical starting points: Why OKRs? You will hear why imitative answers (like "Google did it" or "Our CEO read Measure What Matters and lots of successful companies do OKRs" fail.

And more importantly, how strong OKR deployments begin with a clear understanding of the ONE BIG PROBLEM leadership is trying to solve with OKRs.

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Ineffective vs. Effective Use of AI in OKRs

Many teams are using AI to automate the drafting of OKRs in order to “save time.” But what if this shortcut is causing you to miss the most valuable part of the OKR process: the conversations that create clarity, ownership, and commitment?

In this episode, Ben explains why simply using AI to write OKRs can weaken your strategy and execution. You’ll hear why OKRs are not just about defining goals, but about the thinking and alignment that happen along the way which automation alone cannot replace.

Then Ben explores the real opportunity: using AI to drive 10x improvement in execution, not just efficiency. Through real examples including how an AI-generated idea led directly to a new client, and how teams used AI to dramatically improve billing, you’ll learn how AI can transform KR action planning and accelerate measurable progress.

If your organization already uses OKRs but wants faster, more meaningful results, this episode will challenge how you think about AI and where its true power lies.

To learn about how you can leverage AI to 10x your OKRs, contact Ben via [email protected]

What Is OKRs Coaching? Why Is It So Important Now?

In this episode, Ben explores the rising global demand for OKRs coaching and explains why the 2020s are a pivotal time to develop this skill. You’ll learn what OKRs coaching really is, and how it differs from traditional consulting along with the critical balance between inquiry and advice that defines effective coaching.

Ben walks through the evolution of OKRs, how coaching demand accelerated worldwide, and the three phases of OKRs coaching: deployment, training, and cycle coaching.

Here is the Definition of "OKRs"

Here is the Definition of "OKRs Coaching"

OKRs coaching: Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking, creative, and structured process over three phases. 

Phase 1: Deployment coaching to align on the answers to the questions that define an OKRs program and define the roles and resources that will support the OKRs program. 

Phase 2: Training to ensure a shared understanding of OKRs. 

Phase 3: Cycle coaching, inquiry that enables a client to critically reflect throughout the three steps of an OKRs cycle to (1) align on where and why to focus effort to make measurable improvement, (2) communicate and monitor progress, and (3) document and apply learnings to the next OKRs cycle. 

Thanks for listening!

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Check out Ben's Video: 3 Phases of an OKRs Coaching Program

For a free 1:1 OKR Consult, contact [email protected]