In managing your projects or OKRs, it is important to communicate in benefits instead of project deliverables. In this article, we will discuss how your can deliver a much more effective message to to the stakeholders by describing results in benefits.
During the course of managing a large program, especially programs that run past 1 year or going to 2+ years, there is a great likelihood of team change and even stakeholder change at the top for one reason or another.
I was on a large program for over 2 years and the main VP stakeholder changed 3 times. When new stakeholders come in, they have a different perspective and want to put their “stamp” on the program. Usually, they will not stop the program, depending on how far are you along, but will change the direction or focus, causing deliverables delivered or to be delivered to become obsolete.
Per project management practices, PMs will communicate in terms of deliverables, the output. Often at the end of a project, PMs will get a comment from the stakeholders that the project is a failure or plainly “This sucks” (you know you are on the 2 or 3rd set of stakeholders already and they are frustrated with the program)!
Business environment change, nothing is static, included a signed off business case a year ago!
Switch your communication strategy
Do not communicate in output/ deliverables
Communicate in outcome/ benefits
How?
Communicate from the start in your kickoff deck or program charter a list of benefits intended to be delivered in business terms, as extracted from the business case.
Line 1 “We will migrate to a new data center that will achieve auto-failover and reduce downtime from 4 hrs to 5 minutes on a major severity 1 incident.”
Not
Line 2: “We will Install a new high available <vendor> system, retire all the 20 legacy unix servers and move to the new private cloud data center”.
What is the benefit desired to be achieved?
During the course of a monthly steering committee meeting or when the stakeholder changes and you need to re-baseline the program, communicate Line 1, the “benefits”.
Ask the question: “Are we still in line to produce the benefits the program is intended to deliver?”
If “Yes”, great you continue and present your status.
If “No”, ask what is the new direction? Ask the stakeholders, what is the benefit they wish to achieve?
From this “No” direction, rewrite the benefits statement and revisit your deliverables. This might likely cause a scope, time and cost change. Work with your program team with a few workshops.
Present the “findings”, your interpretation in terms of OKR: Objectives (benefits), KR (the measurable deliverables)
Present the sticker price!
Stay quiet … …
Change is 50/ 50
NO to the new direction – you continue with your original direction, but you have gotten a confirmation from the “new” stakeholder you are on his/ her right track (they will not tell you, your program sucks!).
YES to the new direction – create a Program change request (PCR) and request approval and new budget allocation
Conclusion:
Communicate to your stakeholder in terms of benefits, not deliverables.
How Target Align Helps Startups with Agile OKRs
Target Align is a powerful platform designed to simplify OKR implementation and Agile execution for startups. With an intuitive interface and advanced tracking capabilities, Target Align helps startups:
- Set clear, measurable OKRs aligned with business strategy.
- Integrate OKRs with Agile workflows, ensuring teams stay focused.
- Enhance transparency with real-time tracking and reports.
- Encourage accountability through structured check-ins and peer feedback.
- Foster alignment between leadership and teams by breaking down top-level objectives into actionable key results.
By using Target Align, startups can eliminate confusion, streamline goal-setting, and drive sustainable growth.
If you’re interested in learning more about OKRs and its implementation, sign up for Target Align’s video course. For more resources, visit www.targetalign.com and check out their OKR 101 material.