You need to work on BOTH Objectives AND Key Results
They should be easy to find and clear to everyone. Repeat them often
While being defined, they should be reactive to feedback, especially from peers
They should make you mildly uncomfortable (that should challenge and excite you)
The author suggests to define OKRs one must look forward and backward.
Forward: consider the big picture, what will the company to do make big waves in the next few years? What can I do to contribute?
Backward: What does my data say about this direction? What pace is the growth of this idea currently? What data do I have access to? What are the unknowns? What are the gaps I should close?
This is a great opportunity to involve the data team
As an Engineering Manager you focus on the "how"
Quarterly planning sheets can be a helpful tool
Put it in a place where everyone can see it
It can be a great help to guard against scope creep. It will guide deprioritization conversations and be a visual representation of what your team has in flight
Things you may want to include in your sheet
Name of Project
Links to documents that will give more details, dashboards
Point of contact, project owner, lead
Tags: ongoing (something the team will always do), contained (project will start and be completed)
Release date
IF EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT, NOTHING IS
Be clear in what your highest goals are and be willing to let go of others