MOKM, or mission, objective, key results and measures, is the second part of the strategy phase of of the Business Operating Support System or BOSS, a five phase agile operations system for growth companies. But before we dive into what, exactly, MOKM is and how it can be used to develop your startup’s strategy, let’s briefly review BOSS.
BOSS is an agile operating system that incorporates ideas and best practices from the most effective methodologies in business, software and manufacturing. BOSS creates efficiencies through a structured approach with five phases that set the Vision (or North Star), Strategy, Execution, Standardization and Business Improvement Processes needed to achieve alignment on company objectives, goals and measurable results utilizing leading and lagging KPIs.
On to MOKM.
MOKM is part of the strategy phase of BOSS and will help you put your company North Star and Strategy into action. Additionally, it can be used to map out your company’s value drivers, functional area or department goals, turning ideas into concrete activities.
Companies often have misaligned objectives resulting in confusion across functional areas. This confusion can lead to inefficient processes, employee and customer churn, reduced margins and profits. MOKM is a simple tool to showcase the importance of aligning key results with objectives and then attaching measurements to ensure you’re on track and can be agile enough to adjust at any given point.
MOKM is achieved by clearly identifying your mission. First, you attach objectives to that mission and then define the key results you’ll use to accomplish them. Then you outline ways you’ll measure the success. Once you’ve done this exercise you’ll be able to take your MOKM and transform them into your OKRs (objectives and key results).
Let’s break down MOKM. First up is Mission. A mission statement can be company wide and/or designed for by functional area or by department. Ideally, there are between 3-5 missions per functional area or department and no more than 3-5 objectives per mission and 3-5 key results per objective. If an objective has more than 5 key results, it needs to be broken down into two objectives. This will help keep the company and teams focused without being sidetracked by too many goals.
Second, an Objective should be a numerical value with a target date applied for meeting that objective. It is centered around a lagging KPI (key, or objective; performance, or future expectation; indicator, or current performance) which measure actual results after the fact and can include quarter or year-end sales volume, average contract length, increase or growth in size of existing contracts, new contracts signed, contract renewal rate, sales margins and discounts given, acquisition costs and sales cycle length.
Third, your Key Results are metrics, or tasks, with starting values and target values that measures progress towards an objective. They are specific measures used to track the achievement of an objective.
Fourth, your Measures are a numerical value for the key results. It is centered around a leading KPI which measure activities needed to achieve a certain goal and include things like number of proposals sent, sales meeting and calls, completion of training programs, opportunities added, opportunities lost, pipeline weighted value, sales process compliance and status of client relationship.
In conclusion, MOKM combines four well known business metrics into actionable statements that align key results with objectives by attaching concise measurements to ensure you’re on track yet provide the agility to adjust at any given point.
Animated Video Explainer: