MTG is all about leveraging technology to streamline business processes, and Microsoft Viva Goals is no exception. Whether you’re a HR leader looking to boost employee engagement and track development goals, an operations manager aiming to align teams with company-wide initiatives, or an SME director seeking a clearer path to strategic success, you’ll find this tool a game-changer. Viva Goals helps drive alignment, focus, and productivity across your team, ensuring everyone is working towards the same objectives and making measurable progress.
What Are OKRs, and Why Do They Matter?
Let’s demystify OKRs. Objectives are your goals—what you want to achieve. Key Results are the measurable steps that define success. It’s a simple yet powerful framework that helps you align your team’s efforts and keep everyone on track.
You don’t need a PhD in management to see the value here. Clear, measurable goals mean less confusion, fewer missteps, and more time for what really matters—growing your business. According to a Forrester report, businesses using OKRs are 35% more likely to have focused teams that know their priorities.
Objectives are qualitative and aspirational goals for a team or company. Key Results are the measurable outcomes that contribute to the achievement of an objective. Initiatives are activities that take place to achieve an objective
Getting Started with OKRs: Resources to Kick Off Your Program
Implementing an OKR program doesn’t have to be overwhelming, especially when you have the right resources at your fingertips. Whether you’re new to the concept or looking to refine your approach, here are a few essential tools and tips to help you get started:
OKR Framework Guides: Begin by familiarising yourself with the basics of setting effective Objectives and Key Results. Resources like “Measure What Matters” by John Doerr offer great insights, and Microsoft’s online guides can help you understand how OKRs work within the Viva Goals ecosystem.
Templates and Planning Tools: Use OKR templates to structure your initial goals. Templates can simplify the process of drafting clear, actionable objectives and measurable key results. Microsoft Viva Goals provides built-in templates and step-by-step guides to get you going quickly.
Workshops and Training Sessions: Consider organising workshops to introduce OKRs to your team. Having everyone on the same page is crucial for successful implementation. You can even use platforms like Microsoft Teams to host these sessions and incorporate live demos of Viva Goals.
Interactive Guides and Webinars: Microsoft offers a variety of interactive resources, including webinars and video tutorials, to help you understand how to effectively set up and manage your OKRs. These can be a great way to see real-world examples of how other businesses are using OKRs to drive success.
Trial Viva Goals for Hands-On Experience: The best way to learn is by doing. Start a trial of Microsoft Viva Goals to experiment with setting and tracking OKRs for your team. You’ll see firsthand how it integrates seamlessly with the tools you already use, like Teams, Power BI, and Excel.
By tapping into these resources, you can confidently kick off your OKR journey, setting your team up for success and ensuring alignment with your strategic goals. And if you need a hand, MTG is here to support you every step of the way!
Viva Goals is part of Microsoft’s Viva Suite of tools.
Why Use Viva Goals?
So, what makes Viva Goals the top pick for OKR management? It’s simple: integration, visibility, and ease of use. Viva Goals integrates seamlessly with your existing Microsoft tools (Teams, Excel, SQL, Azure DevOps—you name it), making it easier for your team to check in on their goals without disrupting their workflow. And we all know, fewer disruptions mean happier, more productive teams.
You can monitor progress in Excel, and Viva Goals will automatically use that as its data-source. Prefer something more complex like SQL or DevOps, again – this is supported.
Viva Goals isn’t just another dashboard to log into. It’s a tool that brings OKRs into the flow of your daily work. Here’s why it stands out:
Total Alignment: Get everyone on the same page. Whether it’s the Board’s strategic vision or a team’s quarterly objective, Viva Goals connects the dots so everyone knows how their tasks contribute to the big picture. Think of it as your company’s GPS—helping you navigate towards success without any detours.
Visibility & Tracking: Keep track of progress in real time. Viva Goals makes it easy to see how close (or far) you are from hitting those targets, with automatic updates that save you from the dreaded “end-of-quarter scramble.”
Flexibility to Adapt: Business landscapes shift, and your goals might need to shift too. Viva Goals allows you to tweak and adjust your OKRs without fuss, so you can stay agile and responsive.
Goal setting and monitoring performance is easy in Viva Goals
Example OKRs: Leveraging MTG’s Managed Services for Success
Getting started with OKRs can be a breeze once you have a few concrete examples. Here’s how you might structure some Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives, especially if you’re looking to improve efficiency and productivity by partnering with MTG and leveraging our managed services!
Objective 1: Improve IT Efficiency by 15% Across the Organisation
Key Results:
Reduce system downtime to less than 1% per quarter by implementing proactive monitoring through MTG’s managed IT services.
Complete migration to MTG’s Azure-based cloud solutions by Q2 2025, ensuring a seamless, high-performance infrastructure.
Achieve a 20% increase in employee productivity by streamlining IT support requests via MTG’s 24/7 helpdesk.
Initiatives
Engage MTG to conduct a full IT audit and identify inefficiencies by Q4 2024.
Deploy MTG’s remote monitoring and management tools across all devices by end of Q1 2025.
Implement MTG’s best-practice cybersecurity solutions to reduce vulnerabilities and IT incidents.
Empower staff to prioritise and focus on high-impact work with clear goals and metrics
Objective 2: Streamline IT Costs by 20% Through Optimised Service Management
Key Results:
Transition 80% of on-premise servers to Azure by Q2 2025, reducing overhead costs.
Consolidate software licenses and subscriptions to eliminate redundancies, achieving a 20% reduction in software expenses by Q1 2025.
Improve budget forecasting accuracy by 15% through MTG’s ITaaS (IT as a Service) model, providing predictable, transparent costs.
Initiatives
Audit existing software and hardware assets in partnership with MTG to identify cost-saving opportunities.
Adopt MTG’s cloud solutions and IT management services to optimise resource allocation and usage.
Implement monthly IT budget review meetings with MTG’s account management team to maintain continuous cost control.
Your Next Step: Putting Viva Goals to Work
If you’re ready to make scattered goals and manual tracking a thing of the past, Viva Goals is here to help. And if you’re not sure where to start, that’s where we come in. We can guide you through setting up, customising, and integrating Viva Goals into your existing systems. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more.
