{"id":275,"date":"2017-04-10T10:47:22","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T10:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/?p=275"},"modified":"2022-09-07T06:25:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T06:25:13","slug":"3-game-changing-processes-that-got-us-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/3-game-changing-processes-that-got-us-results","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Game-Changing Processes That Got Us Results Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">At Hostinger our vision is to enable millions of people around the globe to unlock the power of the internet <\/span><span class=\"s2\">by<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> giving them tools to learn, create, and grow online. We provide a world-class website hosting platform <\/span><span class=\"s2\">for<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> over 1.2 million users worldwide. With such growth comes complexity. <\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Our once simple business<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&nbsp;now<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> encompasses<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> 40+ different websites, all powered by different technologies. <\/span><span class=\"s3\">That&rsquo;s why<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> our number one challenge is <\/span><span class=\"s3\">to align<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the team. Uniting a company towards one goal in a <\/span><span class=\"s3\">shifting <\/span><span class=\"s1\">and competitive landscape is no mean feat. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Seeing <\/span><span class=\"s1\">the bigger picture <\/span><span class=\"s3\">has been<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> absolutely crucial <\/span><span class=\"s2\">ever since<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> our engineers <\/span><span class=\"s2\">had<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> to divide their attention between several different projects <\/span><span class=\"s2\">running simultaneously. This has pushed us to explore new methods and tools which would allow us to increase our productivity and lead us to a more united team.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Key performance indicators (KPIs) were <\/span><span class=\"s1\">one of the <\/span><span class=\"s2\">first tools we applied. They are individually<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&nbsp;set<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> for each team member. We structured departments based on <\/span><span class=\"s2\">their <\/span><span class=\"s1\">function (developers, system engineers, customer service, marketing) and fostered an open and transparent culture <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to ensure<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> a clear vision of how the daily <\/span><span class=\"s2\">line of work<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> contributes <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the overall company goals. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Results were moderate, so we continued in our search for game-changing strategies.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">L<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ast year, just as we were about to experience yet another growth phase, an ex-colleague <\/span><span class=\"s2\">introduced <\/span><span class=\"s1\">me <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to the second tool that we applied &ndash; <\/span><span class=\"s1\">OKRs <\/span><span class=\"s3\">(objectives and key results)<\/span><span class=\"s1\">. I was instantly hooked and clearly saw that it is the way for us to go.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Now, as w<\/span><span class=\"s1\">e have just finished our second set of quarterly OKRs and are over 8 months into the practice, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">we clearly see and can state the results and the positive results they have brought to our company<\/span><span class=\"s1\">. Combin<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ed<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> OKRs <\/span><span class=\"s2\">and<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> two other hyper-efficient practices have sky-rocketed our productivity.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><strong>Together, these are the 3 processes that have been game-changing:<\/strong><\/p><ul>\n<li>OKRs<\/li>\n<li>Cross-functional Agile team structure based on the product<\/li>\n<li>Biweekly sprints<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 class=\"p1\" id=\"h-1-okrs\"><strong>1. OKRs<\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The single most important tool <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to increase our productivity was<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> OKRs &ndash; a very simple, but extremely powerful way to set organizational goal.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">OKRs have helped us stay focused on our company goals and reflect on each quarter&rsquo;s progress. Some of the biggest tech companies in the world, such as Google, LinkedIn, and Zynga, use OKRs<\/span><span class=\"s1\">. The important thing <\/span><span class=\"s2\">here <\/span><span class=\"s1\">is that at least 70% of objectives and key results come from employees.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Breaking down OKRs<\/span><\/strong><\/h3><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s4\">Objective<\/span><span class=\"s1\">s<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">in OKRs <\/span><span class=\"s4\">are <\/span><span class=\"s1\">high importance,<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> strategic<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ally<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> measur<\/span><span class=\"s1\">able<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> goals. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">When<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">recognized<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> and <\/span><span class=\"s1\">set apart<\/span><span class=\"s4\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">objectives<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> become easily trackable units <\/span><span class=\"s1\">for which we are accountable<\/span><span class=\"s4\">.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Once <\/span><span class=\"s2\">we have identified our goals<\/span><span class=\"s1\">, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">progress is quantified by applying numerically-based measures of success towards the goal at regular and defined intervals. They are known as key results.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Instead <\/span><span class=\"s2\">of involving the management in this process<\/span><span class=\"s1\">, only the team members working on an objective are responsible for the results.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s4\">There are no tasks or to-do lists, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">only an<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> objective record of what a positive result <\/span><span class=\"s1\">looks like<\/span><span class=\"s4\">. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">This allows us to experiment and assess all possible scenarios when in the process of achieving targeted results.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Not only do we focus on the company&rsquo;s OKRs, but we also set personal ones. <\/span><span class=\"s4\">This bring<\/span><span class=\"s1\">s<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> transparency <\/span><span class=\"s1\">for<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> the entire team, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">making<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> every<\/span><span class=\"s1\">one aware of each other&rsquo;s goals and expectations<\/span><span class=\"s4\">.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">The use of personal<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> OKRs <\/span><span class=\"s2\">goes<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> beyond goal-setting and measuring. We&rsquo;ve <\/span><span class=\"s2\">also discovered OKRs&rsquo;<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&nbsp;ability to provide<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> clarity over <\/span><span class=\"s2\">team <\/span><span class=\"s1\">structure<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"s1\">and <\/span><span class=\"s2\">validation<\/span> <span class=\"s2\">for the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">company<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&rsquo;s<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> direction.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Reinforcing the Flat Structure in Our Organization<\/span><\/strong><\/h3><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">OKRs solve the challenges that arise due to <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">complexity <\/span><span class=\"s2\">of a large team <\/span><span class=\"s1\">in two ways:<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s4\">1. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">They <\/span><span class=\"s4\">focus<\/span><span class=\"s1\">&nbsp;on<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> every <\/span><span class=\"s1\">team <\/span><span class=\"s4\">member in the organization <\/span><span class=\"s1\">individually<\/span><span class=\"s4\">, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">therefore one&rsquo;s contribution to the team is clear and concise.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s4\">2. By <\/span><span class=\"s1\">taking responsibility to achieve personal and company goals, one can identify when and where they are needed the most and contribute accordingly.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Validating the Company<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&rsquo;s<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> Direction<\/span><\/strong><\/h3><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s4\">The more an objective <\/span><span class=\"s1\">is understood, <\/span><span class=\"s4\">the easier it <\/span><span class=\"s1\">is<\/span><span class=\"s4\"> to define measurable results. A simple<\/span><span class=\"s1\">, easy, and clear process will lead to the desired outcome.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">We have also discovered that hard-to-draft OKRs are <\/span><span class=\"s4\">a symptom of bigger problems.<\/span><\/p><h2 class=\"p2\" id=\"h-2-cross-functional-agile-team-structure-based-on-the-product\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">2. Cross-Functional Agile Team Structure Based on the Product<\/span><\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">After implementing OKRs, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">we<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"s1\">noticed that it was almost impossible to craft <\/span><span class=\"s2\">functional<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> OKRs for our developer<\/span><span class=\"s2\">s<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> and system engineer<\/span><span class=\"s2\">s due to<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> their daily tasks <\/span><span class=\"s2\">being <\/span><span class=\"s1\">div<\/span><span class=\"s2\">erse.<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> That was a clear indication <\/span><span class=\"s2\">of a dysfunctional team structure.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Our solution was to introduce an Agile team structure. An Agile team is a cross-functional group of people that have everything and everyone necessary to produce a working, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">augmentative<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> product. We borrowed ideas from the Agile methodology and created our own cross-functional teams based on <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">product. <\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">As a result,<\/span><span class=\"s1\">&nbsp;we no longer have <\/span><span class=\"s2\">a <\/span><span class=\"s1\">team <\/span><span class=\"s2\">of developers <\/span><span class=\"s1\">or system engineers. Instead, we have teams with all the necessary people to complete the job internally. For instance, our marketing team has a team leader, a designer, content writers, a PPC specialist, and a developer. Team<\/span><span class=\"s2\">s<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> are fast, efficient, and completely independent. Each has its own OKRs. In order to do its job, a team doesn&rsquo;t need to ask for help from the developer team<\/span><span class=\"s1\">&nbsp;anymore. <\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This eliminates bureaucracy and having to wait <\/span><span class=\"s2\">for<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the other departments to complete their segment of the project. Each team is<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> fully empowered to get the work done <\/span><span class=\"s2\">by itself<\/span><span class=\"s1\">.<\/span><\/p><h2 class=\"p2\" id=\"h-3-biweekly-sprints\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">3. Biweekly Sprints<\/span><\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&rsquo;ve implemented<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> OKRs. We<\/span><span class=\"s2\">&rsquo;ve organized<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> talented Agile teams. Now we needed <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to increase our<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> speed <\/span><span class=\"s2\">in<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> deliver<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ing<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> the change to our customers faster.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As Leonardo da Vinci once said<\/span><span class=\"s2\">:<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> &lsquo;I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.&rsquo;<\/i><\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">To propel our OKRs, we needed to divide them into smaller chunks within set deadlines.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">How would we do it, though? Deadlines never seemed to <\/span><span class=\"s2\">provide the desired result<\/span><span class=\"s1\">.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Yes, they can be energizing,<\/span><span class=\"s1\">&nbsp;sharpen <\/span><span class=\"s2\">our<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> focus, set priorities, and <\/span><span class=\"s2\">make the collaboration between teams more effective. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">After all, when there is no pressure, the mind wanders and the brain looks for external stimulation. H<\/span><span class=\"s2\">owever<\/span><span class=\"s1\">, we <\/span><span class=\"s2\">noticed<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> time and time again <\/span><span class=\"s2\">how a sense of urgency created by a deadline can backfire.<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> Creat<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ing<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> a sense of urgency takes a lot <\/span><span class=\"s2\">of <\/span><span class=\"s1\">effort<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, yet provides very few results.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Deadlines tend to exhaust team leaders and waste their focus. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Micromanagement also reduces the trust between team leaders and their teams. Deadlines start to overtake the communication stream, leading to us questioning the priority instead of asking why. With too many deadlines, we stop thinking <\/span><span class=\"s2\">clearly and effectively <\/span><span class=\"s1\">and start <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to feel stressed and overthink<\/span><span class=\"s1\">.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Fear of <\/span><span class=\"s2\">underachievement and failure<\/span><span class=\"s1\">&nbsp;led us to the third process we adopted: <strong>self-implemented bi-weekly sprints<\/strong>. The principle here is that deadlines work far better when they are personally motivated. <\/span><\/p><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When we set our own goals, the why becomes more powerful and the drive to achieve is stronger. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">As a result, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">our product teams set their deadlines in bi-weekly sprints. Every two weeks the teams <\/span><span class=\"s2\">come<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> together, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">examine<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> their quarterly OKRs, and plan their next sprint. Delivering on goals <\/span><span class=\"s2\">set individually<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> drives team members to hold each other up, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">leading to increased<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> happiness and engagement at work.<\/span><\/p><h2 class=\"p1\" id=\"h-final-words\"><span class=\"s1\">Final Words<\/span><\/h2><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">A<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ll it took to <\/span><span class=\"s2\">grow and improve<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> our complex beast was a vision, OKRs, and an Agile team <\/span><span class=\"s2\">structure with<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> work in <\/span><span class=\"s2\">bi-weekly <\/span><span class=\"s1\">sprints. Responsibilities are now clear and <\/span><span class=\"s2\">shared, <\/span><span class=\"s1\">and we have a sharp, motivated team who are nailing it every <\/span><span class=\"s2\">d<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ay. This is simple but very powerful.<\/span><\/p><p>If you found this interesting, check out the following links to study the topic deeper:<\/p><ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/startup-tools\/okrs-5afdc298bc28#.xvs6876yb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/medium.com\/startup-tools\/okrs-5afdc298bc28#.xvs6876yb<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch\/?v=mJB83EZtAjc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch\/?v=mJB83EZtAjc<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@kimber_lockhart\/don-t-create-a-sense-of-urgency-foster-a-sense-of-purpose-724e309ecdb0#.4jpp4ho3o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/medium.com\/@kimber_lockhart\/don-t-create-a-sense-of-urgency-foster-a-sense-of-purpose-724e309ecdb0#.4jpp4ho3o<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3030567\/work-smart\/the-case-for-and-against-stressful-deadlines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3030567\/work-smart\/the-case-for-and-against-stressful-deadlines<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leadingagile.com\/2015\/02\/what-is-an-agile-team-and-how-do-you-form-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.leadingagile.com\/2015\/02\/what-is-an-agile-team-and-how-do-you-form-them\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Hostinger our vision is to enable millions of people around the globe to unlock the power of the internet by giving them tools to learn, create, and grow online. We provide a wo\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":1510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[264,635],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-life","tag-hostinger","tag-hostinger-relate-post"],"hreflangs":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3745,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/3745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}