The Goal-Reflection Loop is a virtuous and self-reinforcing set of behaviors for purposeful work. It helps teams stay aligned, accomplish amazing things, and feel fulfilled in their work.
Tl;dr: set, measure, reflect, repeat
When olympians or sports teams want to win a gold medal or championship, they focus on practice, analyzing the output, and using it to develop strong habits that are in line with their athletic goals. Yet, with most businesses, we don’t see the same logic: business teams are always focused on the end goal -- like product launches or revenue targets -- and not developing better habits that will help them achieve those results.
Based on years of studying how teams best achieve their goals, a major barrier to achieving our goals is our mindset. Organizations generally spend the bulk of its energy setting goals, rather than what it takes to reach those goals. More often than not, teams will spend time coming up with a great set of priorities and goals, and then return back to their “normal” daily work routine and won’t discuss those goals until it's too late.
The most effective teams around the world have realized that goals are not something you 'do' quarterly or yearly (the typical set-and-forget approach). Instead, breakthrough outcomes are achieved through weekly behaviors and feedback loops.
By integrating your goals into a self-reinforcing flywheel of consistent reflection and iteration, teams will spend less time asking whether your goals are the right goals, and more time on doing the work, learning from it and progressing forward. Typically a goal framework, like the OKR methodology can help reinforce this goal-reflection loop.
Our vision is to bring the power of goals and reflection to teams everywhere. We believe that healthy teams are sustained through alignment, which is fostered through the habits of setting goals and reflecting on progress. This guide will teach you how to embrace the goal-reflection loop for your own team or company.
Keep your teams motivated, happy and pulling in the same direction throughout the OKR process.
Koan helps guarantee your team knows why what they do matters and how it will make a difference
Koan’s OKR platform supports your existing processes and workflows, without the need for new meetings or distracting data entry
Koan builds transparency with natural opportunities for feedback between managers and team members
Koan aligns every employee’s work to the company’s Mission, Vision, Values, Strategy and Goals
