Xavi Feliu describes how Objective Key Results methodology impact on Finques Feliu

Today the interview section 'comes back to Finques Feliu's blog, we love this for two reasons.

Firstly, while our Community Manager prepares the questions he stippes of the different works of the team and gains empathy, which for him is a gift. Secondly, using the interview format allows us to present to our reading community the differents job in our team. One of the best things a company can do is to make an effort to humanize every team member.

Xavi Feliu has been helping us to refine our business strategy for some years now and he does it thanks to his training abroad and by interacting with the Feliu team.

Finques Feliu (from now on FF): 1. Xavi, how would you explain, in an understandable way, what the Objective Key Results (from now on OKR's) methodology consists of?   

Xavi Feliu (from now on XF):

It is an organizational system that defines a series of objectives linked to key results. At the same time, the OKR's, normally quarterly, are always aligned with an annual company objective and above all, with the mission and vision of our firm.

FF: 2. How did you discover the OKR method?

XF:

I was lucky to be able to travel to San Francisco for a month. There, I visited companies like Linked In, Airbnb, Salesforce or Google. In the latter, they talked about a methodology they used to be more aligned, to be more transparent and to work more and better as a team; that really caught my attention.

When I returned to Barcelona, I decided to investigate more about this organizational system and I carried out different research theses, always with an eminently practical orientation. At that time I was starting with Buzzinn and I promoted the implementation of OKRs. Honestly, it did not work as we expected, and it was not the best fit at the time. From this experience I learned that OKRs are not the solution to everything, but that a specific context must be given for their application to be successful.

FF: 3. What are the advantages of applying OKR's systematically at FinquesFeliu? How long have OKR's been applied to our company? What does our team convey to you about the usefulness of applying this methodology?  

XF:

OKR's are a tool that, when well applied, provides alignment, transparency and motivation.

When I started introducing OKRs at Feliu in late 2020, we didn't have an organizational culture of setting goals, tracking them and developing long-term strategies. Initially we used OKRs to measure certain results that were important to the company's development on a weekly basis. We knew that we were not really doing OKR's, at the time these were our needs and we prioritized them.

It is crucial that the methodology is adapted to the needs of the company, not the other way around; and to be clear from where we start to make a good implementation plan adapted to each situation.

Over time, especially during this 2023, we have been able to experience the reasons why OKRs are implemented:

• To achieve a more aligned Feliu who understands what are the annual objectives and the company's purpose.
• To foster a culture where our team is more transparent and involved because it participates in the definition and execution of the OKR's.
• An organization, if it thinks and plans for the long term, can consider having more ambitious objectives.

FF: 4. What are the challenges of introducing OKR's from scratch? Can they be applied to any type of company or organization?

XF:

To be successful, OKRs cannot be applied in any context. As I commented in the second question, we implemented OKR's in Buzzinn, my first entrepreneurial project, and we were not successful.

This methodology requires patience and follow-through to see results, as well as perseverance and ambition. Startups in the process of extreme growth tend to have very different objectives each month, which is why it is not advisable to apply OKR's in companies in this situation, as it is difficult to maintain the same focus in the long term.

The biggest challenge we have had at Feliu with OKR's has been to measure the key results. Objectives are always linked to results, and in order to measure them, new indicators have to be created. In our case, it has been a huge challenge starting from almost zero. The OKRs and, above all, the digital transformation carried out by the I+G department have helped us to evolve and make a huge leap forward, although there is still a long way to go.

FF: 5. From the customer's point of view - current or future - how does the implementation of OKR's help them?

XF:

This system of organization is characterized by being ambitious, since it allows us to think much more in the long term. The customer will be much more understood and we will be able to anticipate their needs and put them at the center of everything.

Precisely during 2023, our focus has been to work on the customer experience.

This is one of the keys to the annual goal of 2023.

At Feliu we are obsessed with achieving customer satisfaction, we want to surprise them and build a great fan base. We work on perceived quality.

In short, OKRs do not have a direct impact on the customer, but they will help to build strategies that, in the long run, if successful, will have a great impact on the customer experience.

FF: 6. Without personalizing on anyone, as a mentor in the introduction of the OKR's, what evaluation do you make about the OKR's implementation to Finques Feliu?

XF:

Overall, I think the OKRs have had a very positive impact on Feliu. They have brought the necessary empathy so that the company has made a beastly transformation in three years. It wasn't all flowers and flowers, at the beginning you can't imagine how hard it was to understand what Objective & Key Results were. In this process, I have also learned a lot in the way Feliu works and I have been able to understand what were the necessary times of action.

There is still much room for improvement, we need to be more ambitious in the definition of the objectives, since the average completion rate has been around 85%; we have the opportunity to use the OKRs to encourage and promote an entrepreneurial culture within Feliu.

Finally, I value very positively the performance of the whole team that has accompanied me during these three years and they have made things much easier for me. I have been able to experience firsthand the evolution and the efforts they have made and looking back has made me realize the enormous progress since the beginning.

Thank you Xavi for your useful interview.