The current business situation is marked by a high degree of uncertainty, volatility, and disruption. Today, businesses need to adapt quickly to the dynamic market, changing customer needs, disrupted supply chains, and new regulations and safety protocols. Small businesses specifically have to quickly rethink their strategies, processes, and operations to stay competitive and resilient in this rapidly changing and competitive business environment.
An OKR software is a digital tool designed to help individuals and organizations set, track, and measure progress towards their objectives and key results. With limited resources and time, small businesses need to be efficient and effective in achieving their objectives. An OKR software provides them with a centralized platform for teams to collaborate, establish and manage their objectives, and track their progress over time.
OKR software can provide small businesses with valuable insights into their performance, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and pivot quickly if necessary.
In this article, we will explore 6 top OKR software options for small businesses, including their features, pros and cons and pricing. By understanding the different options available, small businesses can choose the best OKR software to meet their unique needs and drive results.
Criteria for Selecting the Best OKR Software
Before we dive into the options, we’d like to highlight a few factors that will play a pivotal role in helping you select the best OKR software for your small business. This list is inclusive of but not limited to the following factors:
1. Ease of Use: The OKR software should be easy to use and intuitive. It should have a user-friendly interface that allows for seamless collaboration and goal-setting.
2. Features: The software should have all the necessary features for managing OKRs, including goal-setting, progress tracking, and reporting, 1:1 meetings, performance management, enabling conducting business reviews through one single platform like Slack, etc.
3. Integration: The software should be compatible with other tools that your small business uses, such as project management, CRM software, communication tools, data integrations, HRIS, etc.
4. Customization: The software should allow for the customization of OKRs to fit your small business’s unique needs and objectives.
5. Pricing: The software should be affordable and offer a pricing structure that fits your small business’s budget.
6. Support: The software should offer reliable customer support and training resources to help your small business get the most out of the tool.
7. All-in-one tool: It should be an all-in-one platform that includes OKRs, Business Review meetings, KPIs Tracking, complete performance management & employee engagement.
Top 6 Best OKR Software for Small Businesses
1.Peoplebox
Peoplebox is an OKR tool designed for providing a comprehensive platform for managing OKRs, feedback, and employee engagement.
This cloud-based software offers a user-friendly interface that allows teams to set, track, and monitor progress towards their goals. The software’s features include custom goal-setting, progress tracking, automated reminders, and performance analytics, etc.
With Peoplebox, small businesses can create a culture of continuous feedback and improvement, with features such as real-time feedback, 1-on-1 meeting agendas, and conducting business reviews, etc. The software’s engagement dashboard provides valuable insights into employee engagement and satisfaction, allowing businesses to take action to improve retention and performance.
Notable Features
1. Excellent OKR solution
Peoplebox offers easy implementation of OKRs across companies by utilizing the Peoplebox implementation framework in conjunction with next-gen OKR software. It enables employees to gain a better understanding of what drives the company by viewing OKRs and how they align across the organization. Tracking progress is extremely easy with Peoplbox. It empowers teams to track their goals and KPIs wherever they prefer.
2. Single Page App
Peoplebox is a single-page app and has been rated the easiest-to-use OKR and Performance Management software by G2. It provides a comprehensive overview of company goals, team tasks, individual performance, progress reports, charts, and more on the same page. This user-friendly interface simplifies the goal-setting and monitoring process, making it both effortless to use and navigate.
3. Customizable OKR and business review dashboards
Peoplbox allows you to create customized dashboards for business reviews, and OKRs, adding KPIs, and action items that automatically populate OKR progress. This feature enables you to conduct efficient weekly and monthly business review meetings, identifying roadblocks for teams to focus on resolving them proactively. The customizable dashboards are easy to create, allowing you to add charts, KPIs, and narration effortlessly while also tracking OKR progress.
4. 100+ native tool integrations
Peoplebox allows you to integrate over 100 native tools such as Slack, Jira, Asana, MySQL, Google Sheets, Salesforce, Notion, Darwinbox, BambooHR, Snowflake, GitHub, Trello and so many others. These integrations bring everything to one place and enable real-time updates of your goals within these tools. Additionally, you can easily generate auto-populated dashboards for business reviews and weekly check-ins.
5. Performance review through Slack
Peoplebox claims that you can potentially decrease your manual efforts by up to 90% with their performance review solution through Slack! It allows you to take full control of the performance review process effortlessly from Slack. You can tailor the review process to your precise needs and implement specific reminders at each stage. It also enables the employees to conveniently edit and retract their reviews. It also offers auto-reminders and nudges for quick approvals and review submissions.
Pros of Peoplebox
- Setting up goals and key results on the platform is extremely easy. It only takes a few minutes, thanks to its intuitive and user-friendly interface.
- The platform is an all-in-one solution that incorporates OKRs, Business Review meetings, KPIs tracking, comprehensive performance management, and employee engagement.
- Its goal-setting feature is particularly noteworthy, allowing managers to establish specific, measurable, and attainable objectives for their team members. These objectives can be monitored and tracked in real time via the platform. It breaks down OKRs which provides a clear perspective of objectives and enables users to keep track of progress and
- Peoplebox effortlessly integrates with HR systems and other team tools, facilitating the mapping and tracking of OKR progress.
- Peoplebox provides several features such as performance tracking, goal setting, feedback and recognition, performance reviews, check-ins, etc. It also allows easy execution and management of 1:1 meetings.
Cons of Peoplebox
- Limited language for now. Only allows English. However, you can write your OKRs in any language.
- Too direct in terms of measuring progress and tracking, Since, it gives a clear and precise picture in real-time, it becomes overwhelming in case the business is not performing well presently.
2. ClickUp
ClickUp is a project management tool that empowers teams to oversee their tasks, projects, and workflows in a centralized location. Its user-friendly interface and diverse array of features make it simple for teams of any size to collaborate efficiently and optimize their workflows.
Notable Features
1. Simplifies team collaboration and synchronization
You can generate shared spaces for teams or projects and invite team members to cooperate. ClickUp also offers real-time editing and commenting capabilities, enabling you to communicate with your team members and obtain feedback on your work.
2. Task Management
The task management feature of ClickUp is highly dynamic and adaptable. It offers the ability to create tasks, establish due dates, delegate them to team members, and attach descriptions, comments, and files. It also allows you to leverage custom fields and tags to categorize your tasks according to priority, status, or any other criteria you prefer.
3. Easy customization
ClickUp is highly flexible and can be tailored to meet specific requirements. You can personalize task views, produce custom fields and tags, configure automation, and connect ClickUp with other tools used by your team through integrations.
Pros of ClickUp
- ClickUp provides a comprehensive suite of features for project management, including task management, time tracking, collaboration, and much more. It offers an all-in-one solution for teams seeking to optimize their workflows.
- It has a user-friendly interface which enables teams to begin using the tool quickly and navigate it with ease.
- ClickUp integrates with various tools like Google Drive, Slack, Trello, Asana, and several others, facilitating teams to operate effortlessly across multiple platforms.
Cons of ClickUp
- The Android app of the tool presently fails to meet the expected standards and has scopes for improvement.
- The page does not refresh automatically sometimes. Hence, if you modify a task’s status while browsing a page with numerous tasks and save the change, the page may not refresh to display the modification.
3. Betterworks
Betterworks is a comprehensive performance management solution that HR professionals trust to improve employee engagement, increase manager efficiency, and foster business impact. With a focus on goal setting and quality results, Betterworks offers numerous features to promote strategic alignment and enhance individual team member’s performance with flexible goals and OKRs.
Notable Features
1. Collaboration features
Betterworks creates a collaborative work environment by promoting continuous improvement through increased collaboration, communication, and engagement. Its wide range of features, including easy feedback mechanisms, review capabilities, report generation, and performance appreciation tools, contribute to the creation of a better work environment.
2. Agile
Betterworks offers you the ability to set agile goals, allowing your business to quickly adapt to changing priorities. You can easily customize your goals and OKRs to align with new business needs and objectives.
3. Alignment
Betterworks aligns every member of the organization with the larger business goals by enhancing visibility into the company’s strategy. It also enables transparency in terms of alignment, progress tracking, and analytics, all of which contribute to continuous improvement.
Pros of Betterworks
- Workboard offers easy and simple project tracking
- Users can leave comments to acknowledge and recognize their colleagues’ contributions to company-wide projects.
- The app has a highly intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it effortless for users to find what they need.
Cons of Betterworks
- It requires a significant learning curve to implement OKRs. It is recommended that users invest dedicated time in the courses offered by the platform to effectively learn and utilize this feature.
- Betterworks’ integration capabilities with third-party solutions could be improved. While it offers an out-of-the-box integration solution, it is limited to exchanging employee information between systems.
4. Weekdone
Weekdone is an OKR and performance management tool. This tool enables you to set company objectives, align and manage teams, and track individual performance based on task progress. Weekdone facilitates seamless collaboration across departments to improve communication in the organization and offers efficient OKR tracking and feedback provision features.
Notable Features
1. Greater alignment
Weekdone makes it easy for organizations to set and align their OKRs with its user-friendly platform. The goals and progress are visible to everyone, and the software has KPI tracking and color-coded OKR tracking to provide a clear view of the strategy.
2. Collaboration features
Weekdone emphasizes enhancing engagement and coordination by creating a connected environment within the company. To promote a collaborative workspace culture, Weekdone has several features like openly shared OKR plans and initiatives, a news feed for updates, and options for public praise and feedback, among others.
3. Result-oriented
You can set clear and specific goals and track progress through cross-team collaboration. Weekdone provides a company-wide overview, promoting transparency, and has robust weekly tracking features to prioritize tasks effectively.
Pros of Weekdone
- It is simple to track progress on all OKRs using this tool. It also provides a scoring mechanism that helps to better comprehend what constitutes a successful objective, key result, or initiative.
- The progress on the company dashboard is visible to everyone, allowing them to align their objectives and make a more valuable contribution.
Cons of Weekdone
- Onboarding for the software can be challenging without assistance. There is a learning curve associated with Weekdone, and some users may find it challenging to set goals and navigate weekly summaries.
- It’s not recommended for complex workflows involving cross-functional teams or individuals managing multiple tasks.
5. Perdoo
Perdoo is a performance management tool that places a strong emphasis on employee engagement in achieving goals. It enables real-time tracking of targets and identifies any areas that need improvement. The tool facilitates effective communication of company strategy to employees, ensuring better alignment.
Notable Features
1. Focus on strategy
The implementation of strategic pillars not only assists management in making informed decisions but also facilitates the effective communication of the strategy in a manner that is comprehensible to others.
2. KPI board
Perdoo has an exclusive KPI board that allows for the tracking of OKR progress over an extended period, rather than just one quarter. Furthermore, KPI boards can be generated for various categories and departments, guaranteeing that all personnel are contributing to the advancement of the company’s overall objective.
3. Periodic Summary Reports
Perdoo provides a summary report on the company’s progress and performance since the previous check-in is a valuable feature. The summary report is automatically disseminated to all team members and offers a useful snapshot of recent updates on OKR and KPI progress, enabling swift action to be taken.
Pro of Perdoo
- Perdoo offers industry-level resources to enhance OKR and KPI implementation, maximizing efficiency and output.
- Perdoo’s feature of visually presenting the company’s vision through an OKR Map is very useful. It effectively breaks down the vision into strategic pillars and OKRs, providing a clear and concise visualization.
- Very straightforward UI for OKR setting.
Cons of Perdoo
- The app is not completely bug-free, some issues have been reported.
- Users have encountered confusion with the dropdown menu when setting OKRs and initiatives.
6. Profit.co
Profit.co is an alternative OKR management software. This tool emphasizes an OKR-centric approach and aids users in implementing strategies. It facilitates a quarterly cycle for OKR planning and execution, providing real-time tracking of task progress. It also includes multiple collaboration features to encourage employee engagement.
Notable Features
1. Built-in KPIs
Profit.co offers more than 400 inbuilt and customizable KPIs. These are specially useful for individuals who are new to setting OKRs. The tool includes a variety of metrics for measuring key results, even for KRs are not easily quantifiable.
2. Easy and straightforward
The ease of use is enhanced by its built-in step-by-step guide and templates, which caters to the needs of various levels of the organization. Additionally, reviews, weekly check-ins, and OKR progress reports are conveniently accessible.
3. Easy goal-setting and alignment
Profit.co makes goal alignment effortless and includes a dashboard that provides visibility to all, regarding the company’s objectives and their individual roles in achieving those goals.
Pros of Profit.co
- Profit.co has a visually appealing dashboard, complete with graphs and charts for effective progress tracking.
- The software provides support for OKR setting, including coaching and recommendations, and pre-built OKR templates for user convenience and ease.
Cons of Profit.co
- New users may find the software challenging and non-intuitive due to its excessive features.
- Navigating the system can be difficult, with users struggling to comprehend how certain features function and how they relate to others.
- It can sometimes be challenging to utilize integrations within the tool.
Conclusion
Small businesses can greatly benefit from utilizing OKR software to manage their goals effectively. With the right OKR software, small businesses can improve their strategy implementation and boost productivity. Ultimately, the choice of which software to use will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the business.
Peoplebox, Perdoo, Profit.co, Weekdone, BetterWorks, and ClickUp are all excellent options with unique features that can help streamline your goal-setting process. For example, Peoplebox stands out for its intuitive interface, user-friendly templates for goal-setting, its continuous feedback, employee engagement and ease of conducting business reviews through Slack features. ClickUp, on the other hand, offers a broad range of features for managing a project well.
By carefully evaluating each software and selecting one that suits your business objectives, you can leverage OKRs to drive your business forward and achieve success.
