OKRs focused on ameliorating the quality of products and services can help the business in enhancing Quality Assurance in the following ways:

• With the right OKR, a business can identify a product defect in the initial stages of a development lifecycle.
• The products/ services are created keeping in mind specific quality metrics.
• Processes are optimized to create quality products.

Reduce/eliminate bugs in the products by thoroughly assessing the production system.

 

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OKR (Objectives and Key Results) are an indispensable aspect of any business. In order to achieve business growth and stand-out from its competitors, a business must formulate well-defined OKRs to set the organization on track to achieve long-term goals. It is vital for the business to set-up clear objectives, as it enables the business to develop a concrete plan to prioritize a set of tasks and dedicate complete attention to the attainment of these tasks. Objectives are meant to give a specific direction to the business. With clear and well-defined objectives in place, it is easier to create a plan with the key results that ultimately help the business to achieve long-term goals.

Defining precise objectives and key results focused on quality helps in enhancing the Quality Assurance of the business as it ensures that the products and services offered are up-to-the-mark. There isn’t a compromise in quality as the business wants to be in the good books of its consumers and create value with their offerings. If the brand strives to deliver products and services keeping the consumer expectations at the forefront, it is bound to deliver its best. This helps create a positive brand image and the consumers engage with the brand like never before and spread a positive word about the brand. The exceptional consumer experience with regards to the quality of the products and services, customer interaction, and engagement with the brand and support received throughout the buyer journey are indeed important factors to promote business growth.

An example would help to understand the concept better:

Objective: An online retail clothing chain wants to increase its profits by 30% in a particular quarter.

Key Result 1: Create brand-awareness and user engagement through various social media channels using quirky posts to attract attention

Key Result 2: Offer discounts on specific product lines (which users prefer to buy)

Key Result 3: Offer free products if the user spends more than a specified amount. (A marketing tactic that usually entices users to buy more)

If the brand wants to be in the good books of the customers and expects the profits to soar, it will offer quality products to the consumers so that there is a considerably lower return rate. Consumers who like the quality of the products will share good reviews about the product, thus facilitating sales through word-of-mouth.

OKR can help a business in enhancing its Quality Assurance in the following ways:

• A defective product is identified in the initial stages of a development lifecycle

If a business wants to enhance the quality of the products and services it delivers to the consumers, it should follow strict Quality Assurance guidelines. The precise Quality Assurance guidelines enable the business to find the defects in the product during the initial stages of a product development lifecycle. Following the accurate Quality Assurance guidelines drastically reduces the defect rate in the products/ services offered to the consumers. It also ensures only the premium quality of products reaches the consumer. This helps build trust and loyalty towards the brand. It will ultimately lead to brand promotion through positive word-of-mouth.

• The products/services are created using specific quality metrics.

Quality metrics play an indispensable role in ensuring the quality standards at different levels of hierarchy in the organization. Specific quality metrics are laid down by the business to ensure it follows the standard protocols to ensure uniformity in the quality of its products/ services. The businesses stick to these pre-defined metrics to ensure the best quality of their products and services.

• Processes are optimized to deliver quality products

Process Optimization is the key factor business takes into consideration to deliver quality products. Implementing new processes, updating the existing processes, increasing automation for repetitive tasks are considered by the business to ameliorate the product quality. This will ensure that the business processes also follow standard quality protocols

• Reduce/eliminate bugs in the products

The identification and resolution of errors in the production process itself can go a long way in adhering to the quality metrics set out by the business. The production process should be devoid of glitches to ensure the quality requirements are met successfully. This will ultimately reduce or eliminate bugs in the products at the right time without propagating it to the other stages of the development lifecycle.

How does formulating effective OKRs that are focused on quality help businesses in enhancing their Quality Assurance?

Formulating effective OKRs that are focused on quality has a strong impact on enhancing the QA of the business. This is because OKRs clearly define what a business should achieve in the long run. What is the value it will have to create at the end of the quarter or probably a year? Is it customer satisfaction, creating brand value, or an increase in sales/profits? These questions should lead to formulating effective objectives and key results for the business that are focused on quality as it gives a clear idea of the business priorities. And also help to understand where the business is heading and where it wants to be five years down the line.

The objectives should be formulated in collaboration with other stakeholders so that everyone gets a clear picture of what needs to be achieved. All levels of hierarchy in the organization should be easily able to comprehend the objectives that are focused on enhancing the quality of its products and services. Everyone in the organization should be aware of the quality guidelines of the products/ services that need to be delivered to the end consumer. This will ensure that all the employees will strive to ensure the quality requirements are met at any cost. Adhering to the quality guidelines at all levels of an organization will help in delivering a premium product devoid of any defects. After all, a business wants to be known for the quality it delivers and the value it has created for itself. So, the quality shouldn’t be compromised at any cost. Otherwise, it would prove to be a major determinant of the downfall of the business.

With accurate and powerful OKRs, it is indeed easy to follow the quality metrics at all the levels of an organizational hierarchy. It ensures that a premium end product reaches the consumer that maintains the highest quality standards.

Indicators of Good Objectives focused on Quality

• Good objectives should be inspiring, ambitious yet measurable, and achievable.
• Focused on consumer needs or demands.
• A good objective should strive to create business value.
• Objectives should be focused and precise.
• Good Objectives should be time-bound and transparent.

 

The OKRs thus help enhance the quality of the products and services a business has to offer and create value for the brand. A positive brand image can go a long way in gaining new customers and retaining valuable existing customers. Creating a positive brand image is of utmost importance for the business to thrive even during turbulent times. It is the pragmatic image, the brand has created for itself that will help retain its loyal customers and also attract new customers. The customers spread a positive word about the brand, that further ameliorates its reputation. This will ultimately help the business to grow and prosper exponentially, attaining the highest level of customer satisfaction.