At Serverless we focus on performance and impact. It's not just about getting shit done, it's about getting the right shit done. Making sure that we spend our time and efforts on the most impactful projects requires dedication and focus. We use a combination of OKRs to set clear objectives and impact based performance reviews to make sure that team members are focusing on the right projects.
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. At Serverless our CEO, Austen, sets OKRs for the direction of the entire company. Teams then set their own OKRs to support the company OKRs and individuals set OKRs to support the team OKRs.
The process is pretty simple and allows each team member to have a clear understanding of every level of objectives within the organization and how their efforts directly contribute to the success of Serverless. All OKRs are hosted in the company repo where any team member can access them, comment on them, and makes suggestions.
Objectives Start by defining objectives for the company, team, or individual. Objectives should be ambitious and a little uncomfortable. They should also be qualitative, time-bound, and actionable.
Key Results Under each objective list 3-4 measurable results. These results should be quantitative, measurable, and challenging, but not impossible.
When completing OKRs we emphasize focusing on the right objectives that move the needle for the organization. You can create a list of light-weight objectives that are easy to accomplish 100%, but you'll get push back from your manager and it will probably affect your performance review at the end of the quarter (read on under Performance Reviews).
At Serverless we believe that constant feedback is the key to all good communication between team members. No team member should be completely shocked with any feedback that they get in a performance review. We foster a culture of candid conversation where team members are encouraged to share what's going right, what's going wrong, and how to improve.
Each quarter we formalize the feedback through team member reviews. For each team member, we send out a survey to their manager, team members, and direct reports. Head of Operations, Casey, then works with each team lead to help them compile the feedback into a comprehensive report they share with their direct reports.
The performance survey consists of 2 sections: a performance matrix and a free form feedback section.
The first section includes 3 questions:
- How impactful were the team member's objectives? It doesn't matter if you complete 100% of your objectives if they were things like, "respond to emails in a timely manner or tweet daily". We're looking for ambitious objectives that are going to further the Serverless vision and mission.
- How well did the team member execute on their objectives? The goal for the team is to complete between 70% - 80% of objectives. This means that they were challenging, but not impossible.
- How well does the team member embody the culture and values of Serverless? Ensuring that our team members uphold the Serverless team culture and values are a top priority. Even if a person is a "top performer" their attitude and behavior can be detrimental to the organization if nobody wants to work with them.
Team members give a rating between 1 and 3.
- Did not meet expectations.
- Met expectations.
- Exceeded expectations.
The second section includes open-ended questions that allow team members to give qualitative feedback.
Some sample questions are:
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What do you like most about working with [insert name here]?
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What is the biggest challenge about working with [insert name here]?
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What can [insert name here] do to improve their work performance?
We encourage team members to include clear examples and stories that can be shared with the team member in question to illustrate their behavior.
Individual feedback forms are never shared directly with the team member, but sometimes story details will reveal the identity of the person giving the feedback. Luckily, as mentioned before, we encourage candid feedback at all times so team members should never be surprised by what they hear in a review.
We are still perfecting our policy around raises and advancement. Currently, each team member has the opportunity to discuss an increase in salary with their manager after their first year at Serverless. After that team members have the opportunity for a raise every year, but their manager can recommend an increase in salary in six-month intervals to reward the team member's excellent impact or reflect changes in the market.
Serverless is currently a small team with a relatively flat structure. As the company continues to grow team members who consistently take the lead on projects and show good judgment will have the opportunity to build out teams to lead. As the company continues to grow, team members who thrive with more responsibility will continue to advance as positions are filled beneath them.