This article is part of our Q1 spotlight on Partner Program Planning, Goal Setting, and Forecasting. Learn more in the series introduction.
Amanda Folino had an interesting path into partnerships, having ricocheted into the industry from the marketing and beauty space. Ultimately, Amanda fell into an agency partner role and found she absolutely loved working with the agencies and technology.
Today, Amanda is part of a small team of three partnership pros as a Technology Partner Manager at impact.com. She joins us to share her experience utilizing OKRs to align her small, but mighty, team.
Enabling Cross-functional Communication
Amanda Folino has always valued and strived toward cross-functional communication in her partnerships roles. She explained, “Everything that happens is between us, our partners, and other teams in these roles. Using OKRs in this capacity has improved cross-functional communication for me because they serve as a consistent reminder for what we’re all working toward.”
“I find that when an organization and its departments emphasize and encourage these goals, it creates an undeniable unison,” Amanda continued. “The saying, ‘Teamwork makes the dreamwork’ never rings more true than when you’re revisiting OKRs and when everyone is tied to the same outcome and key result. At the most basic level, OKRs help you prioritize.”
Setting OKRs at impact.com
Similar to many organizations, OKRs at impact.com start from the top-down and leverage input from individual contributors. Amanda explained, “It usually starts with a conversation with my manager. We align on what I’ve been working on, priorities for the business, and what the company plans are for the upcoming year. From there, we typically give it some thought separately and come back to collaborate and ensure the OKRs are aligned with the rest of the company’s vision and initiatives. We form and solidify KPIs by ensuring they’re achievable and will directly contribute to the success of the channel team.”
After setting her OKRs, Amanda and her team revisit them regularly. “I used to only revisit my OKRs quarterly. As I’ve progressed in my career and role I find myself revisiting them every couple of weeks as a good gut check. It’s helpful to keep that consistent reminder top of mind. For my team, checking in more regularly ensures accountability.”
To keep everyone aware and held accountable, Amanda and her team use Ally.io or, depending on the team, Asana to track project progress and tie back different tasks.
Advice for Getting Started with OKRs at Your Organization
In closing, Amanda shared a few pieces of advice for successfully implementing OKRs at your organization. She highlighted, “Whether you’re responsible for creating OKRs for your department, or if you’re an individual contributor tied to them, gaining a true understanding of your company’s vision and trying to see the bigger picture is the best place to start. This vision typically influences the OKRs that are created. It also can be helpful to ask yourself what role do I play in this vision? You should understand not just your role, but also your peers’ roles and responsibilities because it shapes your view of the organization and tends to bring everyone together.”
While Amanda’s technology partner team at impact.com is small, they’re a mighty team of three within the larger channel team department. Together, they’re working to build their ecosystem and partnerships program. We’re excited to watch the impact.com team continue to succeed over the coming years.
Learn more about getting started with OKRs at your organization when you download Strategies for Achieving your Partnerships Goals. Additional experienced partnership professionals will join us over the next few weeks to share their planning, goal setting, and forecasting insights. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to catch all of the interviews as they’re published.
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