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In this live OKR Podcast conversation, Harry Blease is Senior Digital Strategy Lead at Virgin Media O2, explains how he approached implementing an OKR framework across the entire digital organization—starting with leadership discovery on the “why,” defining leadership roles and operating cadence, and using WorkBoard (including Biz Review dashboards, scorecards, and AI) to drive transparency, alignment, and accountability at scale.
The Challenge
- Unclear “why” and success criteria for OKRs:
Before formalizing the framework, there was a risk that teams would be asked to “do OKRs” without clarity on what leadership wanted to achieve (e.g., transparency vs. alignment vs. dependency management), undermining adoption and outcomes.
- Limited enterprise visibility into delivery reality:
Leadership did not have a consistent, quarter-based view of what teams were aiming to deliver, what was actually delivered, and where work was getting stuck (blockers/issues).
- Weak line-of-sight from day-to-day work to strategy:
Teams lacked confidence that what they were working on truly mapped to top-level priorities, creating confusion about what mattered most and reducing motivation to maintain OKRs.
- High coordination overhead and “spreadsheet chasing” dynamics:
Status discovery and reporting depended on manual follow-ups and fragmented artifacts (e.g., the right file/spreadsheet), adding friction for SLT and creating extra work for delivery teams.
The WorkBoardAI Solution
- System-of-record transparency for leaders and teams:
WorkBoard created a shared view of what’s in-flight, progress against commitments, and where work is red/amber—improving leadership’s ability to see reality and respond faster.
- Operational cadence that reinforced accountability without overloading SLT:
Mid-quarter and end-of-quarter reviews (plus lightweight check-ins) established routine and rigor, while pushing updates and ownership to the people closest to delivery.
- Stronger strategic alignment and prioritization:
Teams could see how their OKRs roll up to top-level priorities in WorkBoard, making it easier to focus, stop lower-value work, and make informed trade-offs within the quarter.
- More effective governance through Biz Review dashboards, scorecards, and AI-assisted quality:
Dashboards and scorecards enabled tailored views for different leadership discussions, while WorkBoardAI supported clearer OKR/KR wording and more ambitious, impact-oriented targets.
Conclusion
Virgin Media O2 used WorkBoardAI to improve the quality and impact orientation of OKR and key result wording—helping teams refine language toward clearer outcomes and “stretch” targets. Combined with WorkBoardAI's operational views (Biz Review dashboards and scorecards), this supported faster preparation for reviews and more consistent, high-confidence communication of progress, blockers, and supporting context.
