At a glance
- Client: Community Housing Works (CHW), a non-profit that provides high-quality affordable housing and residential services to seniors, families and people with disabilities in San Diego, California
- Industry: Non-Profit & Affordable Housing
- Company size: 80 employees
- Challenge: A methodology that couldn't forge alignment, foster communication or create transparency, a platform with no way to capture the long-term strategic plan, and a previous OKR partner whose approach was less interactive
- Solution: Hands-on support from Wave Nine, with regular check-ins and in-depth consulting: strong OKR rituals, better internal training, advanced reporting in WorkBoard AI, stronger messaging around results and long-term strategic planning
- Results: Every employee on WorkBoard AI, strategic alignment across the organization, full transparency into each department's work, a common language for progress and a coaching team that makes up 10% of the organization
The challenge: a methodology that didn't fit
Community Housing Works (CHW) provides high-quality affordable housing and residential services to seniors, families and people with disabilities in San Diego, California. The 80-person non-profit adopted OKRs in 2020, after struggling to get the most out of a methodology called the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
IT Operations Manager Tricia Woodworth found that EOS fell short in the three areas CHW needed most: forging alignment, fostering communication and creating transparency. On top of that, the platform CHW used to manage its EOS program had no way to outline and update the organization's long-term strategic plan.
So CHW moved to OKRs and WorkBoard AI. It worked with a third-party consulting firm for two years, then switched to Wave Nine in 2022. CHW needed a better way to:
- Forge alignment across all departments
- Foster communication about goals and progress
- Create transparency into how each team's work connects to the strategy
- Capture its strategic plan and keep it up to date
This case study shows how Wave Nine's hands-on approach to consulting and its WorkBoard AI guidance helped CHW refine its OKR program and reach greater alignment, communication and transparency.
Hands-on OKR consulting and WorkBoard AI training
CHW's previous OKR firm helped establish the program and supported the effort to build an internal coaching staff. Its approach, though, was less interactive than Wave Nine's. Wave Nine provided hands-on support, regular check-ins and in-depth consulting that went above and beyond what CHW had experienced before.
"Wave Nine provided regular check-ins, and the level of collaboration really stood out. Caroline was just so available and helpful. No matter what I asked, she always found a way to help."
Tricia Woodworth, IT Operations Manager, Community Housing Works
Wave Nine's focused attention helped CHW to:
- Connect every role to the strategy: make sure everyone understands how their work ties into the larger strategy.
- Build strong OKR rituals: a regular meeting cadence that keeps the organization committed to its OKRs.
- Improve internal training: stronger OKR training, and a staff that knows WorkBoard AI well.
- Master advanced reporting: reports in WorkBoard AI that bring out the specific data CHW wants to highlight in its quarterly meetings.
- Message around results: a stronger ability to build messaging around results and explain why OKRs matter.
- Keep adoption going: continuous OKR adoption throughout the organization.
- Plan for the long term: full use of WorkBoard AI's strategic planning capabilities to capture and update the long-term plan.
Caroline also helped Tricia and her team stay current with the new WorkBoard AI features released with each update, so everyone could get the most out of the platform.
"Wave Nine's consultants are very good at finding solutions, and working with Caroline increased my ability to message the importance of OKRs throughout the organization. She helped us increase our staff's WorkBoard AI skillset."
Tricia Woodworth, IT Operations Manager, Community Housing Works
The results: alignment, transparency and a common language for progress
Thanks to the CHW team's focus and its commitment to taking the program to the next level, CHW has come to exemplify what a successful OKR program looks like, despite some initial internal skepticism.
By giving every employee a WorkBoard AI account, CHW gave the entire organization immediate access to the company strategy. Each employee can see how every department's work supports the broader company objectives. Everyone is also plugged into a single source of truth that tracks everyone's activities and how those actions connect to critical results.
"I don't know how anyone could do OKRs without giving WorkBoard AI access to everyone. It was key to helping us achieve alignment and unity around our objectives."
Tricia Woodworth, IT Operations Manager, Community Housing Works
CHW's OKR program delivers clear benefits:
- Strategic alignment across the organization: everyone is on the same page about the goals they pursue.
- Full transparency into each department's efforts: everyone in the organization has their own WorkBoard AI login.
- Better communication: OKRs give the whole organization a common language and terminology for progress.
- A coaching team in every department: CHW's certified internal OKR coaches make up 10% of the organization, so every employee has a go-to person for OKRs.
With strong OKR rituals and a regular meeting cadence, such as updating OKRs on Monday and celebrating on Friday, CHW has significantly improved its training, coaching, reporting and overall OKR adoption.
"Wave Nine really elevated our game—in the training we offer, in how we use WorkBoard AI and other OKR tools, and in consistently walking us through the latest software updates. They also help us understand new WorkBoard AI features so we can get the most out of them."
Tricia Woodworth, IT Operations Manager, Community Housing Works
WorkBoard AI showcase
How Community Housing Works uses WorkBoard AI and its AI agents to keep 80 people aligned on one strategy.
Automate Executive & Initiative Briefings (AI Chief of Staff Agent)
Ahead of CHW's quarterly meetings, the AI Chief of Staff Agent drafts a summary of progress, risks and wins from live OKR data, building on the advanced reports CHW set up with Wave Nine.
Benefits:
- Quarterly meetings start from the same live picture
- Less manual report building before each review
- Leaders focus the conversation on the results that matter most
Nudges and status requests (AI Chief of Staff Agent)
CHW's weekly rhythm starts with OKR updates on Monday. The agent reminds owners to update their key results and flags the ones that are overdue, so Friday's celebration is about real progress.
Benefits:
- OKRs stay current week by week
- Fewer manual reminders for CHW's internal coaches
- Progress and wins recognized every Friday
OKR creation, alignment and cycle (AI OKR drafting)
With every employee on WorkBoard AI, CHW's internal coaches use AI OKR drafting to help teams write outcome-focused OKRs that connect to the company objectives.
Benefits:
- Higher-quality OKRs across departments
- Every person sees how their work supports the strategy
- Coaches spend less time reworking drafts
Key takeaways for others implementing OKRs
Tricia and her team learned a few lessons from their highly successful OKR program:
- Work to achieve full leadership buy-in. Tricia maintains that a successful OKR implementation begins at the top, and getting leadership on board helps ensure success.
- Create consistent messaging. Consistent messaging from leadership about the OKR strategy, the platform and the OKR rituals increases buy-in and commitment.
- Certify at least one coach from each department. CHW certified internal OKR coaches from each department, creating a coaching team that makes up 10% of the organization. Every team's voice is heard, and every employee has a go-to person for OKRs within their department.
- Give everyone WorkBoard AI access. Tricia contends that wall-to-wall licensing was essential for establishing alignment across the organization.
By engaging the entire non-profit in its OKR program in a thoughtful, strategic way, CHW has reached a level of focus, transparency and alignment that few organizations achieve.
