GDM’s Journey to an OKR-Focused Company Culture

“Oboard made it much easier for us to connect daily work to strategic company goals without overwhelming the team. It fit right into Jira, saved us hundreds of hours, and supported the internal cultural shift from just delivering projects to driving real outcomes. We started simple, built momentum, and now we see a significant improvement in team focus and alignment.”

Company Overview

GDM is a global leader in agricultural genetics, with over 40 years of expertise in plant genetic improvement. GDM operates across 15 countries, manages over 700 testing plots, and annually evaluates 1.8 million soy plots. The company specializes in soybeans, corn, wheat, and sunflowers, and over 45% of the world’s soybean production utilizes GDM genetics.

Backstory

GDM has been operating in the agricultural industry for over 40 years, proudly embracing genetic engineering to produce the most efficient and sustainable seeds. Nowadays, their products are used by farmers and agricultural companies worldwide, as the company continues to grow and expand to meet new demands. However, with growth came new issues, particularly misalignment between various company departments and their leadership.

After conducting research into modern project management practices, GDM chose to adopt the OKR framework to organize and align their teams. Diego França Condack, Global Strategy and Portfolio Officer at GDM, championed the project.

Watch Diego present this case study himself alongside Oboard’s Margo Sakova

Challenges

It quickly became apparent that GDM’s case was not going to be easy. With over 40 years of experience came not only incredible expertise, but also deeply entrenched project management practices that clashed hard with the proposed OKR framework. People were accustomed to inefficient approaches to their work and perceived any changes as unnecessary. 

As the most significant challenges he faced when implementing OKRs at GDM, Diego outlines:

• Resistance to Change and Accountability. GDM encountered resistance from team members who were used to traditional, delivery-focused work styles. Employees tend to focus on completing tasks rather than considering the broader outcomes, leading to hesitation around increased transparency and tracking of strategic contributions.
• Disconnected Tools and Processes. With 60 internal employees and over 200 vendors using a patchwork of tools—spreadsheets, sticky notes, and personal systems—GDM struggled with inconsistency and inefficiency in project and goal tracking. This lack of a unified approach created chaos and hindered visibility.
• Difficulty Communicating Strategy Company-Wide. GDM found it challenging to communicate its strategic objectives clearly and effectively to employees at all levels. The leadership recognized that simply announcing a new strategy wasn’t enough—it had to be made relevant to daily work.
• Time-Intensive Manual Tracking. Initially, OKR tracking was done manually, requiring an estimated 260 hours annually to update progress. This inefficiency placed a significant burden on team members and limited the scalability of the OKR approach.

Some of those issues were technical and could have been resolved relatively quickly. The others, however, were deeply ingrained in the company culture and required a much slower and more deliberate approach.

Solutions

To address its challenges and build a scalable, outcome-driven culture, GDM implemented a joint solution using Jira as the project management backbone and Oboard as the strategic layer to manage OKRs. This combination allowed GDM to connect execution with strategy in a practical, phased, and people-centric way. The core concepts behind their projects were:

• Creating a Single Source of Truth. By integrating Oboard with Jira, GDM unified its previously scattered tools and workflows into a single, cohesive system. Objectives were directly connected to Jira issues and epics, providing full visibility into how each task and initiative contributed to the company’s goals. This helped eliminate silos and made strategic alignment easier across departments and vendors.
• Starting Simple with Just Objectives. GDM introduced OKRs gradually. In the first phase, they used Oboard to link ongoing work to high-level objectives, without adding pressure through specific key results. This allowed teams to build confidence and familiarity with the framework while reinforcing a strategic mindset. Oboard’s flexibility supported this phased adoption seamlessly.
• Reducing Resistance to Accountability. By visualizing progress in Oboard dashboards and automating Jira data syncs, GDM removed the friction of manual reporting. Teams were no longer burdened with extra administrative work and could see the real-time impact of their efforts, reducing anxiety around tracking and performance transparency.
• Improving Communication and Clarity. With Oboard, strategic objectives became visible and understandable to all stakeholders. GDM utilized the platform to conduct regular check-ins, generate reports, and monitor goal status across various departments. This helped employees at all levels better understand the company’s priorities and how their work fit into the broader picture.
• Managing External Vendors with Confidence. GDM integrated over 200 external vendors into their OKR process using Jira and Oboard. Vendors could work on shared Jira tasks linked to objectives, contributing to outcomes without accessing sensitive strategic data. This allowed GDM to maintain alignment, track contributions, and scale OKRs beyond internal teams.
• Saving Time Through Automation. Before Oboard, OKR progress tracking required approximately 260 hours annually. With Jira integration and automated progress updates, Oboard significantly reduced manual effort. The result was faster reporting, more reliable data, and more time for teams to focus on delivery and innovation.

Results

The structured OKR approach led to substantial benefits:

• Significant Time Savings: Automation and integrated tracking enabled the teams to spend more time on their actual work instead of writing reports.
• Enhanced Alignment: Clear visibility across objectives for three directors, 10 departments, and external vendors significantly improved organizational alignment.
• Improved Communication and Visibility: Real-time tracking and reporting enhanced transparency, enabling better decision-making and reducing misalignment between leadership and operational teams.

An example of GDM’s strategy cascaded with OKRs in Oboard

Future Outlook

For 2025 and beyond, GDM plans to deepen and continue expanding its OKR practices and further implement the OKR framework into its workflow. The items on the agenda are:

• Expand OKR adoption comprehensively across all departments to reinforce strategic cohesion throughout the organization.
• Establish a dedicated IT strategic area responsible for optimizing the alignment of technology projects and business goals through advanced OKR methodologies.
• Maintain a strategic balance of 80% operational efficiency tasks and 20% innovative initiatives to foster sustainable growth and continuous innovation.
• Further refine OKR metrics and tracking methodologies to achieve even clearer, more precise measurements of strategic progress and outcomes.

Lessons Learned

GDM identified several key lessons from their OKR implementation:

• Start Simple and Scale Gradually: For their specific usecase, introducing objectives first, without immediate emphasis on metrics, eased employee resistance and fostered gradual acceptance of a strategic mindset.
• Invest in Training and Clear Communication: Regular training sessions, clear explanations, and continuous feedback loops significantly supported internal adoption and reduced resistance.
• Embrace Flexibility and Iterative Improvement: Adapting OKR practices based on feedback and practical experiences allowed continuous refinement and improved effectiveness of strategic initiatives.

Conclusion

Through the thoughtful implementation of OKRs using Oboard and Jira, GDM successfully cultivated an outcome-driven culture. This transformation has significantly enhanced operational efficiency, strategic clarity, and team alignment, paving the way for sustained organizational growth and a sharper focus on strategic objectives.

If you’re interested in transforming your organization’s approach to strategic execution and fostering an open OKR culture, sign up for a demo with Oboard to see how we can help your company become more aligned and empower your teams to achieve greater results.