How to Write OKRs

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are an impressive framework for goal setting. They have been widely adopted by some of the world's most successful companies, helping them achieve remarkable results through structured but adaptable goal-setting and transparent tracking.

OKRs help organizations align efforts, focus on what matters most, ensure transparency, and achieve measurable outcomes. This blog provides practical advice on how to write OKRs and includes examples to help you get started.

What are OKRs?

OKRs are an effective goal-setting approach that helps organizations articulate their goals (objectives) and define specific metrics (key results) to measure progress toward achieving those goals.

At their best, OKRs can create more engagement and motivation across teams and individuals. OKRs can help each of us see how our work and day-to-day operations support the greater business purpose of the organization. You can see, through key results, that your work matters to the larger mission. From a leadership perspective, OKRs can be the key to mobilizing strategy.

Objectives in an OKR

An objective is a goal that your organization aims to achieve. It provides a clear direction and motivates the team. Effective objectives are specific enough to focus efforts and measurable enough to track progress. They address the question, "What do we want to accomplish?"

Clear and specific objectives help everyone understand what they're working towards, preventing confusion and aligning focus. You can set objectives for various time frames, such as quarterly or annual, and should regularly review them to ensure they stay relevant and achievable.

Example: 

"Launch three new products in the next quarter" or "Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 90% or higher by the end of the year."

Key Results in an OKR

Key results are the outcomes that answer the question: "How will we know if we are making progress toward our objective?"

Each objective typically has 3-5 key results to ensure focus and manageability. Measurable key results help track your organization’s progress, spot any issues, and allow you to adjust as needed.

Example: 

"Increase product adoption rate by 20% by the end of Q3" or "Increase website traffic by 30% by the end of Q2."

How OKRs Achieve Goals

OKRs help ensure that everyone's goals align with your company's big picture, which keeps all teams working together towards the same goals. In this way, this approach can help you and your teams focus on what matters.

Example:

• Company-Wide Objective. Increase overall market share.
• Marketing Objective. Expand market presence by launching new products.
• Sales Objective. Increase sales of new products by 20% by the end of Q4.
• Product Development Objective. Launch three new products by the end of Q4.

By aligning these objectives across different teams, your marketing, sales, and product development efforts all contribute to increasing market share.

Visible to everyone in your organization, OKRs promote transparency. This transparency encourages a culture of accountability, as team members can see how their work contributes to your organization's goals and can see the progress of other teams.

You should review the OKRs regularly to assess progress and adjust objectives and key results as needed. This regular review process ensures your organization can quickly and efficiently respond to market changes, internal pivots, new competition, and other unpredicted and unforeseen factors.

History of OKRs

Peter Drucker, a management consultant and visionary, laid the foundation of modern goal-setting frameworks by introducing Management by Objectives (MBO) in his 1954 book, "The Practice of Management." MBO laid the groundwork for future goal-setting protocols by highlighting the importance of defining objectives and involving employees. This approach helped organizations align their efforts and focus on achieving specific, meaningful outcomes.

Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, developed and popularized OKRs in the 1970s. He took the Management by Objectives (MBO) idea and made it more structured and measurable by adding key results.

In 1999, John Doerr, a venture capitalist and former Intel employee, introduced OKRs to Google. This implementation played a crucial role in Google's exponential growth and success. Since then, many notable companies, including LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Amazon, have implemented OKRs to drive their success.

Benefits of Using OKRs

When leveraged effectively and smartly, OKRs offer numerous benefits that contribute to organizational success. Here are some key advantages:

Alignment. OKRs help ensure that everyone on your team and in all departments works towards the same goals. They keep everyone on the same page and working together towards shared objectives.

Focus. By setting clear and prioritized objectives, OKRs help you focus on what truly matters. They prevent distractions and ensure you allocate resources to high-impact activities.

Transparency. OKRs promote transparency by making goals and progress visible to everyone in your organization. This approach fosters accountability and encourages open communication.

Measurable Outcomes. Key results provide specific metrics to measure progress, making tracking and assessing performance easier. Emphasizing measurable outcomes ensures that your goals are not only aspirational but achievable.

How to Write Effective Objectives

A well-crafted objective should be clear, inspiring, and time-bound. Make sure everyone easily understands your objective without any ambiguity. Your objectives should also inspire the team, giving them challenges and something to work toward. Setting a high standard with a good objective can often motivate people in an organization. Lastly, time-bound objectives help maintain momentum and track progress. Setting a specific timeframe for completion creates a sense of urgency and allows you to monitor goal achievement effectively.

Examples

Before:

Increase customer satisfaction by enhancing support services.

After:

Increase customer satisfaction by enhancing support services to achieve an NPS score of 70 by the end of Q4.

Before:

Expand market presence by launching new products.

After:

Expand market presence by launching three new products and achieving $1 million in sales from these products by the end of Q4.

Before:

Improve employee engagement and retention.

After:

Improve employee engagement and retention by increasing the employee engagement score by 15% and reducing voluntary turnover to below 10% by the end of the year.

How to Prioritize Objectives

Identify key areas that will significantly impact your organization's success. Focus on what truly matters and where your efforts will yield the highest returns. Involve the team in this process. Work with team members to gather diverse perspectives, ensuring everyone is on board. This approach fosters a sense of ownership and uncovers valuable insights you might otherwise overlook.

Rank objectives based on their importance and feasibility in first addressing the most critical goals and allocating resources efficiently. Prioritizing in this way helps you stay focused and directs your organization’s efforts toward achieving the most impactful outcomes.

How to Write Key Results

Writing effective key results ensures you meet your goals with precision and clarity. Ensure key results are clear, quantifiable, and have a set deadline. 

Clearly define what you need to achieve to eliminate ambiguity and set a clear path for action. For example, instead of saying "improve sales," be more specific with "increase sales by 15%."

Include quantifiable metrics in your key results to track progress accurately and objectively. Use numbers, percentages, or other data points that indicate success. For example, you can measure "reduce customer churn by 10%," but "improve customer satisfaction" is not measurable unless you specify a data point. 

Set a specific deadline to create a sense of urgency and ensure you achieve the goal within a particular timeframe. For example, a time-bound key result would be "launch the new product feature by Q3.”

Example:

Objective

Increase customer satisfaction by enhancing support services to achieve an NPS score of 70 by the end of Q4.

Key results

Decrease the average response time to customer inquiries from 3 hours to under 30 minutes by the end of Q4.

Conduct monthly training sessions for support staff to improve service quality, aiming for 90% positive feedback on support interactions by the end of Q4.

Implement a customer feedback system with a 75% response rate by the end of Q2.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

You must craft OKRs carefully to ensure their effectiveness. Here are some common mistakes you might encounter with your OKRs and how to avoid them:

Setting Too Many Objectives

Avoid overloading your team with too many objectives. Too many objectives dilute focus and make it challenging to achieve any of them effectively. Limit the number of objectives to a manageable number, such as 3-5 per quarter, to keep your team focused and enable them to use resources efficiently to reach these goals.

Unmeasurable Key Results

Ensure your key results are quantifiable so you can track progress effectively. Defining key results that are not measurable makes it difficult to determine success or identify areas needing improvement. Use data to measure progress to create clear, trackable key results.

Focusing on Outputs Instead of Outcomes

Focus on the results (outcomes) of tasks rather than just the completion of tasks (outputs). For instance, instead of "Complete ten blog posts," write your key result as "Increase website traffic by 15% through new content by the end of Q3." By focusing on the desired outcome (increasing website traffic), you align the key result with the overall objective and ensure your efforts drive meaningful impact.

Ignoring Regular Reviews and Updates

Lastly, setting OKRs at the beginning of a period and not revisiting them until the end is a common mistake that can lead to missed opportunities and a lack of agility. Schedule regular weekly or bi-weekly check-ins to review progress and adjust OKRs as needed. This practice helps keep the team aligned and responsive to changes or challenges.

Align Organizational Efforts by Using OKRs

OKRs are powerful tools for organizational success. They offer a disciplined approach to goal setting and achievement, aligning efforts, maintaining focus, fostering transparency, and ensuring measurable results. By writing effective objectives and key results, you can maximize your organization's potential and achieve remarkable results.

To learn how to implement OKRs in an agile framework, consider enrolling in our Agile OKRs microcredential course. This course will guide you through the agile implementation of OKRs, helping you achieve success with this robust goal-setting framework. 

See the Agile OKRs course