OKR

OKR—Objectives and Key Results—is a goal-setting framework that combines a qualitative direction with measurable evidence of progress.

Objective

The objective describes the outcome or direction the team wants to achieve. It should be meaningful, understandable, and specific enough to focus decisions without becoming a task list.

Key results

Key results define observable evidence that the objective has been achieved. Strong key results describe outcomes, not activities. “Ship a dashboard” is an activity; “reduce incident diagnosis time from 40 minutes to 15 minutes” is an outcome.

How OKRs relate to KPIs

A KPI measures an important aspect of ongoing performance. An OKR is a time-bounded change objective. A KPI can become a key result when the goal is to move that indicator from a baseline to a target.

Common mistakes

• Writing projects or tasks as key results.
• Creating too many objectives.
• Using targets without a baseline or measurement method.
• Treating OKRs as individual performance ratings.
• Keeping objectives after priorities have materially changed.