What Are OKRs?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework where an Objective describes an ambitious qualitative goal and Key Results are the measurable outcomes that prove you reached it. An Objective answers 'where do we want to go?' and Key Results answer 'how will we know we got there?' Originally developed at Intel and popularized by Google, OKRs are typically set quarterly, made public within the organization, and graded at the end of the quarter. They differ from KPIs in that KPIs measure the ongoing health of processes, while OKRs drive focused progress toward a specific change.
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) help teams set ambitious goals and measure real progress. Here is how they work and how to write them correctly.
What OKRs Are and Where They Come From
OKRs were developed by Andy Grove at Intel in the 1970s as a way to give large organizations a shared sense of direction without requiring top-down micromanagement. Grove called the approach “management by objectives” at the time. In 1999, investor John Doerr introduced the framework to Google, where it was adopted from the earliest days and has been used ever since. The book Doerr published in 2018, “Measure What Matters,” made OKRs mainstream outside Silicon Valley.
The structure is simple. An Objective is a short, qualitative statement describing where you want to go. Key Results are the two to four measurable outcomes that prove you got there. The pair works together: the Objective gives direction and motivation, the Key Results give you an honest measure of whether you succeeded.
How to Write an Objective
A good Objective is ambitious, qualitative, and motivating. It describes a desired state, not a task to complete. “Become the most trusted supplier in our region” is an Objective. “Attend three industry events” is a task and belongs in your to-do list, not your OKR.
Three tests for a well-written Objective: it should make your team feel slightly uncomfortable because it is stretching beyond what is certain, it should be clear to anyone in the organization without needing explanation, and it should still be meaningful at the end of the quarter even if priorities shifted slightly.
Avoid vague language like “improve,” “optimize,” or “focus on.” These words do not create shared understanding. Replace them with something specific: “Deliver onboarding that gets new customers to first value in under seven days.”
How to Write Key Results
Key Results answer one question: how will you know the Objective is achieved? Each one should be measurable, time-bound, and focused on an outcome rather than an activity.
A weak Key Result: “Redesign the onboarding flow.” This is a task. You can tick it off the day the design is approved, regardless of whether it helped anyone.
A strong Key Result: “Time to first login drops from eleven days to five days by end of quarter.” This is an outcome. You cannot fake it. You either hit the number or you did not.
Most OKRs work best with two to four Key Results per Objective. Fewer than two and you may not have enough signal to know if you truly succeeded. More than four and the Objective becomes unfocused.
OKRs vs. KPIs
This is the most common point of confusion. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) measure the ongoing health of your business: monthly revenue, customer satisfaction score, churn rate, support ticket volume. They are always running and you want them to stay within acceptable ranges.
OKRs are time-bound and goal-oriented. They represent a specific improvement you want to make this quarter, not a metric you track indefinitely. Once you achieve an OKR, you retire it and set a new one.
The two tools are complementary. Your KPIs tell you if the business is running well. Your OKRs tell you if the business is getting better. Pairing them gives you both a dashboard for the present and a compass for the future. For a practical introduction to building this kind of measurement culture, see data-driven working explained.
Common Pitfalls
Too many OKRs. The most frequent mistake. Three Objectives with three Key Results each means nine things to track, which quickly becomes noise. Start with one or two Objectives and add more only when the rhythm is established.
Outputs disguised as outcomes. “Launch the new pricing page” sounds measurable but it is not an outcome. “Trial-to-paid conversion rate increases from 8% to 14% within six weeks of the new pricing page launch” is an outcome. The difference matters because it forces the team to ask whether the work actually achieved anything.
Sandbagging. Setting Key Results you are almost certain to hit in full. OKRs are designed to stretch. Google’s convention is that hitting 70% of a Key Result is considered a success, because 100% means the goal was not ambitious enough.
No grading ritual. OKRs require an honest grade at the end of the quarter. Skipping this step removes accountability and makes the next round of goal-setting less credible.
How SMBs Can Start
You do not need OKR software to begin. A shared spreadsheet or document is sufficient for the first one or two quarters.
Start at the company level with one Objective and three Key Results. Share it with the whole team. At the end of the quarter, grade each Key Result on a simple scale from zero to one. Review the grades together, discuss what drove the result, and set the next quarter’s OKR informed by what you learned.
OKRs work well alongside digital transformation initiatives because they give change programs a concrete, time-bound measure of success rather than a vague ambition to “modernize.” The OKR answers the question: how will we know the transformation worked?
Our tip: Before your first OKR session, ask your team to write down the one thing that, if achieved this quarter, would make the biggest difference to the business. The overlap in their answers is usually your first Objective.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between OKRs and KPIs?
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are ongoing metrics that measure the health of your operations: revenue, customer satisfaction score, churn rate, website uptime. They are always measured and should stay within acceptable ranges. OKRs are time-bound goal-setting tools: you set them for a quarter or year, they represent a desired change or improvement rather than a steady state, and you retire them once achieved. A KPI might be 'monthly recurring revenue stays above 50,000 euros.' An OKR might be 'launch a new enterprise tier (Objective) with Key Result 1 being five paid enterprise customers by Q3 and Key Result 2 being a published case study from at least one customer.' The two are complementary: KPIs tell you if the business is running well, OKRs tell you if the business is improving.
How many OKRs should a small team have?
Less is almost always better. The most common mistake is setting too many OKRs, which dilutes focus and makes it hard to prioritize when competing demands arise. A team of five to fifteen people typically functions well with one to three Objectives per quarter, each with two to four Key Results. At the company level, three to five Objectives is a reasonable maximum. If everything is a priority, nothing is. When you have more candidate OKRs than slots, the discipline of choosing which ones to cut is itself a valuable strategic conversation. Anything that does not make the cut can go on a 'next quarter' list rather than being force-fit into the current OKR set.
What makes a good Key Result?
A good Key Result is specific, measurable, time-bound, and focused on an outcome rather than an activity. 'Launch the new website' is an activity and a bad Key Result. 'New website is live and achieves a Lighthouse performance score above 90 by 31 July' is an outcome-focused Key Result. Another test: if you can mark a Key Result as done without checking any data, it is probably an output, not an outcome. Strong Key Results use numbers wherever possible: NPS rises from 32 to 55, cost per lead drops from 85 to 60 euros, trial-to-paid conversion rate increases from 12% to 18%. If you cannot measure it, you cannot honestly grade it at the end of the quarter.