
This leads to greater creativity and experimentation when attempting to achieve your Objective. If you get 1s, you’re not crushing it, you’re sandbagging.” 7 if someone consistently gets 1.0, their OKRs aren’t ambitious enough. As Google Veteran Rick Klau explains, “The “sweet spot” for an OKR grade is. No judgments in it” How Aggressive should our Key Result targets be?įor Aspirational Objectives, you should set Key Results that are achievable at 60-70% confidence. At the end of the quarter, your Key Results should allow you to say, as John Doerr explains, “without any arguments: Did I do that or did I not do it? Yes? No? Simple. They should not be one-off tasks or deadlines. Key Results can be thought of as the levers you pull to drive your objective. Each objective should have around 3-5 Key Results attached to it. Defining a quantifiable measure of success in your Key Result provides clarity to your Objective and makes it easier to reach.

Key Results are the metric-bound targets you hit to achieve your Objectives. Don’t forget that by choosing what to focus on, you are also choosing what not to focus on. An Objective focused on improving efficiency can be balanced with one focused on quality. Your objectives can also serve to balance each other. If you’re just getting started with OKRs, we recommend focusing solely on aspirational goals to If you are using OKRs to manage all your work, your company, team, and individuals should all have 1-2 of both committed and aspirational goals. Objectives should answer the question “What are the top one to two things we should strive to achieve this quarter to progress our long-term vision?”Īt Google, OKRs fall into two categories: Committed Goals (like product releases, hiring, and customer impact) to be hit 100% and Aspirational Goals (like higher-risk, big picture growth and innovation) where 60-70% achievement is acceptable. This will cascade down into 1-2 Objectives for each team and 1-2 Objectives for each individual on these teams. At the company level, there should only be one to two objectives for the planning period (most likely a quarter). While it may be tempting to pile on Objectives, their effectiveness comes from their focus. According to Harvard Business Review, companies where their everyday activities are tied to the organization’s vision-are more than twice as likely to be top performers.

Great objectives should be tied to your aspirational vision of where you want to be as an organization, as a team, and as an individual. Objectives should not be tied to a number (Unlike Key Results). Objectives should provide clarity on your desired outcome whether its driving growth, changing a process, or innovating on a new project. Objectives set your direction and focus for your planning period.
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How to Write Inspiring Objectives and Key Results
