Summary
Discover the formula for crafting good OKRs. Through examples, learn how to achieve ambitious goals by writing effective Objectives and Key Results.
Setting good Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can transform your ability to achieve ambitious goals. They help teams rally around a common idea of what they want to achieve.
OKRs always have two parts: the Objective, and a corresponding set of Key Results.
The Objective describes what we will accomplish. It communicates direction and defines what success looks like in a short, memorable statement.
Key Results describe how we’ll know we’ve achieved the Objective. Each Objective has three to five Key Results. A great set of Key Results defines how much progress we need to make in order to cross the finish line.
At the simplest level, the grammar of every OKR looks like this:
I will [Objective] as measured by [Key Results]
Let’s use this framework to write excellent OKRs, and walk you through some examples.
Step 1: Identify priorities before writing OKRs
Reserve OKRs for a few top priorities – they do not encompass everything you need to do. Start by identifying the few things that would make the biggest difference in the next cycle, let’s say, the next 90 days.
Here are a few questions to help:
- What are the most important things we need to get done this cycle?
- If we got any one of them done, what would be better?
- What needs to change from where we are today?
If your list is greater than five, try to narrow your focus to three. Or fewer, if you can! Sometimes this means grouping related items. If grouping doesn’t work, go through each item on your list and ask, “Why is this important to do right now?” Typically, a few items will truly rise above the rest when you ask this question. Use those as the basis for your OKRs.
Step 2: Write your Objective
Take the priorities you identified in Step 1, and now convert them into Objectives. A good Objective is: significant, concrete, action-oriented, and inspirational.
Let’s go through an example and craft an OKR: Say you want to become a world-class mountain climber. The Objective is the simplest description of your goal – what you are trying to accomplish.
The goal: To summit a mountain in the Himalayas.
Now let’s make it more specific and actionable: Safely summit Mount Manasalu this year.
Can you see how the specificity clarifies how you might decide to tackle the challenge?
Lastly, let’s make it more inspirational:
O: Break the record summiting Mount Manaslu safely this year.
Notice that the Objective is easy to understand, even if you’re not a mountain climber. It’s something you can act on, and the definition of success is clear. It’s pithy. Go through each of your priorities until they meet these criteria.
Watch: “Writing your First Objective” lesson from our OKR 101 course.
Step 3: Write your Key Results
Next, draft a set of Key Results for each Objective. Remember, Key Results do not reflect everything that needs to happen. In fact, you want to capture the fewest number of meaningful outcomes that get you to your goal.
For example, when the Healthcare.gov website launched in 2013, it was an abject failure with a long list of problems. Only 3 out of 100,000 visitors could successfully enroll for services! The team needed to prioritize their efforts, and organized around a single Objective: Fix the website for the vast majority of people.
How would they know they’d succeeded? Initially, they set four measures of success:
KR1: 70% of people get through.
KR2: One-second response time.
KR3: 1% error rate.
KR4: 99% uptime.
Notice how the first Key Result helps translate the idea into action. The metric that clearly defined the term “vast majority” from the Objective. The other Key Results define the word “fixed.” All four needed to be complete in order for them to achieve the Objective.
Let’s look at more criteria for writing good Key Results:
- Key Results are specific and timebound. They say we will get exactly this far in this amount of time.
- Key Results are aggressive yet realistic. They have an appropriate amount of “stretch” (high-effort, high-risk) built into them.
- Key Results are measurable and verifiable. As Marissa Mayer puts it, “It’s not a Key Result unless it has a number.”
Now let’s write some Key Results for our mountain climbing example above:
It may take a few iterations to select the right set of Key Results, especially at first. Even then, take time to identify and express the right metrics. And, like the Objective, make the language easy for anyone on the team to understand and easy to remember.
Watch: “The Science of Key Results” lesson from our OKR 101 course.
Step 4: Calibrate Stretch Goals
Early on, you may find yourself writing incredibly lofty OKRs. They may be perfectly stated, but if they are totally unreasonable, what should you do? If it’s truly unachievable, you are setting yourself up for failure. But don’t write OKRs that are too easy, either – always create some stretch.
The key is to find the sweet spot between sandbagging and being totally unrealistic.
For example, if a poorly performing team sets a goal to win the World Cup and that’s not realistic, it’s still possible to set an appropriately aggressive goal – like focusing on winning a regional championship.
If your OKR is so aspirational that it becomes demoralizing, think simpler. Decide on 2-3 Objectives that will make a meaningful difference to your organization over the next cycle. And then craft a set of 3-5 Key Results that truly show your going in that direction.
Real-world OKR examples
OKRs can be used by any team empowered to make a meaningful change. Although OKRs take many forms – from product delivery to providing services, logistics, or market growth – they all use the same basic formula: I will [Objective], as measured by [Key Results].
John Doerr, author of Measure What Matters, even uses this OKR when introducing the methodology to a new team:
For an example that’s more closely related to a business goal, here’s an OKR from the apparel company Allbirds.
From their launch, Allbirds’ Objective was to design shoes with the lowest carbon footprint in their industry. That meant pursuing many different initiatives and strategies. But ultimately, they knew they would meet it if they could achieve these four KRs:
KR1: Ensure that their supply chain and shipping infrastructure are 100% zero waste.
KR2: Pay 100% of the carbon offset for calculated carbon dioxide emissions.
KR3: Make 25% of materials compostable.
KR4: Make 75% of materials biodegradable.
With these Key Results, the team always knew how close or far they were from succeeding. It guided their action plans by telling them what outcomes to prioritize. If an effort was falling short, they adjusted their tactics as necessary to achieve their KR.
For more examples, check out our OKR Library or the tracking report created by our colleagues at Speed & Scale.
Writing OKRs for personal goals
Personal goals are another popular category of OKRs. Many people apply the methodology to push their own performance to a new level. These OKRs can help with anything from health and fitness to publishing your first book – to even improving your family relationships. However, the structure and the criteria for writing a good OKR is the same as all other kinds of goals.
Let’s say your Objective is to run a 10K race in under 50 minutes. And to do it within the next three months. To ensure success, you’ll need to measure a few things:
- how often you get out to train.
- how far you’re running.
- how fast you’re running.
That leads you to three Key Results:
KR1: Go for a run for at least 30 minutes, three times per week.
KR2: Increase the distance of the run by one mile each week.
KR3: Increase speed by five seconds per mile each week, with a goal of a sub-eight-minute mile.
Like any other kind of OKR, notice how all of these Key Results add up to the Objective. If you could still run a 10K under time without meeting all of our Key Results, that’s nice – but your OKR setting skills need more practice. Did you complete an Objective without achieving all your Key Results? You picked at least one KR that wasn’t a meaningful contributor to success, or set the wrong metric.
On the other hand, if you achieve all of the Key Results and still weren’t able to run the 10K in under 50 minutes, it likely means you’re either missing an essential Key Result. Or that the ones set weren’t ambitious enough.
Even if the OKR wasn’t perfect, next time you set one you’ll know how to write it better.
Conclusion: Takeaway for writing OKRs
No matter what kind of goal you want to achieve, OKRs can help. While setting and writing strong OKRs can take time and iteration, they will get easier over time. As you improve, OKRs can better guide and align your team, so that you can meet your most audacious goals.
Where can I get more information?
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