OKRs are a simple goal-setting system that keeps a whole company pointed at the same outcomes. They pair an Objective (what you want to achieve) with the Key Results (how you'll measure progress toward it). Used by Intel, Google, and many of the best-run companies, OKRs are a vaccine against fuzzy thinking and scattered execution.
Here's the formula, the best practices, and a deck you can use as you write your own.
The Formula
An OKR is one Objective with three to five supporting Key Results.
As a sentence: "I will [Objective] as measured by [Key Results]."
Objectives
The Objective is what you want to achieve. Good objectives are significant, concrete, action-oriented, and ideally inspirational, the kind of thing that aligns and motivates a team rather than just a metric to hit on the way to a well-run business.
Key Results
Key Results benchmark how you'll reach the objective. Effective KRs are specific, time-bound, and aggressive yet realistic, and above all measurable and verifiable (much like SMART goals). You either hit a KR or you don't; there's no "sort of."
Best Practices
Set OKRs at the company level first, then let teams write theirs to ladder up. Keep the set small (a few objectives, a handful of KRs each) so focus happens, review them on a regular cadence, and grade them honestly at the end of the period. The point isn't to score 100%, it's to align effort on what matters most.
Use These Resources
- Watch the 33-minute Skill Series video walkthrough on Objectives and Key Results from Mike Malloy. https://vimeo.com/395215508/1efc7f82f9
- Browse OKR examples by department to spark ideas, and read Measure What Matters (whatmatters.com) and Google's re:Work guide for deeper background.
OKRs come from Andy Grove (who developed them at Intel) and John Doerr, who popularized them in his book Measure What Matters.
If you want help rolling OKRs out across your team, that's the kind of operating system a fractional operations leader sets up. Talk to our Team to book a free 30-minute Scalability Audit.