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A beginner's guide to crafting OKRs
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A beginner's guide to crafting OKRs
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What is an OKR?
Setting effective objectives
How to develop measurable key results
Common mistakes when setting OKRs
How to improve collaboration and visibility of your OKRs
What is an OKR, and how can you ensure yours are effective? Here’s the beginner’s guide that will give you the answers.
A core component of any business strategy is setting, working towards, and hopefully exceeding goals and objectives. But knowing which objectives and key results (OKRs) to track can be difficult, as can ensuring their visibility to your employees.
This article will explain what OKRs are, why you should implement them, and provide some top tips on how to approach setting them.
What is an OKR?
Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a two-part goal-setting process used by teams, companies and organisations to define and track goals and outcomes.
Well-written OKRs provide clear direction, force your team to focus on what truly matters, and promote transparency across the organisation. They highlight the essential things an organisation must do, rather than just should do, by focusing on outcomes rather than simply creating a list of tasks.
Setting effective objectives
Objectives are memorable, qualitative descriptions of what you want to achieve. They should be aspirational but challenging, and a focal point for teams to understand and work toward. You want your objectives to be clear, concise, engaging, and also time-bound so there’s a deadline for completion.
Here are some top tips for writing your objectives:
- Use active, positive language: Start with strong verbs like "Increase" or "Reduce," and avoid negative phrasing (e.g., "not," "none") or words like "must."
- Be concise and precise: Aim for as short as possible, but as much as necessary.
- Follow this formula: [Verb] + [adjective phrase] + [noun] + [adverb phrase].
For example: “Generate high-quality B2B leads for our new SaaS product this quarter.”
How to develop measurable key results
If your objectives are the “what”, then you can think of your key results as the “how”. These are the measurable results that track your progress toward your objective. These are detail-oriented, meaning they’re specific, time-bound, and most importantly, verifiable—you need to be able to say whether or not a key result has been met.
With the "how" in mind, here are some practical tips for developing impactful key results:
- Be ambitious, but realistic: Your key results should encourage a "stretch"—pushing you beyond your comfort zone without being so unrealistic that they become demotivating. Aim for a 70% to 80% achievement rate; this generally indicates a successful balance between challenge and attainability.
- Adhere to the SMART framework: Ensure they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. They must be clearly quantifiable and verifiable upon completion.
- Follow this formula: [Increase/decrease] [measure] from X to Y by [when].
For example: "Increase customer satisfaction from 75% to 90% by the end of Q4."
Common mistakes when setting OKRs
There are several mistakes people make when setting OKRs. Here are some of the most common:
- Too many OKRs: While there might be a temptation to set objectives for every aspect of the business, this will likely lead to confusion, a lack of focus, and overloading teams.
- Vague language: Be clear and concise with your wording to avoid misunderstandings or misalignment.
- Unrealistic targets: Ambition is great, but when goals become detached from reality, it only serves to demotivate teams.
- Conflating tasks with outcomes: Remember, OKRs define what is to be accomplished, not the tasks required to achieve it. Keep the two separate, as tasks are generally mapped as initiatives.
- Confusing KPIs with OKRs: KPIs (key performance indicators) measure ongoing performance, while OKRs are specifically forward-looking goals that might use KPIs as a measurement.
- Lack of visibility: It’s all well and good setting OKRs, but if people don’t know what they are, or can’t refer back to them when they need to, then they’re not really effective.
How to improve collaboration and visibility of your OKRs
Ensuring your OKRs are widely understood and easily accessible is crucial for team alignment and success. Tools and templates can greatly assist with this. For instance, consider using our OKRs Page Template for Confluence. Built with Mosaic: Content Formatting Macros & Templates, this provides a structured way to document, track, and share your team's objectives and key results directly within your Confluence workspace, fostering better collaboration and transparency.
Mosaic's OKRs page template for Confluence
Effectively implementing OKRs can truly transform how your business approaches goal-setting and achievement. By navigating common pitfalls and applying the insights shared, you'll be well-equipped to drive focus, alignment, and measurable success.
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Associate Content Marketing Manager
Matilda has a BA Hons degree in Creative Writing and Film and Screen Studies and is using her love of storytelling to create informative content that helps workers get the most out of their digital tools.
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