Objectives and key results
Definition
Objectives and key results
Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a goal setting routine that pairs a short ambition with two to five measurable results. The objective says where you are going; the key results say how you know you arrived, in numbers anyone can check.
The format is deliberately short. An objective is one sentence a team can repeat from memory — and each key result carries a starting point, a target and a date.
OKRs are a cadence, not a measure. A north star metric is one number a whole company orients to, while an OKR set is a rhythm of commitments that may or may not contain such a number, so neither sits inside the other.
They are also not a performance appraisal. When pay and promotion ride on key results, people set targets they already know they will hit, which empties the routine of the only thing it was good for.
Key takeaways
- An objective is qualitative and short; each key result is a number with a baseline, a target and a date.
- Three to five objectives per team per quarter is the working limit, and fewer is usually better.
- OKRs execute a strategy, so they belong downstream of the plan rather than in place of it.
- Keep scoring separate from pay, or the targets quietly drop to whatever is already certain.
How it works
A team writes three to five objectives for the quarter, hangs two to five key results on each, reviews progress weekly, then scores the set at the end. The scoring is a learning exercise about ambition, not a verdict on the people involved.
OKRs sit downstream of strategic planning. The plan chooses the direction for the year — the quarter’s objectives commit to the slice of it the team will actually move.
The anatomy is easier to see in a table than in a paragraph.
| Part | What it is | Written well | Written badly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objective | The ambition for the quarter | Cut client escalations to a rarity | Improve service |
| Key result | A measured outcome | Escalations fall from 42 to 12 | Train the team |
| Baseline | Where you start | Stated on day one | Filled in later |
| Owner | One named person | A single accountable lead | The whole department |
| Score | What you learned | 0.7 with a written reason | A pass or fail verdict |
Older frameworks did similar work. A balanced scorecard spreads measures across finance, customers, process and learning; OKRs drop the quadrants and keep the quarterly rhythm.
Draw key results from existing performance metrics wherever you can. A measure invented for one quarter has no history behind it, so nobody can tell whether the target was brave or trivial.
Some key results sit on internal metrics that no customer ever sees, such as release frequency or time to fill a vacancy. That is fine, provided at least one result in the set is visible to a customer.
Public bodies describe the same joint in plainer language. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) frames performance management as aligning strategic planning with measurable outcomes so that agencies meet their missions and keep improving delivery.
Examples
Four settings show the same routine under different pressure. The shape holds across sectors — what changes is who owns the key result and how quickly the evidence arrives.
An offshore support team. A Manila delivery unit might set one objective on first contact resolution for the quarter, with key results drawn from the same inputs as a call center performance evaluation so the numbers already exist.
A software product group. Objectives usually cover activation or retention, with key results on completion rates and weekly usage. The temptation here is to count shipped features, which measures effort rather than outcome.
A United States federal agency. Under title 31 of the United States Code, each agency’s annual performance plan must express such goals in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form and name the officials responsible, who are called goal leaders.
A shared services centre. Objectives here target cost per transaction and cycle time together, because moving either alone pushes the other the wrong way within a quarter. The key results name both numbers, so neither can be sacrificed quietly.
Related terms
Objectives and key results sit among planning and measurement terms that are often confused with them. Each of the five below does one job that OKRs do not, and knowing which is which saves a quarter of wasted effort.
- Strategic planning: chooses the direction, where OKRs commit to a slice of it each quarter.
- Balanced scorecard: a fixed four perspective measurement frame, where OKRs are a goal setting cadence.
- Performance metrics: the ongoing measures a key result is usually drawn from.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a global goal set with targets and indicators, run on a decade rather than a quarter.
- Efficiency metrics: measure output against input, and make poor objectives but useful key results.
FAQ
How many OKRs should a team set?
Three to five objectives, each with two to five key results. Teams that set more end up reporting on all of them and finishing none of them.
Should OKRs be tied to bonuses?
No. Once money rides on the score, people negotiate the target down to a certainty, and you lose the honest reading of ambition that the routine is built to produce. Run pay off a separate appraisal conversation.
What score counts as success?
Around 0.7 against a stretch target is the usual benchmark, with a written explanation attached. A team scoring 1.0 every quarter is setting targets it had already banked. The written explanation is the part that teaches anyone anything.
Are OKRs the same as key performance indicators?
No. An indicator runs continuously and tells you how a function is doing — an OKR is a time boxed commitment to change something, and it retires at the end of the quarter.
Can an outsourced team run OKRs with its client?
Yes, and the better providers do. Keep the joint set small, agree the baseline in writing before the quarter starts, and review it in the regular delivery meeting.
Explore the Outsource Accelerator outsourcing knowledge base when you are setting quarterly goals across an offshore team.
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