OKR Methodology explained

What if we told you there was a simple goal-setting methodology used by many of the highest performing organizations in the world? There is. And that this practice has been attributed to much of their success? It's true. And it is why we built our Objectives feature the way we did. The more you know...

Google, Adobe, Intel all use OKR’s to dream big and then make it happen!

Access and availability

⛔️ Required access to Objectives.
👥 This article is relevant to all roles.
📦 This feature is available in the Focus and Total Platform pricing packages.

Science 🔬: Objectives and Key Results
Video 🎥: Objectives Overview (5 min)
Webinar 👩🏾‍💻: Objectives and Key Results Overview (50 min)


So, what is an OKR?

  1. OKRs stands for Objectives and Key Results. It is a framework for defining and tracking business objectives and outcomes.
  2. Objectives are what the organization or individual wants to accomplish, and are typically qualitative or subjective, ambitious, and time-bound.
  3. Key Results are concrete, specific, and measurable. They should describe how you will accomplish the objective and measure whether you are on track, behind, or at risk of accomplishing an objective.
  4. OKRs are most effective when they cascade.  The company sets an objective and three key results, each business unit sets an objective and three KRs that supports the company, each team sets an O and three KRs that support the business unit. Looking from a company-wide or department view, child objectives will appear as key results for their parent objective.

Guide 📖: Ultimate OKR Guide For Making OKRs Work At Your Company

Examples of OKRs include:

O: Launch new SMB product
KR: Product design completed by January 15
KR: 15 beta customer case studies by March 1
KR: Sales deck, training materials, and all product assets by March 20

O: Delight our current customers
KR: Net Promoter Score of 50 or better
KR: Customer churn rate of less than 2%
KR: 50 new online customer review

O: Build an engaged and dynamic workplace culture
KR: Monthly employee happy hour activity, suggested by employees
KR: Company Pulse Check score of 4 or higher in 15Five

O: Increase qualified leads
KR: 5,000 new leads this quarter
KR: 40,000 blog subscribers
KR: Attend 6 industry trade shows

Objective (OKR) tips: 

  • 3 Objectives, per level, at a time
  • About 3 KRs per Objective
  • Reviewed weekly or bi-weekly
  • Public
  • About 70% completion goal 

Need help getting started with Objectives and Key Results?

Setting up OKRs requires a bit of planning. This worksheet is a great tool to help you prepare for implementing your OKRs into 15Five.

Organization of objectives

When looking in the 'All objectives' tab, objectives will appear in the following manner:

  • By alignment (if it has children/is a parent objective)
  • By scope (company-wide, department, individual, then self-development)
  • By end date/due date
  • By username alphabetically
  • By description alphabetically   
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Note

If your company uses an alternative name for objectives, you can rename the Objectives feature.

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