Okr writing

OKR Writing

Before you start

Gather the following from the user:

1. What level are these OKRs for? (Company, department, team, individual)
2. What time period? (Quarterly is standard; annual for company-level only)
3. What are the company or department OKRs? (Team OKRs must align upward)
4. What was the outcome of last quarter's OKRs? (Scores, lessons, carryovers)
5. How many objectives? (3-5 per level is the practical maximum)

If the user wants to write 8+ objectives, push back: "OKRs are about focus, not coverage. If everything is a priority, nothing is. Choose the 3-5 things that would make this quarter a success if you achieved nothing else."

OKR structure

Each OKR set follows this format:

OBJECTIVE: [Qualitative, inspiring, time-bound statement of what you want to achieve]

  KR1: [Quantitative metric] from [baseline] to [target]
  KR2: [Quantitative metric] from [baseline] to [target]
  KR3: [Quantitative metric] from [baseline] to [target]

Objective rules

• Qualitative and motivating — describes a desired end state
• Ambitious but not impossible — should feel uncomfortable at 70% confidence
• Time-bound (implicitly by the OKR cycle, e.g., Q2 2025)
• No metrics in the objective — that is what Key Results are for
• Starts with a verb: "Establish," "Accelerate," "Reduce," "Build"

Key Result rules

• Quantitative and measurable — a number that can be verified
• States a baseline ("from") and target ("to")
• 2-5 Key Results per Objective
• Measures outcomes, not tasks — "Ship feature X" is a task, "Increase activation rate from 30% to 45%" is a Key Result
• Each KR is independently valuable — achieving 2 of 3 should still matter

OKR template

## Q2 2025 OKRs — [Team Name]

### Objective 1: [Verb + desired end state]
Alignment: Supports [Company/Dept Objective name or number]

| KR# | Key Result                                      | Baseline | Target | Owner    |
|-----|-------------------------------------------------|----------|--------|----------|
| 1.1 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |
| 1.2 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |
| 1.3 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |

### Objective 2: [Verb + desired end state]
Alignment: Supports [Company/Dept Objective name or number]

| KR# | Key Result                                      | Baseline | Target | Owner    |
|-----|-------------------------------------------------|----------|--------|----------|
| 2.1 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |
| 2.2 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |
| 2.3 | [Metric description]                            | [X]      | [Y]    | @person  |

Scoring rubric

Score each Key Result at the end of the cycle using this scale:

| Score     | Meaning                                               |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 0.0       | No progress                                           |
| 0.1 - 0.3 | Some progress but fell significantly short            |
| 0.4 - 0.6 | Made meaningful progress — partial achievement        |
| 0.7       | Delivered — this is the expected "success" score      |
| 0.8 - 0.9 | Exceeded expectations                                 |
| 1.0       | Fully achieved or exceeded — may indicate sandbagging |

A healthy average OKR score across a team is 0.6-0.7. If the team consistently scores 0.9+, the OKRs are not ambitious enough.

Alignment check

Every team OKR must connect to a company or department objective. Use this format to verify alignment.

Company Objective: "Become the market leader in developer tools"
  └─ Dept Objective: "Accelerate product-led growth"
      └─ Team Objective: "Improve new user activation experience"
          └─ KR: Increase Day-7 activation rate from 30% to 45%

If a team objective does not trace up to a company objective, either:

1. The team is working on something the company has not prioritized — escalate the misalignment
2. The company OKRs are missing a priority — propose adding it

Mid-cycle check-in template

Review OKRs at the halfway point (week 6 of a 12-week quarter).

| KR#  | Key Result              | Baseline | Current | Target | Status      | Action Needed      |
|------|------------------------|----------|---------|--------|-------------|---------------------|
| 1.1  | [Metric]               | 100      | 130     | 200    | On track    | None                |
| 1.2  | [Metric]               | 5%       | 5.5%    | 10%    | At risk     | Reassign resources  |
| 1.3  | [Metric]               | 0        | 0       | 3      | Off track   | Scope discussion    |

Status definitions:

• On track: Current trajectory reaches the target
• At risk: Behind pace but recoverable with intervention
• Off track: Will not reach target without significant change

Quality checklist

Before finalizing OKRs, verify:

• Each objective is qualitative — no numbers in the objective statement
• Each key result has a numeric baseline and target
• 3-5 objectives maximum per level
• 2-5 key results per objective
• Every team OKR traces to a company or department objective
• Key results measure outcomes, not outputs or tasks
• At least one KR per objective would be uncomfortable to commit to (stretch)
• Each KR has a single owner

Common mistakes

• Key results that are tasks. "Launch the new dashboard" is a task. "Increase weekly active dashboard users from 200 to 500" is a key result. OKRs measure outcomes, not deliverables.
• Sandbagging targets. If every KR scores 1.0, the team set easy targets. A 0.7 average means the OKRs were properly ambitious. Normalize this expectation with the team.
• No baseline. "Improve NPS to 50" is meaningless without knowing the current NPS. Every KR needs a "from X" starting point, even if it's zero.
• Too many objectives. Five objectives with four KRs each means 20 things to track. That is not focus — that is a wish list. Ruthlessly cut to 3-4 objectives.
• OKRs written in isolation. If engineering, product, and marketing each write OKRs without coordinating, you get misaligned priorities. Run an alignment session before finalizing.