How to write effective OKRs: what you need to know

OKRs—also called objectives and key results—are a powerful, collaborative framework for managing and realizing goals. But their effectiveness depends entirely upon how well they're written. 

This guide will teach you how to create OKRs that stick. You’ll learn the core components of OKRs, the best practices for writing OKRs, and how to track them. 

What are OKRs? 

OKR is an acronym for Objectives and Key Results. It’s a goal-management framework that helps companies set better goals and execute strategies more effectively. 

Unlike other frameworks, OKRs bind your people and tasks to common goals. They’re presented in a system of three parts.

• Objectives are concise statements of your goals and intents—what you're hoping to achieve with your efforts. They should be aspirational and meaningful to your entire organization. 

• Key Results are measurable milestones that you aim to achieve within a certain period. They should contribute directly to your Objective.

• And finally, Initiatives are the tasks that help you achieve your Key Results.

Here’s an example of an OKR, broken down:

• Objective: Put a man on the moon

• Key result: Complete a lunar module design by December 1967

Teams that use OKRs tend to have more cross-team alignment and transparency, and can better focus on results that matter. All it takes to get started are three steps:

• Write down your goal.

• Set a time frame.

• Assign three to five key results or measurable tasks that you can track.

How to write effective OKRs

When implemented well, OKRs help you, your team, and your entire organization become more unified in the pursuit of your shared goals. But you’ve got to write them down first!

Here are some best practices for writing OKRs that foster discipline and alignment. 

Objectives:

• Objectives should be inspiring but achievable. They should be practical accomplishments, but described in a way that motivates teams to tackle them.

• The ideal number of objectives varies, but ideally should be no more than three. 

• Because they are meant to be achievable, objectives should be gradable. At the end of the given period (a month, a quarter, or a year), you’ll have a clear idea of how you performed.

Key Results:

• Key results should be specific, time bound, and measurable. (That framework is called SMART goals) A great way to think about them is that they're itemized outcomes, not task lists. 

• The ideal number of Key Results can vary depending on things like team size–start with 3-5 and work from there!

• Key results are trackable outcomes, so you should assign them numeric values, like “increase video viewership by 150%” or “launch 12 new features.” 

Here are a few unique OKR examples: 

 How to track your OKRs

Your Key Results are where you’ll devote most of your attention during an OKR period. If the Key Results you've chosen are measurable and tied to a meaningful Objective, tracking your OKRs is just a matter of process and setup. 

Here's how you do it: hold regular team check-ins, where team members determine how confident they are they’ll hit a key result (it can be helpful to convey this through a percentage like 50% or 100%). Tracking goal confidence levels with OKR management tools is a common practice that keeps everyone aligned on which areas to focus.

Here are a few examples:

Using OKRs to track your company’s goals can bring clarity and confidence to everyone using them.

And Airtable makes OKR management…well…manageable. It's perfectly designed to maximize visibility across your team, simplify your task management, and track your data. Planning your next batch of OKRs is simple: get started with our OKR tracking template today.