OKR

OKR Structure WHERE

Strategic Goals

Simplified
These are your broad, long-term strategic direction.

WHAT

ESSENTIALS CHEAT SHEET Strategic Goals

Long-Term Focus
Annual Company-wide Objective
A short, one-sentence phrase. Has impact—states what
Presented by you need to achieve & why.
Created by the Executive Team
Starts with a verb. Annual in nature.

O O

OKR
Company-wide Company-wide
HOW
Objective Objective
What Key Results/Department Objectives
is an Created by Department VPs, Refined by the Executive Team Starts with a verb. Championed by a manager
or director.
OKR? OKR stands for Objective and Key Results.
KPIs can be identified.
Are Metric results: annual OR Are Effort results: initiative
Objectives are annual organization-wide goals
KR KR KR metric with quarterly target. with quarterly milestone.
Key Result Key Result Key Result
with tangible, unambitguous outcomes. The Becomes Department O Becomes Department O Becomes Department O

successful achievement of an objective must HOW

provide clear value for the organization. Created by Individuals Aligned to Department Objectives Individual Key Results
Key Results Key Results are the “hows” an Starts with a verb. Quarterly results as a
metric or deliverable.
Objective will be achieved. KRs are the inputs or Created by individuals.
KR Individual KR Individual KR Individual
deliverables to achieve the output (Objective). KRs
Key Result Key Result Key Result
#Aspirational: stretch KR OR #Committed: realistic KR
describe deliverables or results, not activities. to create the future. that is achievable.

5 OKR Tips The Quarterly OKR Cycle

Executive Team
Directors/Managers

Inspire, Align, Empower. Individual Team Members

Focus on inspiring language to empower & align.
Create Quarterly
Company Monthly Review &
The Rule of 3-ish OKRs + Q1 Metric Refresh + Q2
Create 1:1 Review Review 1:1 Review
No more than 3-5 “areas of focus” per team and per Focus Focus
Department or Team or Team
person. Anymore becomes difficult to manage. Create Q1 Individual Report Q1
Os Review Review
Individual Progress Results & Create
KPIs are Special KRs KRs Check-in Q2 OKRs
KPIs are key metrics to deliver against our revenue
or profitability targets and should be someone’s KRs.

Jettison Business as Usual

1st Friday 2nd Wed. 2nd Friday
OKRs create transformational results. Resist OKRs
that list core job duties. Last Week of December Q1 - January, February, March First Week of April

Top Down, Bottom Up

Review KPIs Weekly Review KRs Monthly Review & Refresh Quarterly
Set Company-wide OKRs and Department Os as an
Reviewing KPIs weekly Review individual KRs Refreshing department & individual
executive team. Ask staff to set their Key Results to
keeps everything in tfocus. during monthly 1:1s. KRs quarterly creates agility.
support any Objective.

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 1 3
Set Up Your Aligned Have Your Staff Pro Tips on Developing Key Results:

Company-wide OKRs
The first step is to set the Company-wide Objectives and identify the 3 to 5
high priority annual goals. Objectives should align to Strategic Goals.
Note: there are likely more than 3 company-wide Os.
How: Planning workshops that generate Objectives
Who: Executive Team
Where: In Mural or OnStrategy app.
Planning Points: Identify company objectives from your high priorities,
including the “must delivers” for the first or second half of the year. No more
than 3 to 5.
Questions to identify your Objectives:
• What do we want to achieve? What must we achieve?
• If others read the objective, will it inform their choices?
Create Aligned KRs Team members should create their own Key
Results and align them to the Department
The final step is to have individuals create quarterly Key Results aligned to Objectives.
Department Objectives (Organization-wide Key Results).
Individual Key Results should be annual with
quarterly targets, or quarterly deliverables. In either
How: Provide everyone a worksheet with Department Os to add 3 KRs.
case, individual Key Results have quarterly focus
OR Set up Mural posters with Os at the top and everyone adds their KRs. and targets.
OR Do it in the OnStrategy app.
Identify which are #aspirational, meaning it’s a
stretch result and creates the future. The remaining
Who: Staff members
are #committed, meaning they are realistic and
Where: In Mural or OnStrategy app. achievable.
Planning Points: KRs are annual with quarterly targets or quarterly Start each KR with an action verb and continue the
deliverables. Identify which are #aspirational. The remaining KRs are sentence with a description of what will be
#committed. delivered with evidence of completion.

2 Set Company-wide Example OKR Stacks

KRs (Department Os) WHAT WHAT
The second step is to set the Company-wide Key Results. These
Example Objective #1: Improve our sales Example Objective #2: Support the sales team by
Company-wide Key Results are also the Department Objectives.
performance across the whole team. bringing in as many qualified leads as possible.
Pro Tip: We recommend the Otrganization-wide Key Results
are the Department Objectives—it’s just easier.
HOW HOW
Who: Executive Team
Key Result (Department Objective): Maintain a sales Key Result (Department Objective): Produce 3 new
How: VPs or Directors populate Key Results after the Org-wide Os are pipeline of qualified leads valued at least $500K quarterly. case studies targeting new customer segments.t.
created. Refine them with the whole Executive Team to gain alignment.

Where: In Mural or OnStrategy app. HOW HOW

Planning Points: Company-wide KRs are Department Os. KRs are Individual Key Result: Increase close rate Individual Key Result: Revise the standard sales
annual with quarterly targets or quarterly deliverables. Identify which from 22% to 27% this quarter. deck and talk track to reflect updated products.
are #aspirational. All the rest are #committed.

Pro Tips on Developing Key Results HOW HOW

KRs are the inputs to achieve the output, meaning Key Results are Individual Key Result: Increase scheduled calls Individual Key Result: Double webform
how you’ll achieve an Objective. per sales rep from 3 per week to 6 per week. leads on case study pages this quarter.
A good KR describes a deliverable or a result, not activities. If your
KRs include words like "maintain," "strive," "continue to," or HOW HOW
"participate" these are activities. Individual Key Result: Grow average deal Individual Key Result: Host 2 sales training
Start each KR with an action verb and continue the sentence with a size from $10K to $12K. sessions with our sales team this quarter.
description of what will be delivered with evidence of completion.

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