OKRs: what they are and how to implement them
By Deibson Silva · Reviewed on
OKRs (objectives and key results) are a method for setting a few goals per period and measuring progress with concrete results: an objective says where you want to get to and its key results say how you will know you have arrived. They work best when leadership starts, cycles are quarterly, check-ins are frequent and, at first, they are not tied to pay.
What are OKRs?
OKR stands for objectives and key results. An objective is a qualitative sentence describing a destination worth the effort. Key results, usually two to five per objective, are measures that show beyond argument whether you got there.
An example for a people team: the objective "Every key role has a successor ready" might have the key results "Identify the 12 key roles and their internal candidates by 31 March", "Go from 3 to 9 key roles with at least one successor ready" and "Every internal candidate has a signed development plan".
Objectives can sit at three scopes: the whole company, a team or an individual. Start with the company and teams; individual OKRs make sense only once the method is understood, and they should support the team's objectives rather than compete with them.
A task is not a key result. "Launch the mentoring scheme" is an activity; "20 people complete mentoring with their plan agreed" is a result. The difference looks small and it is the one that decides whether the method works.
How are OKRs different from KPIs and traditional objectives?
They differ in purpose. A KPI monitors the health of something that already works; an OKR points to what has to change this period.
| OKRs | KPIs | Traditional annual objectives | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Change something within a period | Monitor something that already works | Share out goals for the year |
| Horizon | A quarter, sometimes a year | Ongoing | A year |
| How many | Few: three to five objectives | As many as need monitoring | Varies |
| Review | Frequent, with progress and confidence | When a value leaves its range | Once or twice a year |
| Ambition | Committed and aspirational | Hold a value | Hit one hundred per cent |
| Visibility | Open to the whole organisation | The team that measures them | Between the person and their manager |
How do you write a good OKR?
Start with the problem, not the solution. Before drafting, ask what must be true at the end of the quarter that is not true today.
For the objective: one sentence that needs no explanation, motivates and carries no numbers. For each key result: a starting value, a target value and a date; or a verifiable milestone where no number makes sense. If a key result has no baseline, you cannot measure its progress.
It helps to separate two kinds of OKR. Committed OKRs must be met, and missing one calls for an explanation. Aspirational OKRs are ambitious bets, and reaching part of one is already a good result. Mixing them without saying so leads everyone to write safe goals.
How do you implement OKRs step by step?
Roll them out in short cycles, starting small. This order works for organisations of any size.
| Step | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide why | Choose the problem OKRs should help solve this year | Leadership |
| 2. Company OKRs | Three to five objectives for the first quarter | Leadership |
| 3. Team OKRs | Each team proposes its own, aligned with the company's | Team leads |
| 4. Regular check-in, every one or two weeks | Progress on each key result and confidence in reaching it | Owner of each OKR |
| 5. Close the quarter | Final score, lessons learnt and what carries into the next cycle | Everyone |
| 6. Second cycle | Extend to more teams and, if it makes sense, to individuals | Leadership and HR |
How often should OKRs be reviewed?
More often than most people expect. An OKR that is only looked at at the end of the quarter is found to be off track when there is no time left to correct it.
A useful check-in has three pieces of information per key result: actual progress, the owner's confidence in getting there (for example, from 1 to 10) and what is in the way. Confidence matters as much as progress: a key result at 40% with high confidence may be in better shape than one at 60% with confidence falling.
Should OKRs be tied to variable pay?
Not at first. If meeting an OKR decides the bonus, people write goals they know they will meet, and aspirational OKRs disappear.
Pay can rest on performance, which is a broader conversation than one quarter's percentage. If the organisation decides to link something to OKRs, do it only with committed ones, with written criteria known before the cycle starts. In Spain, check the collective agreement: under Article 26.3 of the Workers' Statute, the structure of pay and any results-based supplements are set by collective bargaining or, failing that, by the employment contract.
What changes if an AI tool evaluates OKRs?
What you have to explain to your workforce changes. If a system analyses each person's progress to evaluate their performance, you enter regulated territory.
The EU AI Act lists among high-risk systems those intended to monitor and evaluate the performance and behaviour of people in an employment relationship; following Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, those obligations apply from 2 December 2027. Article 22 of the GDPR protects against decisions based solely on automated processing. In Spain, Article 64.4.d of the Workers' Statute gives the works council the right to learn the parameters, rules and instructions of algorithms that affect decisions on working conditions.
The prudent approach is for the tool to flag and propose, and for a person to make the assessment.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
The most common mistake is turning OKRs into the quarter's to-do list. The second is having too many: if everything is a priority, nothing is.
Other mistakes: key results with no baseline; OKRs handed down from the top without teams proposing their own; no check-ins until the quarter closes; punishing aspirational OKRs that were not reached; and keeping them in a spreadsheet nobody updates.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- How many OKRs should a team have?
- Three to five objectives per quarter, each with two to five key results. More than that usually means tasks are being mixed up with results.
- Do OKRs work for a small business?
- Yes. A small business only needs company OKRs and, at most, one set per team. What matters is reviewing them often, not how many there are.
- What final score is good for an aspirational OKR?
- Reaching part of the objective already counts as a good result. If every aspirational OKR is met in full, they were probably not ambitious.
- Do OKRs replace performance reviews?
- No. OKRs measure what was achieved in a period; a performance review looks at how the person works, their development and their potential. They complement each other.
- Who owns an OKR?
- One named person per key result. There can be contributors, but if a whole team owns it, nobody does.