OKR
OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is a goal-setting framework where teams define ambitious objectives and measure progress through specific, quantifiable key results.
OKRs are a goal-setting methodology popularized by Intel and Google. An Objective is a qualitative, inspirational goal that describes what you want to achieve. Key Results are 3-5 quantitative metrics that measure whether you've achieved the objective.
OKRs typically operate on quarterly cycles. At the start of each quarter, teams set OKRs that align with company-level OKRs. Throughout the quarter, progress is tracked weekly.
In practice
- Google has used OKRs since 1999, Larry Page credits them as a critical tool in scaling from 40 employees to 100,000+ while maintaining focus and alignment
- A 30-person startup implemented quarterly OKRs and reduced the number of projects their team juggled from 25 to 8, completing more by focusing on what mattered most
- A marketing team's Q1 OKR was 'Establish authority in our market niche' with key results around content output, backlinks earned, and podcast guest appearances, they scored 0.75, identifying content distribution as the gap
- A product team set an OKR to 'Deliver a world-class onboarding experience' with key results on activation rate, time-to-value, and NPS, hitting 0.8, they continued refining in Q2
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A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.