Get to know OKRs

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a proven goal-setting framework that drives business outcomes by keeping everyone in your org aligned, focused, and productive.

OKRs orient your organization around the goals you hope to achieve, changing the focus from output (your team's everyday work) to outcomes (the results of that work). This mindset shift keeps your team engaged, gives you a clear sense of purpose, and shows how everyone is contributing to forward momentum.

An objective is a high-level description of something your team wants to accomplish.

A key result is a quantifiable goal that helps you measure progress toward one of your objectives.

An initiative is a focused effort geared toward helping you achieve one or more key results.

The term OKR is used to describe an objective and all of its associated key results and initiatives. Even though OKRs include initiatives as well as objectives and key results, they are sometimes referred to as "OKRs and initiatives" to avoid confusion.

Goal is a catch-all term used to describe an objective, key result, or initiative. Remember to be both optimistic and realistic when delineating your goals, as the best goals are ambitious but doable. You should have both the time and resources to make good on your OKRs' key results and initiatives.

Check-ins are how you update and share progress on your OKRs. When you update progress on a key result, it automatically updates the status of the parent objective as appropriate.