OKR Best Practices: 19 Tips For Everything You Need to Know

Objectives and key results (OKRs) represent one goal-setting framework for companies, while OKR best practices help you create more effective OKRs. Following these best practices helps your teams discuss how to proceed with the specific goals they set.

This guide helps you understand how to write and accomplish your objectives and key results (OKRs) using OKR best practices. OKRs typically have one objective and three key results written in the format "We will meet [objective] as measured by [three to five results]. 

Tip 1: Start by Defining Organizational Objectives

What does the company want to achieve by the end of each OKR cycle? Is the ultimate goal more revenue? A leaner operation? Steady growth? Begin by defining organizational objectives before getting more specific with OKRs.

Tip 2: Get Buy-In From All Participants

OKR best practices start with leadership’s role in explaining why OKRs are important. It’s vital to show why everyone’s input is important and how OKRs affect the company, departments, teams, and individuals.

Tip 3: Limit the Number of OKRs Per Team

Too many OKRs can reduce focus, leading to poor results or focusing on things outside the company’s core business model. Consider just one or two OKRs per team, per quarter, because this approach increases the odds of achieving them.

Tip 4: Align Team OKRs With Company Objectives

OKRs for each team must further company objectives. For example, if the company-wide OKR is to increase monthly recurring revenue (MRR) by 10% in the next quarter by landing two new contracts per month, the sales team should have OKRs that support this goal.

Tip 5: Be Transparent Throughout the Process

An OKR cycle thrives on total transparency. When every department’s goals and progress are fully visible, teams can easily spot potential bottlenecks or blockers before they default a quarter. 

Tip 6: Prioritize Goals Over Initiatives

OKRs are goals, not tasks. When planning for OKRs, start with the goals you want to achieve and then assign initiatives for each team member. Initiatives are the actions needed to reach key results. Adapt later when new information becomes available during the process. For example, for the sales team to increase their book of clients, they may need to spend five more hours a week performing outreach.

Tip 7: Include Everyone in the Process

Planning meetings should include everyone affected by the OKRs. If the goal is to increase output by 15%, the employees who need to improve efficiency should help set OKRs. Having everyone involved increases innovation and collaboration by bringing any and all ideas to an OKR planning session.

Tip 8: Allow Individual Employees to Set Their Own OKRs

Foster autonomy and project ownership by letting individual employees set their own OKRs. This aligns the OKR process with each person’s interests while tapping into their skill set and strengths.

Tip 9: Differentiate Between Committed and Aspirational OKRs

Committed OKRs are non-negotiable, realistic business targets and must be achieved within a single cycle (one quarter). Aspirational OKRs are visionary, higher-risk stretch goals for which achieving most of the goal is considered a success. Make sure to differentiate between these two during your planning meetings as part of your OKR best practices.

Tip 10: Keep Expectations High

The right approach drives innovation, prevents complacency, and moves teams toward a stretch goal. Keep expectations high by fostering independence, accountability, regular check-ins, innovation, and collaboration throughout the process.

Tip 11: Create Initiatives at the Start of Each OKR Cycle

Remember, initiatives are the tasks needed to achieve each key result. Create and delegate initiatives at the start of each OKR cycle so that everyone knows what they need to do.

Tip 12: Assign One Owner Per Key Result

Have an owner or lead for each KR to ensure accountability and that nothing falls through the cracks. Multiple teams can work toward completing a key result, but a single person or team should monitor how initiatives are contributing to a key result.

Tip 13: Avoid Invisible OKRs

An invisible OKR is one that no one pays attention to. Perhaps it’s an output-only OKR, or it has too many goals or no named owner. Every OKR should be worked on every week of a cycle to move toward completion.

Tip 14: Check In Weekly

Teams should review OKRs weekly. Keep these meetings simple, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes. Focus on four core questions:

1. What moved since our last meeting?

2. What progress is at risk?

3. What should we prioritize this week?

4. Where do we need help?

Tip 15: Track Progress Without Micromanaging

OKRs foster autonomy from the beginning of the first OKR planning meeting. Everyone should have the freedom to accomplish their initiatives through their weekly work. One-line updates are often enough, such as asking “What’s blocked and what should we change?” Use words like “us” and “our” rather than singling out one person or problem because OKRs are team goals.

Tip 16: Investigate Further if Key Results Aren’t Moving Forward

Key results should move forward after the first week. If they aren’t, investigate why to avoid further delays. Delays at the beginning compound and can cause progress on OKRs to stall.

Tip 17: Reflect at the End of Each OKR Cycle

Many companies plan their OKR cycles around one quarter. At the end of each one, reflect on the process as a team with the same team members who started the cycle. Answer these four questions:

1. What did we achieve as a company?

2. What obstacles slowed us down?

3. What surprises did we find?

4. What should we do differently for the next cycle?

Tip 18: Use Compound OKRs

Don’t quit once you complete an OKR. Keep the cycle going to compound the effects of each one. As your teams learn how to achieve OKRs, their processes will become more efficient. Many teams see significantly higher completion rates by the end of the third cycle of OKRs, so about nine months after starting.

Tip 19: Tap Into Brev to Keep Your OKRs on Task and on Time

Help your company succeed before, during, and after OKR planning meetings. Brev’s AI OKR software keeps your company goals on track across all your teams and acts as a “company brain” by connecting with existing workplace tools and meetings to automatically capture decisions, update goals, track commitments, and surface risks. Request a free demo or start your free trial with Brev today.