Objectives & key results
Definition
Objectives and key results (OKRs) is a goal-setting framework in which an objective — an inspiring, qualitative description of what you want to achieve — is paired with 2-5 key results — specific, measurable outcomes that define what success looks like.
Andy Grove developed OKRs at Intel in the 1970s, adapting Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives. John Doerr brought OKRs to Google in 1999, and Google's subsequent success made them famous. Doerr's 2018 book 'Measure What Matters' brought OKRs to a much broader audience.
The structure is simple: Objective = where we want to go (qualitative, inspirational). Key Results = how we know we got there (quantitative, measurable, time-bound). The key results are outcomes, not tasks. 'Launch the new dashboard' is a task; '70% of active users have visited the new dashboard within 30 days of launch' is a key result.
Two modes of OKRs:
- Committed OKRs: Expected to be achieved 100% of the time. These are the table-stakes deliverables.
- Aspirational OKRs (moonshots): Designed to stretch the team. Achieving 70% is considered success.
OKRs work at company, team, and individual levels, and are typically set quarterly (with a longer-horizon annual goal providing context).
Common mistakes: writing key results as tasks ('ship the feature' rather than 'feature drives 20% increase in retention'); too many OKRs (more than five objectives per quarter loses focus); treating OKRs as a performance review tool (they're a focus and alignment tool — punishing people for aspirational OKRs kills the system).
OKR planning sessions are heavy whiteboard sessions. Teams write objectives on the board, debate key results, check alignment between team-level OKRs and company OKRs, and identify dependencies. BoardSnap AI reads those boards and produces structured OKR summaries ready to paste into your OKR tracker.
Examples
- Objective: Make onboarding so good that users tell their friends. KR1: 7-day retention reaches 60%. KR2: NPS from new users reaches 45. KR3: Organic referrals account for 30% of new signups.
- Objective: Own the enterprise segment. KR1: Close 5 enterprise accounts (>$50K ARR). KR2: Average enterprise deal cycle under 45 days. KR3: Enterprise NRR reaches 120%.
- Engineering objective: Ship without regressions. KR1: Zero Sev-1 incidents caused by deploys. KR2: P99 API latency under 200ms. KR3: Test coverage above 80%.
- Individual objective: Become the go-to person for data analysis. KR1: Train 3 teammates on SQL. KR2: Publish 4 data insight reports that drive product decisions. KR3: Reduce ad-hoc data requests to me by 50%.
Related terms
Snap a objectives & key results. Ship its actions.
BoardSnap turns any whiteboard — including this one — into a summary and action plan.