Write effective OKRs that inspire action and deliver results.

Both leaders and practitioners agree that having clear, relevant, and communicated goals allows employees to focus on the work that matters, and that outcome-driven goals help teams align to strategic priorities and deliver measurable results.

Building on that, if you and your team are bought in with the general process of setting goals, it may make sense to get more specific by following a goal framework, which serves as a powerful tool to structure and guide the process of setting and achieving goals.

The framework we recommend is OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), the secret weapon of high-achieving companies, and the #1 most commonly used goal-setting framework at enterprise organizations.

Note

Mindset: Before we get started, a quick reminder that writing OKRs is an iterative process—the more you write, the better you will become. That’s why we strongly urge focusing on progress over perfection.

If you already have some basic strategic goals set for your company, it’s far more important to make initial progress, enter those into the system, and build on them, rather than get hung up trying to craft the perfect metric. So for now, keep it simple and have some fun.

OKR definitions

Let’s start with a quick recap. OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. Along with Initiatives, they act like a compass to direct you toward your goals.

• Objectives are what your team wants to accomplish. They are 3-5 clear, inspiring goals shared across teams and organizations.

• Key Results are how the team will measure results. They should be 3-5 measurable outcomes which contribute to the achievement of an objective.

• Initiatives are actions that help the team achieve outcomes. They are focused efforts that will help you define the path to impact for each OKR.

Let’s dig into Objectives a bit deeper … What does the team want to accomplish?

Whether you’re the CEO of your organization, or the department lead in your group, what meaningful goals do you want to accomplish?

These goals should be clear, concise, and inspirational. We like to say that it should be like a slogan that will fit on a t-shirt. Remember to keep things simple and focused … just 3-5 goals max.

Now let’s dig into Key Results. If Objectives are the aspirational words of a leader, Key Results are the specific numbers and metrics of a scientist.

If an employee later asked if the team accomplished the goals they set out to achieve, the result should be clear, measurable, and not open to interpretation. Once again, keep things focused by limiting to 3-5 Key Results for each Objective.

Lastly, Initiatives are actions that help the team achieve outcomes. They are focused efforts that will help you define the path to impact for each OKR.

Important

When thinking about Key Results vs. Initiatives:

• Key Results are outcomes—the level of performance or achievement you're trying to reach—the outcome you want to happen.

• Initiatives are outputs—the list of activities you're performing to get there—the output to make those things happen.

Benefits of OKRs

Because OKRs are simply a framework for goal-setting in general, the same benefits apply: Benefits of effective goal setting

Common pitfalls and best practices

Because OKRs are simply a framework for goal-setting in general, the same pitfalls apply: Goal setting pitfalls and best practices

Formula for writing great OKRs

While the goals of a SaaS startup might ultimately feel very different than the goals of a global media enterprise, the good news is there are a few simple formulas that anyone can use to write great OKRs, even if you’re just getting started.

Remember, our definition of a great goal is:

An ambitious, aspirational target to aim for, tied to measurable outcomes, with action connected to the work of your team.

Here’s an easy way to tie that to the components of OKRs:

"I will OBJECTIVE as measured by KEY RESULTS via INITIATIVES."

From there, as you think about the goals you want to achieve, you can start by asking questions and using a formula.

Formula for writing Objectives

Objectives are actionable, aspirational, and meaningful.

Step 1: Questions to ask before writing Objectives

• What is the most important area of our business that we need to focus on?
• Why does this goal matter to us?
• How would we write our objective into a statement that inspires our team?

Step 2: Formula to follow when writing Objectives

Important

Verb + what you’re going to do + so that / in order to

In this formula, the verb is your action, what you're going to do is your aspiration, and the phrase "so that" or "in order to" is your meaning.

Note

Example: Deliver a “must-have” product in order to delight customers and grow our user base

Formula for writing Key Results

Key results are focused, measurable, and ambitious.

Step 1: Questions to ask before writing Key Results

• How will we know if we’re successful?
• How can we measure the impact of our work?
• What metric or outcome would let us measure definitively if we were successful?
• Do we currently measure that metric?
• What is our best-case scenario for achievement on that measure?

Step 2: Formula to follow when writing Key Results

Important

Verb + what you’re going to track / count + from x to y

In this formula, the verb is your action, what you are going to track or count is your area of focus, the X to Y is your measure; the difference between the X and Y is the level of ambition you're trying to achieve.

Note

Example: Increase our NPS score from 40 to 50

Formula for writing Initiatives

Initiatives are outputs that help inform the success of your outcomes.

Step 1: Questions to ask before writing Initiatives

• What do we need to do in order to be successful?
• What can we get done in this period?
• Who needs to be involved?

Step 2: Formula to follow when writing Initiatives

Important

Verb + what you’re going to do

In this formula, the verb is your action and what you are going to do is the output of your initiative.

Note

Example: Conduct market research initiative to identify “customer delighters”

If we look at how our examples flow into our formula, it would look like this:

"We will deliver a must have produce in order to delight customers and grow out user base as measured by Increased NPS score from 80 to 90 via Conducting market research initiative to identify customer delighters."

Review and edit

Once you’ve sketched out a draft of your OKRs, we recommend stepping back and asking yourself a few questions to help refine them. It’s often helpful to literally step away...take a break from writing and come back the following day with fresh eyes to review.

Then, look at each OKR through the lens of the 5 key OKR benefits:

Alignment

Have you aligned your goals from the top down, bottom up, and across teams to ensure everyone is driving towards the same purpose, across the organization? Do we have the right owners identified who will feel accountability for driving progress?

Focus

Have you limited both Objectives and the Key Results below them to 3-5 at most? It can be difficult at first to narrow down your goals when everything seems to be a priority, but remember, “If everything is important, then nothing is.”

Transparency

Are your OKRs public for all team members to see in order to create accountability and surface dependencies and roadblocks? Can our team directly impact Key Results or are we reliant on stakeholders? If the latter, can we make this a shared OKR?

Adaptability

Have you set up integrations to a single source of truth where possible to enable faster and better decision making based on dynamic real-time data and insights? Will we be able to see progress on each Key Result in the current time frame?

Growth

Do your OKRs go beyond “business as usual” to strive for ambitious outcomes and reaching for what’s possible?

Finalizing your OKRs

A great way to finalize your OKRs is to take the necessary and sufficient test.

In looking at an OKR, ask yourself, "Are all these Key Results necessary to achieve my Objective?"

• If the answer is yes, then it passes the necessary test.
• If the answer is no, then remove what isn't needed.

Next, ask yourself, "Will accomplishing my Key Results be sufficient enough to achieve my Objective?"

• If yes, then it passes the sufficient test and you're good to go.
• If no, then modify existing Key Results to make them stronger, and add any Key Results to achieve your Objective.

Enter OKRs into Viva Goals

Now that you’ve seen the “why” around writing great OKRs, see the step-by-step process “how” to enter your OKRs into the Microsoft Viva Goals software platform: Create Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives with Viva Goals

Summary

Objectives and Key Results, along with Initiatives, act like a compass to direct you toward your goals. Learning to write great OKRs is an iterative process, so we strongly urge focusing on progress over perfection. That said, there are simple formulas you can follow to make it easier.

• Objectives should be clear, concise, and inspirational, and limited to just 3-5.
• Key Results are how the team will measure results, and should also be limited to 3-5. They are the measurable outcomes which contribute to the achievement of an objective.
• Initiatives are actions that help the team achieve outcomes; the focused efforts that will help you define the path to impact for each OKR.

There are many pitfalls to avoid when writing OKRs, such as writing goals that are ambiguous, business-as-usual, not measurable, or too much like a to-do list.

But the top issue organizations usually have is around focus. When companies get stuck, it’s usually because they’ve set way too many goals, so the answer is almost always “less is more” and scaling back to do a few things great.

Additional Resources

Viva Goals Community

Looking to get advice on writing great OKRs, engage in a discussion with your peers, read the latest blog posts, or join a private user group? Check out the Viva Goals Community.

Viva Goals Help Center

Learn how to enter your OKRs into the Microsoft Viva Goals software platform via short videos and step-by-step instructions: Create Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives with Viva Goals