How to Set OKRs: Objectives, Key Results and Examples

OKRs, objectives and key results, help a company or team pick a few things that matter this quarter and define exactly how it will know it got there. They suit teams doing new or changing work, such as product, growth or process improvement. This guide explains how to write objectives and key results, how many to set, how to score them, how they differ from KPIs, and gives examples for three kinds of teams.

Objectives and key results explained

An objective is a short, qualitative statement of what you want to achieve this quarter, written so the team finds it worth doing. A key result is a measurable outcome that shows the objective has been reached. Each objective gets two to four key results. Key results describe results, not activities: 'launch a new onboarding email series' is a task; 'raise week-one active customers from 55 to 75 percent' is a key result. The task may help reach it, but the key result is what counts.

Worked examples for three teams

Notice that each key result has a starting point and a target, and that none of them is a list of activities. Teams decide the activities themselves during the quarter. That freedom is the point: the objective says where to go, the key results say how you will know you arrived, and the team chooses the route.

SaaS product team, Pune. Objective: make setup painless for new customers. KRs: cut average setup time from 10 days to 4; raise week-one active customers from 55 to 75 percent; halve setup-related support tickets.
HR team at a 400-person manufacturer. Objective: every new joiner productive in the first month. KRs: tools ready on day one for every joiner; first-month exits down from 9 to 4 a quarter; joiner rating of 4 out of 5 or better at day 30.
Hospital operations. Objective: shorten discharge time. KRs: discharge summary ready by 11 am for 80 percent of planned discharges; bills settled within two hours of the discharge order for 90 percent of patients.

Scoring and the quarterly rhythm

Score each key result from 0 to 1 at the end of the quarter based on how far it moved. If a KR aimed to move from 55 to 75 percent and reached 70, the score is 15 divided by 20, or 0.75. Because good OKRs stretch, many teams treat about 0.7 as a solid result. During the quarter, hold a 15-minute weekly check-in: confidence in each key result, blockers and help needed. At quarter end, score, discuss what was learned and set the next quarter's OKRs.

OKRs, KPIs and pay

KPIs track the ongoing health of the business and a role; OKRs drive a change over a quarter. A team can carry both: a support team keeps its first response KPI while its OKR is to cut repeat complaints. Keep OKR scores out of increment formulas. If pay depends on hitting OKRs, teams set safe targets and the stretch disappears. Use OKR outcomes as one input to the appraisal conversation instead.

Step by step

Start from company priorities. Leadership shares two or three priorities for the quarter. Team OKRs should visibly support at least one of them.
Draft one to three objectives per team. Write each objective as a short, clear statement of what will be different by quarter end. More than three splits the team's attention.
Write two to four key results each. Make every key result measurable, with a starting value and a target. Check that the objective is achieved if the key results are met.
Check for tasks in disguise. Remove anything that describes activity rather than outcome, such as 'hold training sessions', and replace it with the result the activity should produce.
Share and align across teams. Publish all team OKRs so others can spot dependencies and conflicts. Resolve overlaps before the quarter starts.
Record them in a quarterly cycle. In ZeniaHR, set up a quarterly review cycle and add each key result as a goal of type OKR with a weight, so the team's commitments are on record.
Check in every week. Spend fifteen minutes on confidence, blockers and help needed for each key result, and adjust tactics rather than targets.
Score and reflect at quarter end. Score each key result from 0 to 1, discuss what worked and what did not, and use the lessons to set the next quarter's OKRs.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between OKRs and KPIs?

KPIs measure the ongoing performance of a role or process, such as payroll accuracy or collection efficiency, and usually stay the same year after year. OKRs set a specific change to achieve in a quarter, with an objective and measurable key results. A team typically keeps its KPIs and adds a few OKRs for what it wants to improve.

How many OKRs should a team have?

One to three objectives per quarter, each with two to four key results. More than that spreads effort too thin and turns OKRs into a to-do list. If everything feels like a priority, ask which objective the team would still pursue if it could only choose one.

Should OKRs be linked to salary increments?

Most companies keep them separate. When pay depends directly on OKR scores, people set safe, easy key results and the stretch disappears. Use OKR outcomes as one input to the performance conversation, alongside KPIs and behaviour, and let the rating, not the raw OKR score, drive the increment.

How are OKRs scored?

Each key result is scored from 0 to 1 based on how much of the planned movement was achieved, and the objective's score is the average of its key results. For a stretch key result, a score around 0.7 is often treated as a good result. Scores are for learning, not for ranking people.