Creating Objectives and Setting Key Results

Discover how to set clear, ambitious goals and measure progress effectively with OKRs. This guide will walk you through the process of creating and managing Objectives and Key Results to drive performance and achieve your organization's vision.

You can define clear goals and track progress across three key sections:

• All OKRs: View all OKRs across your organization.
• Personal OKRs: Focus on your created OKRs (where you are creator, owner or contributor).
• Backlog: This section contains potential future goals, which are not assigned to any cycle and and are not currently in use. You can also create new objectives directly from this section.

Create an Objective

1. Navigate to Perform → OKRs → Backlog
2. Click + Add Objective button
3. Define a concise and inspiring statement that captures the essence of your goal

Next, you need to fill the Objective Details section, select the team or individuals responsible for achieving this objective (Assign Team), choose the specific cycle during which this objective will pursued (Set Cycle), and link the objective to relevant strategic goals, pillars, and perspectives to ensure alignment with the overall organizational strategy (Strategic Alignment).

1. Objective Details

1. Type: Choose a type that best categorizes your objective (e.g., committed, aspirational, learning).
2. Tags: Select tags from the dropdown to categorize your objectives
3. Layer: Define the scope of your objective (e.g., individual, department, company).
4. Department: Choose the specific department from the dropdown menu
5. Attachments: Upload attachments to link relevant files to your objective (e. Project Plans, Presentations, Reports).
6. Visibility: Decide whether the objective will be private (visible only to you, the owner, and contributors) or public (visible to everyone with access to the OKRs section).

2. Assign Team

1. Owner: Select the individual who will be primarily accountable for achieving the objective
2. Contributors: Add team members who will actively support achieving the objective.

3. Set Cycle

1. Cycle: Associate your objective with a specific time frame (e.g., quarterly, annual) for focused execution
• After you select a cycle you can define and create the parent or child objective within this selected cycle by selecting Set Now.
• If no objectives have been added to this cycle yet, you can select objectives from other cycles by clicking the Explore Objectives button on the right of the page

Note: The types, cycles and layers are predefined settings and can be accessed from the Settings → OKRs section.

4. Strategic Alignment

Pillars: Select the pillar(s) that this objective aligns with

Perspectives: Select the perspective(s) that this objective aligns with

5. Finally click one of the following buttons:

• Save and Activate: Save the created objective and make it active.
• Save as Draft: Save the objective for future editing or activation.

• Cancel: Discard any changes made.

Once you've completed these steps, proceed to setting key results, the measurable outcomes that demonstrate objective progress.

Tip: Use the Explore Objectives button on the right to filter objectives by cycle. This helps you identify gaps in your objective planning and determine which new objectives to create for each timeframe.

Setting Key Results

To achieve your objectives, it’s essential to set and reach key results. Follow these steps to define and track your progress:

1. Select the objective for which you want to add key result(s).
2. In the opened Side Panel click the + Add Key Result button
3. Enter a clear and specific key result 
4. Add an attachment (optional)
5. Select the appropriate measurement unit (percent, number, Reached/Not Reached)
6. Start: Specify the initial value for the key result
7. Target: Establish the desired outcome or goal
8. Due Date: The due date will be automatically set according to end date of the selected cycle, but you can modify it if needed
9. Owner: Determine who is responsible for achieving the key result.
10. Contributor: Add contributors to support the achievement of the key result.
11. Click Save to add the key result or Cancel to discard the changes.

Filtering Objectives and Key Results

You can filter objectives within the Backlog, Personal OKRs and All OKRs sections.

Personal OKRs Section

Find specific objectives using the following filters:

• Show by Proximity: Filter objectives based on your involvement (e.g., owner, contributor).
• My Objectives: Objectives that you have created
• My Team: Objectives created by your direct reporters or assigned to you.

• Organization: Objectives related to the entire organization.
• Department: Objectives set for your department.
• Filter by Due Date: View objectives based on their deadlines. 
• Missed: Objectives where the Key Result's end date has already passed.
• Near: Objectives with Key Results due within the next 5 days.

All OKRs Section

Filter Objectives by status:

• Filter objectives based on status to gain insights into progress and performance:

  • Missed: Objectives that have not been achieved by the target date
  • Almost There: Objectives nearing completion but not yet achieved
  • Achieved: Objectives that have successfully met their targets
  • Not Set: Objectives that have not been assigned any key results or progress updates
  • Not Locked: Objectives that are still open for editing and adjustments

Filter Key Results by Status:

• Gain insights into key result progress with these status filters:

• Behind: Key results falling short of expectations
• Low Chance: Key results at risk of not being achieved
• On Track: Key results progressing as planned
• Not Set: Key results without assigned progress updates

Filter Objectives by Due Date:

• View objectives based on their deadlines. 
• Missed: Objectives where the Key Result's end date has already passed.
• Near: Objectives with Key Results due within the next 5 days

Filter objectives using quick filters: All and Drafts.

• All: Displays all objectives, including those that have been moved to the backlog or created directly in the backlog.
• Drafts: Shows objectives that are currently in Draft status.

Use the Filter button in Backlog, Mine and All sections to refine your objective search based on linked persons, departments, layers, and types.

You've mastered the art of objective setting! Now, let's dive into tracking progress and achieving your goals. Stay tuned for insights on managing and optimizing your OKRs.