Set Goals: OKRs & KPIs
Purpose
Help teams define well-structured, measurable goals that connect product work to business outcomes.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A team is starting a planning cycle and needs to define goals
- Existing OKRs are vague, unmeasurable, or disconnected from strategy
- KPIs are undefined or not connected to product decisions
- There is confusion between outputs (features shipped) and outcomes (user/business impact)
Do not use this skill when
- Goals are already defined and the team needs roadmap prioritization
- The goal is experiment design (use experimentation skills)
Required inputs
- Business or product area
- Strategic priority or direction (even rough)
Optional inputs
- Company-level OKRs
- Current metrics baseline
- Time horizon (quarter, half-year)
- Prior OKR performance
Upstream context
Works best when:
- Product vision and strategy are defined
- Product-market fit assessment exists
If upstream context is missing
Produce provisional OKR structure. Flag that without strategic direction, goals may not align with the business.
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- build-roadmap-prioritization
- define-success-metrics (experiment metrics derived from KPIs)
- build-decision-dashboard
Instructions
- Identify the strategic priority being addressed.
- Define 1–3 Objectives: qualitative, inspiring, directional.
- For each Objective, define 2–4 Key Results: specific, measurable, time-bound.
- Separate leading indicators (KRs) from lagging outcomes.
- Identify 3–5 KPIs for ongoing product health monitoring.
- Confirm that KRs are outcomes, not output metrics.
- Flag dependencies and risks to achieving the goals.
Output
Provide:
- Objectives (1–3)
- Key Results per Objective (2–4 each)
- KPIs for ongoing monitoring
- Baseline values where known
- Assumptions behind each KR
- Risks to goal achievement
- Confidence level: provisional / context-informed / ready-to-commit
Risks / caveats
- Do not write KRs that measure activity instead of outcomes
- Do not set too many OKRs — focus is more important than coverage
- OKRs should stretch but remain achievable; flag if targets are arbitrary