itsual OKRs and Goal Setting
Overview
OKRs connect ambition to measurable progress. Good OKRs focus teams on what matters and make trade-offs explicit.
When to Use
- Quarterly or cycle goal setting
- Aligning product work to company strategy
- Creating shared accountability across functions
- Reviewing progress and learning at the end of a cycle
Structure
- Objective — Qualitative, inspiring, time-bound direction
- Key Results — Quantitative measures of progress toward the objective
- Typically 2–4 KRs per objective
Principles
- Prefer outcome KRs over output KRs (e.g., activation rate vs. “ship feature X”)
- Make KRs measurable and unambiguous
- Keep the set small enough to focus
- Grade honestly and learn — OKRs are not performance reviews by default
- Align, don’t cascade mechanically
Verification
- KRs are measurable without debate
- Achieving the KRs would mean the objective was largely met
- Team understands how their work connects to the OKRs