OKR glossary

The OKR framework is a tool to create ownership over the Objectives and Key Results being set. If you have an Objective with 5 Key Results, then each Key Result has a lead, that is usually linked to a team member of the respective OKR group.

Initiatives or tasks you cross off from the action list as you complete them. Each Key Result should have an initiative list. It indicates what you do to accomplish this Key Result. If an OKR is off the track, ideally your initiative list will change.

A set of principles is used by many software teams to make better decisions on how they conduct their work. These values are customer centric and favour adaptability, collaboration, and iteration. Scrum and Safe are part of these agile toolboxes.

Providing visibility to and uniting teams and departments in support of common objectives. You can align vertically and horizontally OKRs in the organization from the management level to the teams/department and team members.

Motivate and challenge the team.

Big Picture Ideas - working on the business

A point of reference that allows you to measure if you are making progress on your target. For example, if your target is to be lose weight, one of your benchmarks would go to the gym once a week. Going to the gym once a week is not necessarily a benchmark. But increasing consistency from 1 day a week to 6 days a week would be a benchmark. Benchmarks help you to measure your progress. Benchmarks make good key results.

Any OKR that is drafted in response to a higher-level OKR in the organization. With clear information and communication from an organization’s management to the lower levels and visa-versa, the ideal result is more engagement and alignment.

The day-to-day operations of an organization. OKRs describe what we want to build, change or reinvent. That’s why OKRs are the opposite of “business as usual.” The term “BAU” is often used for “business as usual.”

It describes the rhythm with which a company set its OKR cycle. An OKR cycle includes the following: drafting and setting OKRs, check-ins, rating OKRs and reflecting. Depending on the culture and context of the company, an OKR cycle can be set to an 1-6 months cadence to meet your team’s and company’s needs.

The process by which the management (company) Key Result is turned into an Objective on a lower level (team, department).

stands for Conversation, Feedback and Recognition. CFRs and OKRs are mutually reinforcing. CFRs happening throughout the OKR cycle. CFRs gives transparency, empowerment, accountability, and teamwork at all levels of an organization.

An OKR under a parent OKR after cascading an OKR.

is a category of OKRs, the other one being Aspirational. Unlike an Aspirational OKR, these OKRs are the objective all team members agree need to be achieved. Usually these OKRs are in the work scope of teams, also called “working in the business”.

Doing a 3 months project to deliver results in the next quarter is not enough. Try breaking down your project in smaller pieces to deliver value sooner.

One of 2 types of OKR alignment / cascading: Implicit and Explicit. Explicit Alignment follows more the organizational chart than Implicit Alignment, as it entails using a measurable Key Result from a higher level OKR as the basis of team or team member Objective, then drafting your own set of Key Results to support it. This is so called “inheriting” a Key Result.

allows connecting with it

Teams determine whether an OKR was accomplished at the end of an OKR Cycle, and to what degree. This process should be done objectively. These scores should be used to reflect on the current quarter to set up OKRs for the next one.

One of 2 types of OKR cascading or alignment: Implicit & Explicit. Implicit Alignment is more “fluid” than Explicit alignment, as it means using higher level OKRs as a guide for developing team or team member OKRs. It works for organization that want to empower its teams to use their creativity and strength to reach organizational OKRs.

OKRs set and committed to by team members / employees. These OKRs should align with team or departmental & company-wide OKRs. They differ from Personal OKR.

One of 3 ways to define a desired end state: inputs, outputs, or outcomes. An Input OKR (or Key Result) is based upon things that you can control, such as testing 4 ads or sourcing 3 new materials.

The “KR” in OKR, these are set benchmarks or measurements which describes “how” an organization, team, or individual plans to get closer to their Objective. Effective Key Results should be specific and time-bound, aggressive, yet realistic. Key Results are measurable and verifiable and they track progress towards the Objective. Completing a Key Result is not subjective, you either hit the performance goal or you don’t. Key Results drafted as a set, and are tied to a specific Objective, and are set to guide actions throughout each OKR cycle. There should be no more than 5 KRs per Objective.

stands for key performance indicators. KPIs are metrics used to measure the operations and health of an organization. For example, KPIs can track sales or production numbers. Some KPIs could be great key results, but they need to be aligned with your objective.

A category of OKRs, the other 2 being Committed & Aspirational. It encourages teams to test a hypothesis by exploring an unproven theory or strategy. They are helpful for defining success when the outcome is uncertain.

This is an essential component of Key Results. It allows you to set exactly how you will determine whether or to which degree you have accomplished the desired objective.

Simpler, shorter and easy to memorize.

A required component of a good Key Result, it is specific. It determines the degree to which an objective was achieved. Depending on the industry it might be a figure, number, statistic, or a rating.

A mission statement of why an organization exists. What its overall target is.

This refers to an objective that is so huge, that it may seem impossible to reach first. The intention is to set the bar high that, even if teams fail to reach, the team makes more progress than they would have with more realistic objectives. Teams think outside of the box.

This is an OKR cycle within a larger OKR cycle. For example, many organizations set annual OKRs, and then use a quarterly OKR cycle to make progress towards those longer-term objectives.

The “O” in OKR — the drafted statement of “what” an organization, team, or individual wants to achieve over an OKR cycle. Objectives should be aligned with a company’s overall mission, mission, and strategies. Objectives should be concrete, significant, short, action-oriented, and aspirational. The 3 types of Objectives: are Committed, Aspirational, and Learning.

“O" stands for Objective and “KR” stands for Key Result. You can track progress, create alignment, and encourage engagement via OKRs.

An OKR Practitioner or Expert for the implementation of OKRs inside an organization. They set the process of an organization implementing and maintaining a healthy OKR practice and Cycle. They help dispel any misunderstanding about OKRs.

An expert who coaches and supports organizations on the objective and key result framework. This guidance often includes hands-on assistance with drafting, implementing and refining, and reflecting on OKRs.

Also known as OKR, Objective, or Key Result lead. An individual assigned to a specific OKR who is responsible for the delivery of an Objective or key result.

OKR works best with regular check-ins. Reviews can be part of one-on-ones and weekly and monthly staff meetings. Checking in regularly helps teams adjust if they’re not making the progress as expected. There should be a more formal grading process at the end of each OKR Cycle. Grading and reflecting on Objectives and Key Results provides an opportunity to celebrate wins and to analyze what can be done differently in the next Cycle.

1) Focus, 2) Align, 3) Commit, 4) Track, and 5) Stretch are the main superpowers of OKRs.

One of 3 ways to define the desired state: by inputs, outputs, or outcomes. An Outcome OKR (or Key Result) is the most powerful as it tends to describe the desired result itself, rather than what you do to get there. Outcomes are more complex than outputs or inputs. They address a challenge more directly and reflect a before and after. Drafting a great Outcome Key Result can require extra time for reflection.

One of 3 ways to define the desired state: by inputs, outputs, or outcomes. An Output OKR (or Key Result) is the effects of your inputs, such as increasing revenue or conversion rate. An effective Output embeds the actions (inputs) within the objective. If your objective is to win an election, the Output Key Result could be to “get 50,000 people to vote for the candidate.”

An OKR that has been broken down into 1 or more child OKRs. Parent OKR happens through cascading down through an organization. The OKR that inspires the child's OKR is called the Parent OKR.

OKRs used outside the business as setting personal goals.

An OKR for objectives that contain confidential or sensitive information, which is only shared among specific teams or individuals.

No numbers.

Every Key Result should have a number.

keeps an organization from being innovative and reaching its full potential. If you link a bonus system to OKRs, most likely this causes sandbagging. People will lower the expectation and will not set aspirational goals to reach their bonus.

An organization’s overarching plan to reach its long-term goals. The OKR framework is not a replacement for strategic planning. OKRs should align with company strategy.

A high-risk goal meant to help teams innovate or reach x-times their normal performance. The key to stretch goals is that teams must rethink how to best leverage their resources and capacities.

OKRs set by and owned by a team within a larger company. Team OKRs align with a higher-level OKR or directly to the vision, mission, or strategies either by cascading down or laddering up.

Monitoring OKRs to ensure that they are working and achieving the desired results is key to the success of this agile goal-setting methodology.

Visible, openly-shared OKRs in an organization.

Shared ideals or beliefs in an organization. A company’s values should inform its OKRs, and an organization’s OKRs should align with its values.

Measure results instead of holding a list of tasks/deliverables/projects.