How to Write Effective OKRs (With Examples)

Writing effective OKRs is both an art and a science. Done well, OKRs provide clarity, focus, and motivation. Done poorly, they create confusion, frustration, and wasted effort. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to write OKRs that actually drive results.

The Anatomy of a Good OKR

Before diving into examples, let's understand what makes an OKR effective.

The Objective: Your Destination

An objective is a qualitative goal that describes what you want to achieve. Think of it as your destination on a map.

Characteristics of Great Objectives:

• Inspirational: Should motivate and excite the team
• Qualitative: Describes the desired outcome, not a number
• Time-Bound: Typically quarterly (sometimes annual)
• Actionable: Within the team's control to influence
• Aligned: Supports broader company goals

Key Results: Your Milestones

Key Results are quantitative metrics that measure progress toward the objective. They're the milestones that tell you whether you're getting closer to your destination.

Characteristics of Great Key Results:

• Quantitative: Must be measurable with a number
• Achievable but Ambitious: Aim for 60-70% completion
• Specific: No ambiguity about what's being measured
• Verifiable: Can be objectively scored at quarter's end
• Outcome-Focused: Measure results, not activities

The Formula for Writing OKRs

Basic Structure

I will [Objective] as measured by [Key Result 1, Key Result 2, Key Result 3].

Example

I will [establish product-market fit in the enterprise segment]
as measured by:
- [Closing 10 enterprise deals over $50K]
- [Achieving 90+ NPS from enterprise customers]
- [Reducing sales cycle from 6 months to 3 months]

Writing the Objective

Start with "What" Not "How"

Bad: Implement a new CRM system Good: Become excellent at customer relationship management

The objective should describe the outcome you want, not the specific solution.

Make It Inspiring

Bad: Increase revenue Good: Become the market leader in our category

People are motivated by purpose, not just numbers. Frame your objective in a way that makes people want to achieve it.

Keep It Concise

Bad: Improve our customer experience by reducing friction points in the user journey and increasing satisfaction scores while simultaneously reducing churn Good: Deliver an exceptional customer experience

Objectives should be memorable. If your team can't remember it, they can't work toward it.

Avoid Metric-Focused Objectives

Bad: Achieve $1M in revenue (this is a key result) Good: Establish a scalable revenue engine (measured by $1M in revenue)

The objective describes what you're trying to accomplish; key results measure how you know you've accomplished it.

Writing Key Results

Use the SMART Framework

Key Results should be:

• Specific: Exactly what you're measuring
• Measurable: Can be tracked with a number
• Achievable: Possible to accomplish (but ambitious)
• Relevant: Directly relates to the objective
• Time-Bound: Has a clear deadline (usually end of quarter)

Focus on Outcomes, Not Outputs

Output (Bad): Complete 20 sales calls Outcome (Good): Close $500K in new business

Outputs measure activity; outcomes measure results. OKRs should measure the value created, not just the work done.

Include Enough Key Results

Too Few: One key result often misses important aspects Too Many: More than four becomes unfocused

The sweet spot is typically 2-4 key results per objective. This provides comprehensive measurement without overwhelming complexity.

Make Them Verifiable

At quarter's end, anyone should be able to look at your key results and score them objectively.

Bad: Significantly improve customer satisfaction Good: Increase NPS from 35 to 50

Real-World Examples by Department

Product Team

Objective: Launch the most loved mobile app in our category

Key Results:

• Achieve 4.8+ star rating across iOS and Android
• Reach 100,000 active users within 60 days
• Maintain <2% crash rate
• Achieve 50% day-30 retention

Sales Team

Objective: Build a predictable enterprise sales pipeline

Key Results:

• Generate 50 qualified enterprise leads per month
• Achieve 25% demo-to-opportunity conversion rate
• Close $2M in new enterprise ARR
• Reduce sales cycle from 180 to 90 days

Marketing Team

Objective: Establish thought leadership in the OKR space

Key Results:

• Publish 12 high-quality blog posts (10,000+ views each)
• Grow email list from 5,000 to 25,000 subscribers
• Generate 200 inbound demo requests from content
• Achieve 100,000+ monthly website visitors

Engineering Team

Objective: Deliver a world-class technical foundation

Key Results:

• Achieve 99.99% uptime (reduce downtime from 8 hours to 52 minutes annually)
• Reduce average API response time from 500ms to 100ms
• Implement automated testing for 80% of codebase
• Reduce critical bug count from 20 to <3

Customer Success Team

Objective: Create customers who can't live without our product

Key Results:

• Increase customer health score from 65% to 85%
• Achieve 95% renewal rate (up from 88%)
• Reduce time-to-value from 45 days to 15 days
• Generate $500K in expansion revenue

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Activity-Based Key Results

Bad: "Launch 10 marketing campaigns" Good: "Generate 500 qualified leads"

Focus on the outcome (leads) not the activity (campaigns).

Mistake 2: Business-as-Usual Goals

Bad: "Maintain 98% uptime" (this is your job, not an OKR) Good: "Become industry leader in reliability by achieving 99.99% uptime"

OKRs should push beyond normal operations.

Mistake 3: Sandbagging

Bad: "Increase revenue from $10M to $10.1M" (too easy) Good: "Increase revenue from $10M to $15M" (ambitious)

OKRs should require stretch effort. Aim for 60-70% achievement.

Mistake 4: Too Many OKRs

Bad: Setting 10 objectives per quarter Good: Setting 3-5 objectives per quarter

Less is more. Focus creates results.

Mistake 5: Not Measurable

Bad: "Improve customer experience" Good: "Improve customer experience by increasing NPS from 40 to 60"

Every key result needs a number.

Advanced Tips

Use Confidence Levels

Track your confidence in achieving each OKR on a scale of 1-10:

• 1-3: We're off track
• 4-6: We're on track
• 7-10: We're ahead

Update confidence weekly in your check-ins.

Create Dependencies

Some OKRs depend on others. Make these explicit:

"This OKR requires completion of [other team's OKR] by [date]."

Link to Company Strategy

Every team OKR should clearly connect to a company-level objective.

Company Objective: Become the market leader in enterprise OKR software

Sales Team Objective: Build predictable enterprise sales pipeline (supports company objective)

Balance Different Types of OKRs

Committed: Must achieve (usually 90%+ completion expected) Aspirational: Stretch goals (60-70% completion expected)

Have a mix of both to drive innovation while ensuring critical work gets done.

Step-by-Step OKR Writing Process

Step 1: Review Company Strategy

Start by understanding the company's strategic priorities for the quarter.

Step 2: Identify Your Top Priorities

What are the 3-5 most important things your team needs to accomplish this quarter?

Step 3: Draft Objectives

For each priority, write an inspiring, qualitative objective.

Step 4: Define Key Results

For each objective, determine 2-4 quantitative measures of success.

Step 5: Check Alignment

Ensure your OKRs support company-level objectives and don't conflict with other teams.

Step 6: Get Feedback

Share draft OKRs with your manager, peers, and team for input.

Step 7: Finalize and Commit

Set your OKRs at the start of the quarter and commit to achieving them.

Templates You Can Use

Template 1: Growth

Objective: [Verb] + [Area] + [Desired State]

Example: "Establish market leadership in enterprise segment"

Key Results:

• Grow [metric] from [baseline] to [target]
• Achieve [metric] of [target]
• Reduce [metric] from [baseline] to [target]

Template 2: Launch

Objective: "Launch [product/feature] that [value proposition]"

Key Results:

• Reach [number] [users/customers] by [date]
• Achieve [quality metric] of [target]
• Generate [revenue/engagement metric] of [target]

Template 3: Improvement

Objective: "Transform [area] from [current state] to [desired state]"

Key Results:

• Improve [metric] from [X] to [Y]
• Increase [metric] by [Z]%
• Reduce [problem metric] from [X] to [Y]

Conclusion

Writing effective OKRs is a skill that improves with practice. Start with the basics:

1. Make objectives inspirational and qualitative
2. Make key results specific and quantitative
3. Focus on outcomes, not outputs
4. Keep the number manageable (3-5 objectives, 2-4 key results each)
5. Make them ambitious but achievable

Remember, the goal isn't perfection—it's progress. Your OKRs will get better each quarter as you learn what works for your team and organization.

The most important thing is to start. Write your first set of OKRs, review them weekly, learn from the experience, and iterate. Over time, you'll develop OKRs that truly drive your team toward ambitious goals.