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Glossary
OKRs & KPIs

What is OKR?

OKR is a goal-setting framework used by teams to define clear objectives and track their progress through specific, measurable results. It consists of an Objective, which is a high-level goal, and Key Results, which are the metrics used to determine if that goal was reached. This approach helps organizations focus on outcomes and alignment rather than just a list of tasks.

When to use it

Teams should use OKRs when they need to align high-level company strategy with daily execution. They are particularly effective during quarterly planning to ensure cross-functional teams are working toward the same outcomes rather than just completing tasks. OKRs solve the problem of 'busy work' by focusing effort on the metrics that actually drive business value.

Example

A SaaS product team sets an Objective to 'Improve first-week user retention.' They define three Key Results: increase Day 1 retention from 30% to 45%, achieve a 20% increase in the completion rate of the onboarding walkthrough, and reduce the average time-to-first-action from 4 hours to 30 minutes. By monitoring these specific metrics throughout the quarter, the team can pivot their development tasks if they are not seeing the expected impact on retention.

How Planet Roadmap helps with OKR

Planet Roadmap includes a dedicated OKR tree view that lets you link high-level objectives directly to specific initiatives and tasks on your roadmap.

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FAQ

How are OKRs different from KPIs?
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are health metrics used to monitor ongoing performance, while OKRs are used to drive change or improvement. You might use a KPI to track 'uptime,' but an OKR would be 'Improve infrastructure reliability from 99% to 99.9% this quarter.'
What happens if we do not hit 100% of a Key Result?
In the OKR framework, hitting 60-70% is often considered a success because objectives are meant to be ambitious 'stretch' goals. Consistently hitting 100% usually suggests the goals were not challenging enough, while consistently hitting below 40% may indicate poor resource allocation or unrealistic expectations.

Related terms

ObjectiveKey ResultKPINorth Star MetricInitiativeLagging IndicatorLeading IndicatorRoadmapProduct Strategy

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