The acronym OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, a popular goal management framework that helps companies implement strategy. The benefits of the framework include improved focus, increased transparency, and better alignment. OKR achieves this by organizing employees and the work they do around achieving common objectives. OKR helps entire companies communicate company strategy to employees in an actionable, measurable way. It also helps companies to move from an output to an outcome-based approach to work.

1. OKR
The Basics of
@henrikjanvdpolBy Henrik-Jan van der Pol

2. OKR = Objectives & Key Results
Companies using OKR
It’s a way to run your life, your team or your company.
It creates focus and prioritization. It aligns team effort and
makes sure everybody is working towards the same goal.
www.perdoo.com

3. Objectives & Key Results
Objectives are goals.
They tell you where to go.
Each objective has a few Key Results.
They indicate how you will get there.
An Example
You sell barbeques online. You want to grow revenue to
1 million this quarter (objective).
Your Key Results could be:
• Rank Top 3 in Google’s Search Results for ‘buy
barbeque’
• Run a 20%-discount-campaign in 2 national
newspapers
www.perdoo.com

4. From the mission & vision, you
can derive your Objectives.
Together they tell you Where.
Mission, Vision, OKRs, Todos
Todos are the things you do to
achieve your Key Results.
Together they tell you How.
www.perdoo.com

5. 4 OKR Rules
• Set them annually and quarterly
A quarter and a year are timeframes in which you really can achieve
something. The same timeframes are also used to evaluate companies.
• Don’t have too many
5 Objectives with 4 Key Results each is your maximum per quarter.
Having more will only distract you from what really needs to be done.
• Make them challenging.
Research demonstrates that people who set challenging targets
achieve more. Expect to get to 70-80% of your challenging target.
• A KR must have a number.
Numbers enable objective evaluation and create a learning process.
www.perdoo.com

6. Your vision is the long term view.
OKRs on a Time Scale
From the mission & vision, you
derive your annual objectives.
Annual objectives split into
quarterly objectives.
www.perdoo.com

7. Grading
Only Key Results get graded. An Objective’s grade is the average of its
Key Results. A good Key Result always enables objective grading.
Objective grading is necessary for learning.
Grading shall never be used for employee evaluation.
Some guidelines
• Use a scale from 0 to 1. Getting to 70-80% of your target will
result in a .7 or .8 grade.
• Grade your OKRs at the beginning of the next quarter.
• If you constantly score a 1, your OKRs were not challenging
enough. You should score a .7 or .8
www.perdoo.com

8. • • ••
Brainstorm 2014
& Q1 Objectives
Define
Q2 Objectives
Define
Q3 Objectives
Define
Q4 Objectives
etc.
Draft
KRs
Draft
KRs
Draft
KRs
Draft
KRs
Grade
previous OKRs
1 January
Grade
previous OKRs
Grade
previous OKRs
Grade
previous OKRs
1 April 1 July 1 October
Timeline 2015
www.perdoo.com

9. Perdoo brings the three ingredients for growth—strategy, goals,
and people—together on an easy-to-use platform. It enables CEOs
to communicate the strategy in real-time, so that teams and
employees can align their efforts to drive the results that matter—
using KPIs & OKRs.
Sign up for a free Perdoo
account here.
Unlimited goals & users. Free
forever.

10. About the author
Henrik-Jan van der Pol
@henrikjanvdpol
http://linkd.in/1KxzaDV
Henrik-Jan van der Pol is a tech entrepreneur and former management
consultant on a mission to help companies realize their ambitions. Working
as a consultant, he realized that too many organizations fail to achieve the
results they desire. Henrik learned first-hand that goals bridge the gap
between today’s reality and a desired future, and are a powerful tool to
focus, align & engage the organization. This resulted in him launching
Perdoo—a goal management software for business—together with Jonathan
in late 2014.