Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a goal-setting method that pairs a short, qualitative objective with two to five measurable key results showing whether the objective has been reached. Teams set them for a fixed period, usually a quarter, and score them honestly at the end.
How OKRs work
The approach was developed at Intel under Andy Grove in the 1970s and later popularised by John Doerr, who introduced it to Google. It has two parts:
- The objective says where you want to get, in words that motivate. For a driving school in south London: “Become the first choice for learners in Croydon and Sutton”.
- The key results say how you will know you got there, each with a baseline, a number and a deadline. For example: raise lesson enquiries from 20 to 45 a month by the end of March; collect 15 new Google reviews from pupils who passed; agree referral arrangements with three sixth-form colleges.
Key results describe outcomes, not tasks. “Publish four test-route guides” is an activity; “double organic visits to the test-route guides” is the result the activity is meant to produce. The tasks sit underneath, in the team’s plan.
Many teams separate committed OKRs, which they expect to hit in full, from stretch OKRs, where falling somewhat short is expected and still counts as progress. Scoring happens at the end of the period, and the next quarter’s OKRs reflect what was learned.
Why it matters
OKRs make priorities explicit. A marketing team with two objectives for the quarter has, by implication, decided what it will not do, which is often the harder and more valuable decision. They also link work across functions: if sales and marketing share a key result on marketing qualified leads, arguments about lead quality happen in the planning meeting rather than at the monthly review.
For smaller UK businesses a light version works well: one or two objectives a quarter for the whole firm, checked in a short meeting every couple of weeks. Writing measurable results also exposes gaps in tracking early, while there is still time to fix them.
Scored OKRs also leave a record. Looking back over several quarters shows which kinds of goals the team reliably reaches and which it tends to overestimate, so each round of planning becomes more realistic than the last.
Common mistakes
- Writing key results as a to-do list, so the team completes every item and nothing changes.
- Setting too many objectives, which brings back the lack of focus OKRs were meant to cure.
- Choosing key results that your current tracking cannot measure.
- Tying OKR scores to pay, which encourages everyone to set safe targets.
- Agreeing OKRs in January and not looking at them again until April.
How to act on it
Take your marketing goals for the next quarter and pick the one or two that matter most. Write each as an objective, then ask what you would see if it succeeded and turn those observations into key results with a baseline, a target and a date. Check each against your existing KPIs and analytics before agreeing it, so you know the numbers can be produced.
Keep the set visible, review progress fortnightly and score it honestly at quarter end. OKRs work best beneath a clear marketing strategy and pointing towards a single north star metric. Setting measurable marketing goals, with the tracking to support them, is part of my digital marketing strategy and consulting service.