Ever feel like your teams are working hard but not always in the same direction? Or that you have great goals on paper, but tracking progress feels messy and inconsistent?
That’s where OKRs—Objectives and Key Results—can make a huge difference. They help organisations turn big-picture strategy into focused, measurable actions across every team. But here’s the thing: OKRs only work if they’re implemented correctly.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through how to implement OKRs step by step, from defining your company’s top priorities to setting measurable goals, tracking them, and making sure your teams stay aligned along the way. Whether you’re a leader rolling out OKRs for the first time or refining your existing process, this guide will help you get it right.
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a simple yet powerful goal-setting framework used by teams and companies to align efforts, measure progress, and drive results. The idea is to set an ambitious objective—something you want to achieve—and then define a few key results that clearly indicate how you’ll measure success.
Objective: Describes what you want to achieve. It should be short, inspiring, and action-focused.
Key Results: Measurable outcomes that show whether you're achieving the objective. These are usually time-bound and quantifiable.
Purpose of Using OKRs
To align individual and team goals with the company’s strategy: OKRs connect day-to-day tasks with the company’s larger mission, ensuring that every department and employee knows how their work contributes to the bigger picture.
To help teams focus on what really matters: Rather than chasing too many goals, OKRs force teams to prioritise 3–5 impactful objectives, promoting clarity and intentionality in execution.
To bring measurable accountability to goal-setting: Since key results are specific and quantifiable, everyone knows what success looks like. This reduces guesswork and encourages ownership of outcomes.
To foster a culture of transparency: OKRs are usually shared across the organisation, so teams can see what others are working on. This openness strengthens collaboration and trust.
To improve agility and track progress over time: With OKRs typically set and reviewed quarterly, teams can course-correct quickly, learn from experience, and adapt strategies as needed.
Let’s Understand This with an Example
Let’s say a marketing team at a mid-sized company wants to improve brand visibility in the next quarter.
Objective: Increase brand awareness across digital channels.
Key Results:
Grow website traffic from 50,000 to 75,000 monthly visitors.
Increase social media engagement rate from 2% to 4%.
Publish 12 thought leadership articles on the company blog and LinkedIn.
This OKR is easy to follow—it defines a clear goal (boost brand visibility) and uses measurable outcomes to track whether the team is on the right path. Each key result has a number, a timeline, and a direct link to the objective.
Read more: Understanding Objectives & Key Results (OKRs): Definitions, Framework and Examples
Now, let’s move on to the next section, where we’ll walk through OKR best practices and a step-by-step process designed to help leadership teams implement them effectively. Let’s dive in!
1. Establish a Clear Strategic Foundation
What is it?
This is the groundwork for your OKR implementation. Before setting any goals, ensure everyone understands the company’s mission, vision, and long-term direction. It sets the tone for how OKRs will serve your overall strategy.
How it works:
Revisit your company’s “why” — its purpose and what success looks like.
Identify top-level objectives (e.g., growth, innovation, market expansion).
Communicate this clearly across all departments.
Example: If your company’s vision is “to become the most customer-friendly fintech platform in Asia,” a strategic goal could be: “Improve customer retention by enhancing product usability and service response times.”
2. Foster an OKR-Friendly Culture
What is it?
Creating an environment where OKRs are not just a management tool but a mindset across teams. This involves trust, transparency, and a willingness to work toward shared goals.
How it works:
Communicate the “why” behind OKRs clearly and consistently.
Encourage openness around goal-setting and learning from mistakes.
Highlight that OKRs are not linked to appraisals—they’re about focus, not fear.
Example: You launch an internal campaign that introduces OKRs with leadership-led videos, live Q&As, and examples of how OKRs will help teams grow, not just measure them.
3. Design Effective OKRs
What is it?
Writing Objectives that are meaningful and motivating, and pairing them with Key Results that are measurable and time-bound.
How it works:
Each Objective should answer: “What do we want to accomplish?”
Each Key Result should answer: “How will we know we’re getting there?”
Keep OKRs simple—ideally 3–5 objectives with 2–4 key results each.
Example: Objective: Improve team productivity in Q2 — Key Results: (1) Reduce average project completion time from 12 to 8 days, (2) Complete 95% of tasks on time, (3) Conduct 2 training sessions on time management.
4. Align OKRs Across the Organisation
What is it?
This means connecting high-level company goals with team and individual objectives. It ensures everyone is rowing in the same direction.
How it works:
Start at the top: set company-wide OKRs
Cascade them to departments and individuals
Use alignment sessions to cross-check dependencies.
Example:
Company OKR: “Launch a new customer dashboard by Q3”
Marketing OKR: “Generate 1,000 sign-ups through launch campaigns”
Engineering OKR: “Release final dashboard version by June 30”
5. Implement a Pilot Program
What is it?
A test run with one or two teams to identify gaps, gather feedback, and learn before rolling out OKRs company-wide.
How it works:
Choose teams that are agile and open to experimentation
Set quarterly OKRs and track them closely
Evaluate clarity, motivation, tracking process, and outcomes
Example: Your customer support team pilots OKRs for one quarter: Objective: Improve customer satisfaction — Key Results: (1) Increase CSAT score from 85% to 92%, (2) Resolve 90% of support tickets within SLA, (3) Train all (100%) support agents on the new CRM features.
6. Choose the Right Tools for Tracking
What is it?
OKRs must be tracked consistently—tools help simplify this process. From spreadsheets to dedicated OKR platforms, choose the solution that suits your team’s size and needs.
How it works:
Small teams might start with Google Sheets
Growing companies benefit from platforms like Quantive, Leapsome, or Craze
Tools should allow regular updates, comments, and visual tracking
Example: With Craze Goal & OKR software, you can set up, track and manage your own goal, team goals and the company wide goals. You can set up who can view and edit these goals. Managers get instant visibility into which teams are on track and which need support.
7. Communicate and Train
What is it?
Ensuring your team knows how OKRs work and feels confident in setting and tracking them.
How it works:
Host company-wide OKR launch meetings
Provide hands-on training for managers and team leads.
Create simple OKR writing templates and best practices.
Example: You create a 1-hour onboarding session called “OKRs 101” and offer a template document with sample objectives and key results for each department.
8. Establish Regular Review Cycles
What is it?
Ongoing check-ins ensure OKRs stay top of mind, obstacles are addressed, and progress stays visible.
How it works:
Weekly/bi-weekly team reviews for updates
Monthly leadership syncs to adjust direction if needed.
End-of-quarter retrospectives to assess learnings.
Example: Product teams hold a 20-minute OKR sync every Monday. One key result is red-flagged mid-quarter, prompting leadership to provide more resources.
9. Reflect and Iterate
What is it?
The OKR process should evolve. At the end of each cycle, reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved.
How it works:
Collect qualitative feedback through surveys or team discussions
Review outcomes vs. expectations
Adjust OKR writing, tracking cadence, or tools based on insights
Example: You find that many teams overreached with 5+ objectives, leading to diluted focus. In the next cycle, you limit teams to 3 core objectives.
Implementing OKRs isn’t just about writing goals, it’s about creating clarity, direction, and focus across the company. When done thoughtfully, they align teams, sharpen execution, and foster a culture of accountability and growth.
Read more: Best OKR Software for Goal-Setting in 2025
Successfully implementing OKRs goes beyond writing good goals—it’s about creating habits, building alignment, and tracking progress consistently. These best practices can help teams stay focused, motivated, and on track throughout the OKR cycle.
Start with Strategy, Not Tactics: Ensure OKRs are linked to your company’s big-picture goals. Avoid writing OKRs based only on tasks—focus on outcomes that drive meaningful impact.
Limit the Number of OKRs: Stick to 3–5 Objectives per team, each with 2–4 Key Results. Too many OKRs can dilute focus and overwhelm teams.
Set Ambitious but Realistic Goals: OKRs should stretch the team, but not be so far out of reach that they’re discouraging. A 70–80% achievement rate is often considered success.
Cascade and Align Across Teams: Company-level OKRs should guide department and team OKRs. Cross-functional alignment ensures everyone is working toward the same priorities.
Keep OKRs Transparent and Visible: Make OKRs accessible to everyone in the company. Visibility promotes accountability, encourages collaboration, and avoids duplicated effort.
Review Progress Regularly: Schedule weekly or bi-weekly check-ins to discuss progress, update statuses, and remove blockers. Don’t wait until the quarter ends.
Learn and Adjust Every Quarter
At the end of each cycle, reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Use those insights to refine your approach in the next quarter.
By following these best practices, you can turn OKRs from a simple goal-setting framework into a powerful driver of focus, alignment, and measurable growth across your organisation.
Once your company is comfortable using OKRs at the leadership or team level, the next step is to scale the process across departments. This ensures everyone—from product to HR—is working toward aligned goals. Scaling OKRs requires a structured approach to maintain consistency, avoid silos, and drive company-wide impact.
Start with Company-Wide OKRs: Define 3–5 strategic objectives at the company level each quarter. These set the direction and help departments shape their own OKRs around shared priorities.
Create Department-Specific OKRs That Ladder Up: Each department should create its own OKRs that align with company goals. These should be tailored to their function but clearly support the bigger picture.
Example:Company Objective: Improve customer retention
Product OKR: Launch a feature that addresses top 3 user complaints
Marketing OKR: Increase re-engagement email click rate by 20%
Customer Success OKR: Reduce churn by 15%
Use Shared OKRs for Cross-Functional Teams: For initiatives that involve multiple departments, assign shared OKRs. This promotes collaboration and ensures all stakeholders are accountable for outcomes.
Appoint OKR Champions in Each Department: Nominate someone in each department to act as an OKR lead. They’ll support with writing OKRs, ensuring alignment, tracking progress, and reporting results.
Hold Regular Cross-Department Reviews: Schedule monthly or quarterly reviews where departments present OKR progress. This encourages transparency, surfaces blockers, and keeps everyone aligned.
Provide Tools and Templates: Use consistent OKR templates or platforms like Craze, Quantive, or Asana to track progress. Centralising OKR data makes collaboration and reporting easier.
Encourage Bottom-Up Contribution: While direction should come from the top, teams should feel empowered to propose OKRs based on what they’re seeing day to day. This boosts engagement and ownership.
Scaling OKRs across departments takes coordination, clarity, and consistency—but when done right, it creates a unified, focused organisation where every team knows how their work contributes to company-wide success.
Implementing OKRs isn’t just about writing goals—it’s about creating clarity, focus, and alignment at every level of your organisation. When done right, OKRs help connect day-to-day efforts with big-picture strategy, drive accountability, and foster a results-driven culture. From setting priorities to tracking progress, each step plays a crucial role in turning goals into outcomes.
However, managing OKRs across teams can quickly become complicated, especially as your business scales and priorities shift. That’s where Craze comes in.
With Craze’s OKR software, you can define, track, and align objectives and key results in one place. Whether you're setting company-wide goals or team-level OKRs, Craze helps you stay focused, transparent, and on track every quarter.
Don’t let misalignment or manual tracking slow you down. Book a demo to see how Craze can help you unlock performance, simplify goal-setting, and empower every team to hit their targets, quarter after quarter.
1. What’s the difference between OKRs and KPIs?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) focus on setting and tracking goals that drive strategic growth, while KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) measure ongoing performance. Think of OKRs as goal-setting tools and KPIs as performance metrics—both can complement each other.
2. How many OKRs should a team or individual have?
It’s recommended to have no more than 3–5 objectives, each with 2–4 key results. Too many OKRs can dilute focus and make tracking difficult. The goal is clarity, not volume.
3. How often should OKRs be reviewed or updated?
OKRs are typically set quarterly and reviewed bi-weekly or monthly. Frequent check-ins help teams stay aligned, identify blockers early, and adjust course if needed.
4. Should OKRs be linked to performance reviews?
Not directly. OKRs are meant to encourage ambition and learning. Tying them too closely to appraisals can lead teams to set safe, low-impact goals. Use OKRs to guide discussions, not to measure employee performance.
5. What’s the best way to track OKRs?
You can start with spreadsheets, but as your organisation grows, dedicated platforms like Craze make it easier to set, track, and align OKRs across teams—keeping everything in one place with real-time updates and reporting.
