OKRs Meeting

This is the 'what' of an OKR. It is a future state you would like to achieve.

• Mission

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

“OKR” stands for Objective and Key Results. It’s both a goal setting and leadership system and a  format for writing measurable goals. As we often say, OKRs “turn missions into milestones.”

This is the 'how' of an OKR. It is a measure or milestone you'll use to track progress.

• Mission

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

They describe the essential milestones you’ll need to hit in order to make the Objective a reality. There are 3-5 Key Results for every Objective.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Be the #1 free mobile banking app in developing countries."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is an Objective. It describes an ideal future state that can be achieved. It’s a “what” statement and sets a direction for where a team’s efforts will be focused. What are we trying to do? Be the #1 free mobile banking app in developing countries.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Get 5,000 new email subscribers."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is a Key Result. It’s a measurable milestone that can be met on the way toward achieving a broader Objective. The giveaway that this is a Key Result is that there’s a measurable number included. If this Key Result is tracked, there will be no question at the end of the cycle whether or not it was a success.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is a Mission Statement. It’s a long-term vision statement that describes a company’s overall activity. In this case, the company is Honest Tea. This statement is quite broad. OKRs could be written to help continually fulfill the mission.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

100% of our members hear our capital fundraising campaign pitch.

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is a Key Result. It contains a measurable milestone that will be tracked on the way toward meeting an Objective. The Objective here is “Fully fund a world-class science center.” The what: fully fund the science center. One of the hows: deliver the pitch to 100% of the members. 100% is the tell-tale measurement in this Key Result. We’d need a way to accurately track and report that number during the cycle.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Improve the impact of our company’s website."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Results

Answer explanation

This is an Objective. It sets a direction for an eventual accomplishment. The “improvement” implied here can be further defined by an accompanying set of 3-5 measurable Key Results. For example, “Increase the loading speed by 20%,” “Average 1 million monthly visitors,” and “Increase the time a visitor spends on the site by 25%.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Become the recognized industry leader in producing rosé wines."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is an Objective. It’s a lofty goal, so it could be quite a long-term Objective - but it still sets the trajectory, or the “what,” of the goal. What would add up to being recognized as the industry leader? This will be the work of its 3-5 accompanying Key Results. They could include things such as winning international tasting competitions or aggregate worldwide sales.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Help bring creative projects to life."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is a Mission Statement. In fact, it’s the Mission Statement of the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. It’s a big umbrella of a statement that describes the overall purpose of the company. At the same time, you can see how there is a lot of room for creativity and flexibility underneath that umbrella to find ways to “bring creative projects to life.” OKRs can be a way to define and act on a strategy that fulfills the mission.

Use what you know about Objectives and Key Results to identify each as either a Mission Statement, an Objective or a Key Result.

"Research and evaluate at least 3 new customer management systems by March 31."

• Mission Statement

• Objective

• Key Result

Answer explanation

This is a Key Result. It describes a measurable milestone of researching and evaluating at least 3 new systems. The owner of this Key Result can easily track over the course of a cycle how they’re progressing. If the cycle is almost over, and they’ve only evaluated 1 CMS, they know they’ll need to move some other things aside to give this KR priority. It’s fair to assume others are relying on accomplishing this Key Result - especially since we know it’s part of a whole. There are more associated Key Results that add up to their Objective. In this case, the Objective could be “Improve our sales communication.”