What is the difference between an OKR and a KPI?

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are time-bound goals typically set for a quarter or year that define what a team wants to achieve and how success is measured. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are ongoing metrics that measure business or team performance continuously. OKRs are about setting ambitious new targets, while KPIs track existing operational performance.

How do you write a good Key Result?

Good Key Results are specific, measurable, and outcome-focused. Use numbers and percentages rather than vague descriptions. For example, increase customer retention rate from 85 percent to 92 percent is better than improve customer retention. Key Results should feel ambitious but achievable, typically expecting 70-80 percent completion.

How often should OKRs be reviewed?

OKRs are typically set on a quarterly or yearly cycle. During the OKR period, teams review progress weekly or bi-weekly in status meetings or check-ins. At the end of the quarter, teams conduct a retrospective to evaluate completion and learn from what worked or did not work before setting new OKRs.

What is the difference between an Objective and a Key Result?

An Objective describes what you want to achieve (the direction or goal), while Key Results are the measurable outcomes that prove you achieved the Objective. For example, Objective: Improve mobile app user experience. Key Results: Reduce app crash rate by 50 percent, increase app session length by 20 percent.

OKR meaning in tech — Speak Tech English

Commonness	5/5
Versatility	4/5
Formality	CasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticDirect
Region	US and UK

Say it like this

✓Let us set ambitious OKRs for next quarter

✓We need to align our OKRs with company strategy

✓How are we tracking against our OKRs this month?

✓Our OKR is to reduce API latency by 40 percent

Real examples

in a planning meeting

"Our Q3 OKR is to increase deployment frequency to 50 times per week while maintaining zero critical incidents."

in a status update

"We are on track with two of our three OKRs, but we need to reprioritize work to hit the third one."

in a one-on-one

"How do your individual OKRs connect to the team OKRs we discussed?"

Don't say this

Handle with care. OKRs are not the same as KPIs or general goals. OKRs require a clear measurable result tied to an objective. Avoid using OKR to mean any target or metric.

✕Our OKR is to work on the new dashboard feature.

✓Our Objective is to improve user engagement. Our Key Result is to increase daily active users by 25 percent.— An OKR must include both an objective and measurable key results. Activities or features alone are not OKRs.

✕We have 15 OKRs for this quarter.

✓We have 3-5 OKRs for this quarter to maintain focus.— Too many OKRs dilute focus. Best practice is 3-5 per team, not 15. This creates confusion and reduces alignment.

✕Our Key Result is to improve code quality.

✓Our Key Result is to reduce critical bugs by 50 percent as measured by our incident tracker.— Key Results must be measurable and specific. Vague improvements like improve quality are not effective OKRs.

Other forms

noun

OKR

"We set three OKRs for the infrastructure team this quarter."

noun

OKRs

"All OKRs must be reviewed and committed to by Friday."

Often used with

set OKRsTo establish or define OKRs for a team or period

track OKRsTo monitor progress toward OKRs over time

align OKRsTo ensure team OKRs support company OKRs

commit to OKRsTo formally agree to achieve specific OKRs

ambitious OKRsOKRs that are challenging but achievable

quarterly OKRsOKRs that cover a three-month planning period

Similar words

goals and metricsMore informal way to describe what OKRs accomplish, but less structured

strategic objectivesBroader term that includes OKRs but not limited to them

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural phrasing

1. Your manager asks about your team goal for next quarter. Which response sounds most like how tech professionals talk?

We have an OKR to reduce database query latency by 30 percent.We must OKR the database.Our goal is to work on the database performance.We will OKR next quarter with a focus on speed.

Complete the sentence

2. During our planning session, we _______ three ambitious OKRs that align with the company strategy.

Spot the mistake

3. Which sentence uses OKRs incorrectly?

We committed to our Q4 OKRs in the planning meeting.Our OKR is to become a better engineering team.We are tracking progress against our OKRs weekly.The Key Result is to increase system uptime to 99.99 percent.

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this using the OKR framework: We want to make our API faster and easier to use for developers next quarter.

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "okr" in a standup this week?

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