OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework that helps businesses make their goals actionable and measurable. Objectives define where you're going, while key results track progress toward those objectives. OKRs are valued for their clarity, transparency, and collaborative nature, making them effective for aligning teams and driving results. [Source]
An OKR consists of an objective statement that is actionable, time-bound, and ambitious, followed by 3 to 5 key results that are clear, quantifiable, and actionable. For example, an objective might be "Create an inclusive culture that’s welcoming for everyone," with key results such as achieving a specific eNPS score, getting internal referrals, and reducing turnover. [Source]
Good OKRs are measurable, challenging, clear, and consistently reviewed. They should be quantifiable, ambitious enough to stretch the team, easily understood, and regularly revisited to track progress. [Source]
OKRs should be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain top-of-mind and teams stay aligned. It's recommended to make OKR reviews part of weekly stand-up meetings or 1:1s. [Source]
The 8-step process includes: understanding company goals, choosing the right tools, involving the whole team, writing an objective statement, developing key results, planning initiatives, tracking progress consistently, and celebrating partial success (e.g., achieving 70% of key results). [Source]
Tracking OKRs effectively involves regular reviews, using collaborative tools, and integrating OKR tracking into team meetings. Spinach AI offers goal tracking features that put meetings and goals into one workflow, helping teams stay aligned regardless of location. [Source]
Yes, Spinach AI provides an Excel OKR template that you can use to establish and track your objectives and key results. You can access it here. [Source]
Spinach AI offers a library of over 360 goal and OKR examples for various teams, including sales, engineering, customer success, and marketing. You can explore the library here. [Source]
Teams are encouraged to celebrate achieving 70% of their key results, as OKRs are meant to be challenging and inspire growth. Recognizing partial success helps maintain motivation and acknowledges progress. [Source]
Recommended tools include Miro for brainstorming, Google Sheets for detailed tracking, and Spinach AI for integrated goal tracking and meeting management. These tools support both remote and hybrid teams. [Source]
Spinach AI is a platform designed to enhance team collaboration and productivity by automating note-taking, action item tracking, and integrating with popular tools. For OKRs, Spinach AI offers goal tracking features that help teams set, monitor, and achieve objectives efficiently. [Source]
Key features include automated note-taking, AI-powered insights, seamless integration with tools like Zoom, Slack, Jira, Salesforce, and customizable solutions for different teams (e.g., PRD generation for product managers, sprint planning for engineering). [Source]
Yes, Spinach AI automatically captures meeting notes, action items, and outcomes, allowing users to focus on discussions without distractions. [Source]
Spinach AI streamlines administrative tasks by automating meeting recaps, proposals, and CRM updates. It also integrates with project management and communication tools to ensure smooth collaboration and documentation. [Source]
Spinach AI integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack, Google Calendar, Microsoft Calendar, Jira, Trello, Asana, ClickUp, Linear, Monday.com, Notion, Confluence, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Attio, BambooHR, Rippling, Workday, OKTA, SCIM, Zapier, NetSuite, and SAP. [Source]
Yes, Spinach AI provides a Transcript & AI Summary API, available across all plans (included in Free and Enterprise, add-on for Pro and Business). This API enables access to transcripts and AI-generated summaries for enhanced integration and automation. [Source]
Spinach AI offers comprehensive technical documentation, including printed and digital instructions, online help files, technical documentation, and user manuals. These resources are accessible via the Help Center. [Source]
Spinach AI provides tailored features for various roles: automated roadmap meetings and PRD generation for product managers, CRM integrations and buyer insights for sales, onboarding automation for customer success, sprint planning for engineering, and meeting insights for HR and recruiting. [Source]
Spinach AI helps businesses save time by automating note-taking and administrative tasks, improves workflow efficiency through integrations, enhances decision-making with AI-powered insights, and increases productivity with tailored solutions for different teams. [Source]
Spinach AI offers a Starter (Free) plan, a Pro plan starting at $2.90 per meeting hour (pay-as-you-go), a Business plan at $19/user/month (annual) or $29/user/month (monthly), and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing. Flexible billing options are available. [Source]
The Free plan includes unlimited meeting recording, transcription, and basic AI summaries. The Transcript & AI Summary API is also included. [Source]
The Pro plan is pay-as-you-go and includes advanced AI features. The Transcript & AI Summary API is available as an add-on. [Source]
The Business plan offers unlimited meetings, advanced AI, and per-user pricing. The Transcript & AI Summary API is available as an add-on. [Source]
The Enterprise plan is custom-priced and includes advanced security, control, customization, and volume discounts. The Transcript & AI Summary API is included. [Source]
Spinach AI is certified for SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA, ensuring adherence to industry-leading security and privacy standards. [Source]
Spinach AI uses best-in-class encryption, access controls, and intrusion detection software. It enforces a zero data retention policy with AI subprocessors and never uses customer data for AI model training. Regular third-party audits ensure ongoing compliance. [Source]
Yes, Spinach AI is compliant with both GDPR and HIPAA, meeting strict standards for data protection and privacy. [Source]
Spinach AI is designed for rapid implementation. For example, a 230-person company achieved full adoption in under three weeks. Free account setup and onboarding programs are available. [Source]
Support resources include a Help Center, onboarding programs for Business and Enterprise plans, dedicated Customer Success Managers, priority support for paid plans, and the option to schedule meetings with the sales team. [Source]
Spinach AI is designed for professionals across roles such as product managers, sales, customer success, engineering, HR, recruiting, and marketing. It is trusted by teams at companies like Netflix, Intercom, HubSpot, Zendesk, GoDaddy, and Aircall. [Source]
Spinach AI addresses pain points such as manual note-taking, repetitive administrative tasks, workflow inefficiencies, difficulty analyzing user feedback, and challenges in team collaboration and alignment. [Source]
Yes, customers like Kushal Birje (EDB), Dan Robidoux (Careviso), Belén Medina (Do It Consulting Group), and Jason Oliver (Product Director) have shared positive feedback on improved workflows, communication, and alignment. [Source]
Customers have described Spinach AI as easy to install, intuitive, and seamlessly integrated into workflows. Testimonials highlight its helpful AI and automations, with specific praise for integrations like Jira. [Source]
Spinach AI is trusted by teams at Netflix, Intercom, HubSpot, Zendesk, GoDaddy, Aircall, Adobe, and Wealthsimple, among others. [Source]
Descript is known for audio/video editing and transcription. Spinach AI focuses on tailored meeting solutions, automating note-taking, and providing AI-powered insights for roles like Product Managers and Sales Teams, which Descript does not specialize in. [Source]
Fireflies.ai offers transcription and meeting summaries. Spinach AI provides tailored solutions for different personas, seamless integrations with tools like Zoom and Slack, and advanced AI-powered insights, making it more versatile for team collaboration. [Source]
Otter.ai specializes in fast transcription. Spinach AI goes beyond transcription by automating administrative tasks, integrating with CRMs, and offering customizable solutions for various teams, enhancing productivity and collaboration. [Source]
Meetgeek provides meeting summaries and insights for remote teams. Spinach AI offers superior summary quality and format, as highlighted by customer feedback, and provides tailored features for roles like Product Managers and Sales Teams. [Source]
Supernormal focuses on meeting summaries and automating follow-ups. Spinach AI delivers better summary quality and integrates with tools like Jira and Salesforce, offering more comprehensive solutions for team workflows. [Source]
Trint specializes in transcription and video captioning. Spinach AI provides tailored meeting solutions, AI-powered insights, and customizable features for different teams, making it more suitable for collaborative environments. [Source]
Sonix offers automated transcription and translation. Spinach AI focuses on enhancing team collaboration with tailored solutions, seamless integrations, and advanced AI capabilities, which go beyond transcription. [Source]
Spinach.ai is enterprise-ready, offering robust security and compliance with SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. The Enterprise plan provides advanced features essential for large organizations, including SAML SSO, custom data retention, a dedicated API, compliance monitoring, and a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Writing great OKRs can be simple once you know the best practices. We’ve got you covered with this guide on how to write OKRs that stick.
Nicole Kahansky
Every business has goals. Sometimes those are internal ones, like building a great culture. Other times they’re external goals such as delivering a fantastic experience for your customers. But achieving those goals takes more than putting your intentions out into the universe. You need a plan.
You need to understand how to write OKRs.
What are OKRs? They’re objectives (where you’re going) and key results (how we track our progress getting there) that make your goals actionable and measurable. They’re clear, transparent, and collaborative.
TLDR:
As far as goal-setting frameworks go, OKRs are one of the most straightforward tools for almost every type of business.
Writing an OKR that works starts with an objective statement that’s actionable, time-bound, and ambitious. For example:
From there, use key results to measure your progress as you work toward the objective.
Writing great key results means keeping them clear, quantifiable, and actionable. There’s no concrete rule for how many key results an objective needs, but 3 to 5 is a good rule of thumb to use. Here’s an example of 3 key results for the last objective listed above:
Adding more key results doesn’t mean you’re tracking better. Less is more with key results. 3 to 5 will keep your team focused and moving forward together.
Now that you know how OKRs are structured, let’s go into the details of what separates good OKRs from bad ones. In our example culture OKR, you might have noticed that each key result is measurable, clear and time-bound.
These are a few key characteristics that make up good OKRs:
The core of a good OKR is that it’s measurable. If your OKRs aren’t clearly measurable, it’s going to be difficult to know if you’ve been successful. And if you don’t know if you’ve been successful, how will you know if your OKRs were effective? Or where to go next?
You need to track your progress towards the objective. Whether that’s a score like eNPS, the count of support tickets for a product, or the number of customer interviews done, make sure there’s a quantifiable way to measure success.
Writing good OKRs is not the time or place for lowered expectations. OKRs should be a challenge. No risk, no reward.
For many teams, writing OKRs that work involves stretch goals. These are goals that are slightly beyond what you and your team think you’re capable of accomplishing. Don’t worry about hitting that 100% mark, though. We’ll talk about what success looks like for OKRs later in the post.
This isn’t the time to get fancy. Every OKR you set needs to be easily understood by your team. OKRs need to be clear, concise, and digestible. The objective needs to be straightforward, and the key results should show what you’re tracking and how you’re tracking it without the need for an explanation.
If no one remembers your OKRs, it’s going to be pretty difficult to hit them.
The most critical part of writing OKRs isn’t how you write them. It’s how you use them. You should revisit OKRs often so they stay preeminent and your team knows how they’re progressing. Our recommendation: make reviewing OKRs part of weekly stand-up meetings or 1:1s.
Pro tip: Spinach AI is an AI meeting assistant that keeps OKR progress at the top of your recurring meeting agendas, so reviews happen in the flow of work, not as a separate task.
One of the key reasons we love OKRs is that they’re not written in a boardroom. Everyone has input into what the objectives should be, and everyone has ownership of success.
Here are 8 steps to help set and achieve OKRs that work at a company, team and individual level.
Writing effective OKRs starts with understanding your organizational goals. Once you’re clear on the vision, you can break down those higher-level goals into actionable team OKRs to drive your business forward.
Remember that OKRs shouldn’t be set in isolation. Everything should ladder up into each other.
Starting with well-defined goals informs your team OKRs, which lead to individual OKRs. This will help everyone stay aligned and moving in the same direction.
Like any project, having the right tool for the job is critical. From brainstorming sessions on goals and objectives to tracking your progress, excellent tools are available to help support and stay aligned on your OKRs, especially when you’re working in a remote or hybrid workplace.
OKRs are bi-directional, not top-down. Each team member should have input into OKRs, leading to a shared sense of ownership and accountability on your team.
So once you’ve gotten clear on your company goals, and put in place the right tools, call a team meeting to start brainstorming and finessing your OKRs for the quarter. Then, don’t forget to schedule individual check-ins with team members to discuss how their individual OKRs fit into the bigger picture.
Then, as the quarter goes on, don’t forget to continuously keep the team in the loop on progress, so everyone can see the impact of their work and that of their peers.
Your objectives are the destination you’re heading toward, so they should be set before your key results and initiatives. Sometimes it can be tempting to start with results, but it’s the objective that guides the key results. Your objective should consist of one sentence, along with a short description.
Your objectives need to be ambitious, so it’s normal to feel a bit uncomfortable when setting them. If not, take a step back and review your targets. You may be setting the bar too low.
Key results are how progress is measured towards the objective. If the objective is the destination, then your key results are the map to getting there.
It’s with key results where you get to define how you’re going to measure your progress. Remember, they should be relevant to your objective and easy to measure with a number.
Now, put all of this together with one more ingredient: initiatives. Initiatives are how you’re going to put the OKRs into action. Here are two examples of what the full combination of objective, key result, and initiative could look like:
Objective | Key Result | Initiative |
Be the best remote work company | Have an eNPS score of 30 | Conduct monthly eNPS surveys with employees |
Be in the top 5 top-selling SaaS solutions | Generate 50 inbound leads | Start a new paid digital marketing campaign |
Too many organizations start with the best of intentions with their OKRs. They do the work of brainstorming across their teams. They put their OKRs into great-looking templates. Then, sadly, they put them on a shared drive and forget about them.
OKRs work when you track and review them. Find ways to make OKR reviews part of your process. That could be reviewing individual OKRs at 1:1s, team OKRs at weekly team meetings, or organizational OKRs during quarterly town hall meetings.
When we talked about what makes a good OKR, we discussed the need to make it challenging.
The best OKRs are just out of reach. They’re meant to inspire your team, but not demotivate them by being completely unachievable. There’s a fine line between the two. That’s why it’s important to celebrate your successes, even if you don’t hit 100% of the key results.
Start with a number. Every key result needs a quantifiable metric (an eNPS score, a count, a percentage change, a revenue figure) so progress is unambiguous at review time. If you can’t point to a specific number that confirms success or failure, the key result needs to be rewritten before the quarter starts.
Hitting 70% of a stretch OKR counts as a win, not a failure. OKRs are designed to be slightly beyond what your team thinks is achievable, so 100% completion often signals the goal was set too low. Celebrate the 70% mark, learn from the gap, and reset the next cycle with that context in mind.
OKRs work best when the whole team has input. They are bi-directional, not handed down from the top. When team members help shape the objectives and key results, they carry shared ownership of outcomes rather than treating goals as external mandates. Schedule a team brainstorm after company goals are clear, then follow up with individual check-ins to connect personal OKRs to the bigger picture.
Three to five key results per objective is the standard range. More than five dilutes focus and makes weekly reviews unwieldy; fewer than three often means you’re not tracking the full picture of progress toward the objective.
Build OKR reviews into recurring meetings (weekly standups, 1:1s, or quarterly town halls) so tracking becomes a habit rather than a separate task. Tools like Spinach AI’s goal tracking feature place OKRs directly inside your meeting workflow, keeping progress visible to the whole team in the same place where decisions get made.
Next, here are some things you can do now that you've read this article:
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