You've tried setting OKR goals once and didn't get the point? Don't write this method off too quickly. Teams at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and other tech giants set OKRs. And they certainly know something about efficiency.
Unlike KPIs (key performance indicators), OKRs (objectives and key results) are not just about raw numbers; they’re about setting big, ambitious goals.
As head of ops and growth in a VC, I help dozens of startups set up processes. I've heard many things about OKRs from founders: "We have a small team, so it doesn't work”; "Everything changes every week, setting goals is ineffective"; "OKRs discourage the team" and so on.
From my experience, it’s the opposite. OKRs help startups bring clarity and focus to their work, align their teams around common goals, and drive measurable progress. They provide structure, ensuring the team stays aligned on the core priorities and long-term goals.
If you're struggling with OKRs, you've simply failed to set them. Here's how to fix it.
1/ Never put an objective in $$$ revenue
Many founders fall into the trap of setting revenue as their main objective. For example:
Objective: Generate $2m in revenue this quarter.
Key Results:
- Achieve $1m in B2B sales
- Achieve $1m in B2C sales
- Increase user growth by X%
But here's the problem: this doesn't tell your team how to actually achieve these numbers. More importantly, it doesn't give them a reason to care. Your employees won't be motivated by random revenue targets that don't directly benefit them. They need concrete, actionable goals that they can influence and feel proud of achieving.
Revenue should be a result of your actions, not your primary objective. I would suggest this approach of OKR setting:
Objective: Increase product margin by 1.5x
Key Results:
- Reduce production costs by 30% by automating processes
- Increase average sale price by 15% by enhancing product features
- Improve customer retention rate by 15%
This approach gives your team clear goals. They understand exactly what they need to do and why it matters. And the final result, a revenue increase, will follow.
2/ Set ambitious yet realistic goals
An objective to “become number one in my industry” sounds inspiring, but what does that mean in practice? And how can you get closer to achieving that within 90 days (the period considered optimal for OKRs)?
Instead, an objective might be "bring in xxx number of new clients", or "close xxx B2B contracts with big companies".
If you're just in the early stages of a startup, you may want to “develop and launch an MVP within 3 months”. which you can achieve by aiming for particular key results (KRs; the bigger part of the acronym!). For example, KR1 could be “completing the wireframes”; KR2 — developing and testing particular features; and KR3 — doing the beta-launch.
Another example of a good objective: “Conduct a market analysis to identify the top 3 customer segments by the end of Q2.” It will involve KRs around customer interviews, competitor analysis, and segmentation.
Set achievable goals, but leave some ambition. There is a belief that well-set OKRs are not achieved 100%, and I agree. If you accomplish OKRs in a month and then take two months off, you’ve cheated yourself.
3/ Three objectives per quarter are enough
OKRs are about focus. You can’t concentrate on sales, product, marketing, partnerships, and 10 other things at once. Limit yourself to three main objectives per quarter.
To set priorities, ask yourself, "Why am I building a business?" It seems like a simple question, but founders often don't have an answer.
Here’s a cliché for example’s sake: If your core goal is to ‘disrupt the e-commerce space with sustainable fashion’, then launching a new product line focused on eco-friendly materials might take priority. Or, if you're aiming to streamline SaaS for SMEs, refining the user onboarding experience could be the key driver of growth.
One more example: Imagine you are the founder of a healthtech startup selling software to large medical centres. Your goal is to attract as many partners as possible. Instead of setting objectives like “research for new partners”, "conduct 20 meetings", or “increase brand awareness through PR," just set “hire a superstar salesperson”. So logical and simple, isn’t it? This can save time and bring more profit in the long run.
Focus on what brings you profit and aligns with your overall development strategy, like expanding into untapped markets or upselling current customers. Then, direct the team's efforts there.
It will be easy to turn your 10 other goals into just three if you understand your why.
4/ Make your OKRs flexible
Don't look at OKRs as a limiting framework for your work that you can't go beyond. I have seen many examples of how badly set objectives limit proactive employees. This is the exact opposite of what OKRs should do.
Let’s say you build a mobile app and want to increase its usage by 25%. You break it into several stages: boost monthly sign-ups by 5,000 new users, achieve a 15% growth in retention rate, and launch a marketing campaign in key adoption regions.
Then, one day, your intern suggests partnering with micro-influencers. It wasn’t part of the initial plan, so you’re skeptical. You could say, “forget about it” and move on. In that case, you’d never know whether it was a good or bad idea.
But what if the intern reaches out to a few leads, and they show interest? The intern arranges barter partnerships, resulting in a 50% increase in sign-ups and a significant boost in product adoption.
This initiative wasn’t specifically outlined in the OKRs, but its positive impact far exceeds expectations. Having a plan and strategy is important. As a manager, you must guide employees carefully and highlight priorities. However, OKRs are your compass — not a cage.
Don’t kill the creative spirit. There’s no need to lose focus, but if you have proactive employees who have likely met their KRs, let them explore hypotheses and think outside the box.
5/ Keep teams aligned
Teams that are poorly linked together are inefficient. Everyone ends up doing a set of random things, but no one understands the big picture. To avoid this chaos, don't force OKRs on teams from the top down.
Organise all-hands meetings and team sessions to share the overall company strategy, and then let each team set their own OKRs to enable everyone to participate.
Keep OKRs open to the entire team on platforms like Notion. This helps the marketing team look at what the sales or product team is doing and check whether they are moving in the same direction as the company's strategy — and vice versa.
And please: never use OKRs in performance reviews. Sometimes, a task might be no longer needed — and employees should feel obliged to carry it out just to tick a box.
Ksenia Novikova is head of operations at Flyer One Ventures
