Setting up OKRs with Measurements

There are a few different ways to achieve an OKR structure in Qatalog, but we recommend creating two modules - Objectives and Key Results - and having your admin set up each Module’s measurement settings to ensure consistency across your OKRs and maintain adherence to the OKR structure. 

Step #1: Create Your Key Results Module

Key Results are the action-oriented goals that, if accomplished, drive your Objective forward. Your Key Results should be time-bound, action-oriented, measurable, and incredibly clear. 

We recommend creating your Key Result module before the Objective module because Objective reference and depend on Key Results, but when it comes to actually planning out your company’s OKRs, always start with your Objectives first and then determine what Key Results would meaningfully drive your Objective forward.

Suggested Key Result Module Setup:

•  General:
  • Name: Key Result/Key Results
  • Icon: At your discretion (ideas: Target, Arrow)
  • Show in People, Team: On
  • External sharing: Off
• Custom Fields:
  • Owner (People field)
  • Objective(s): (Objective field - will need to add this after you make your Objective module)
  • Timeframe: (Multi-select field with quarters and/or years, like: Q1 2023, Q2 2023, OR 2023, 2024, etc)
  • Due date (Date selection field)
•  Connections:
  • Objectives (you’ll need to check this after you’ve made your Objective module)
  • Project, Campaigns, etc - anything that can support a Key Result

• Capabilities:
  • Status
    • On track (green)
    • Off track (red)
    • On hold (yellow)
    • Completed (blue)
  • Threads
  • Tasks
  • Timeline
  • Measurements (more on this below)
  • Reminders
    • Set reminders for leadership to check in on Objectives at a regular cadence
  • Pages
    • We recommend separately creating a template for how you’d like your company to think about and handle OKR set-up (expectations, timelines, how to write them, etc). Once you have this, add it as a template to your Key Results module to give anyone creating a Key Result a helpful reminder on best practices.

#2: Set up your default Measurement structure in your Key Results Module

The structure of Key Results is likely to change significantly from Key Result to Key Result. For this reason, we recommend starting with a fairly generic default Key Result set-up, and providing some instructions for how your team should think about and create Key Results via a default Page.

Setup:

• Name: Leave blank or provide helpful text (“Key Result name - edit”)
• Source: Manually entered
• Unit: Number
• Set default values: On (0, 1000)
• Notify on change: On

#3: Creating an Objective Module

Objectives are the “branding”, aspirational part of OKRs - they should be motivating and hard to accomplish in full. Objectives should be created by leadership. A few examples of Objectives include “Become a world-class Sales organization”, “Achieve Operational excellence”, or “Expand our international footprint”.

Objective Module Setup:

• General:
  • Name: Objective/Objectives
  • Icon: At your discretion (ideas: Star, Diamond)
  • Show in People, Team: On
  • External sharing: Off
• Custom Fields:
  • Owner (People field)
  • Timeframe: (Multi-select field with quarters and/or years, like: Q1 2023, Q2 2023, OR 2023, 2024, etc)
  • Due date (Date selection field)

•  Connections:
  • Key Results
• Capabilities:
  • Status
    • On track (green)
    • Off track (red)
    • On hold (yellow)
    • Completed (blue)
  • Threads
  • Measurements (more on this below)
  • Reminders
    • Set reminders for leadership to check in on Objectives at a regular cadence
  • Pages
    • We recommend separately creating a template for how you’d like your company to think about and handle OKR set-up (expectations, timelines, how to write them, etc). Once you have this, add it as a template to your Objectives module to give anyone creating an Objective a helpful reminder on best practices.

#4: Set up your default Measurement structure in your Objectives Module

Unlike Key Results, your Objective set-up should stay pretty consistent because Objectives and their progress should just be a reflection of the progress on its related Key Results. For this reason, the set-up created in your Objective Modules setting shouldn't need to be altered all that much from Objective to Objective - your team will likely just need to update the name. 

Objective Measurement capability set-up from Module settings:

• Name: Leave blank or provide helpful text (“Objective name - edit”)
• Source: Calculated from Items - Total
• Unit: Percentage (locked)
• Allowed Modules: Key Results
• Allowed capability items: Measurements (locked)
• Set default values: 0, 100 (locked)
• Notify on change: On

#5: Add your new Objective and Key Results Modules to your Navigation

How you display OKRs is up to you, but here are a few ideas:

• Create an "OKR" Folder Navigation Item, and have your two Modules (Objectives and Key Results) nestled within it. This will show the entire company's OKRs in one central place.
• Create Objectives as a standalone Navigation item, and add filtered Key Results to each Department's Navigation item. This will show the entire company's Objectives in one place, and then you can create separate Key Result navigation items pre-filtered by team, and slot this into a team-oriented Navigation folder (i.e. "Key Results" module view filtered for "Operations" could fall in an "Operations" folder Navigation item)

Option #1 ^ 

Option #2 ^

#6 Use your new Objectives and Key Results Modules to drive OKR planning

Now that your OKR framework is in place, you can start the good stuff: actually creating your OKRs!

While there are many resources out there on how to build and structure OKRs, we recommend having your executive team decide on yearly and quarterly Objectives (maybe create an OKR planning workflow to guide them through the process?), and then have them involve their direct reports (VPs and Directors) to start thinking of Key Results their teams can own and push forward to drive Objective progress.

To learn more about Measurements, we recommend our article, Understanding Measurements.