OKR brainstorming ideas

Most OKR sets fail the same way: the objectives are activities and the key results are deliverables. These prompts push the session towards outcomes you could measure without asking anyone how it went.

10 starter cards you can use today

What would we be able to say in three months that we cannot say today?
Which number, if it moved, would change what we do next quarter?
What is our biggest bottleneck expressed as a metric?
Which of last quarter's goals did we quietly abandon, and why?
What would a customer notice if we succeeded at this?
Which key result would we be uncomfortable committing to publicly?
What are we measuring that nobody acts on?
What is the smallest measurable outcome that still matters?
Which goal depends on a team that is not in this room?
What would we cut to make room for this?

Test each key result for measurability

If you cannot state today's number, it is not a key result. 'Launch the new onboarding' is a task; 'activation from signup to first board above 40%' is a result.

Fewer objectives than you want

Two or three per team. A set of six objectives is a list of everything the team was going to do anyway.

Review on the same board

Keep a recurring board for the check-in so the original wording and reasoning sit next to the current numbers.

Frequently asked questions

How many OKRs should a team set per quarter?

Two or three objectives with two or three key results each. More than that and the set stops being a prioritisation and becomes a backlog.

What makes a key result good?

It has a number you can read off a dashboard, it describes an outcome rather than a delivery, and you know today's value when you set it.

All brainstorm topics