How to Score Your OKRs: Best Tool and Tips

OKR is an acronym for objective and key result that stands for the methodology that people managers and team members leverage to define expectations and create measurable goals. In the OKR framework, the O stands for objective, which indicates what you or your team wishes to accomplish, and the KR, or key result, refers to the system or plan that will be leveraged to achieve the objective. The OKR-setting framework is often used to paint a clear path forward, eliminating uncertainty and providing you with a framework that can be used to move the needle closer to the intended outcome. 

What is an OKR score? 

The OKR framework is used by organizations to set and achieve obtainable goals, and an OKR score is a tool that’s used to measure success as it relates to the original objective. Typically, OKRs are scored on a scale of 0-1.0, with 0 indicating that no progress has been made and a score of 1.0 indicating that the OKR has been fully achieved. 

The OKR score is an important metric for measuring success, which is why it’s important to understand how to calculate your score as it relates to your objective. The OKR score is calculated by dividing the progress that has been made by the desired target. For example, if the key result is to increase website traffic by 50%, and the progress that has been made is 25%, the OKR score would be 0.5 (25%/50%). 

How to grade OKRs

At Google, OKRs are graded on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, with a score of 1.0 meaning that the objective has been completed. Generally speaking, the sweet spot for OKRs is somewhere in the 60-70% range. Scoring lower may mean the organization isn’t functioning to its full potential and scoring higher may mean that goals aren’t being set high enough. 

Additional ways to grade OKRs include: 

1Grading on a scale 

Grading OKRs on a scale is incredibly popular, largely because this method provides more granularity and can help differentiate between different levels of achievement. The practice of grading OKRs on a scale involves grading OKRs on a scale of 0-10 or 1-5 with 10 or 5 being the highest grade. The higher the grade, the closer the objective is to being met. 

2Weighted grading 

Weighted grading is often used by those who wish to take an individualized approach to grading each OKR. This practice involves assigning a weight to each objective based on its importance and impact on the overall company strategy. The key results are then graded based on their achievement as it relates to the weighted objective. 

3Qualitative grading 

Qualitative grading is often used in creative industries as the practice of grading something qualitatively involves thinking outside the box to evaluate the OKR as a whole. This means making your decision based on the quality of the results, the effort put in, and the creativity of the approach. 

4Binary grading

Binary grading is arguably the easiest way to grade OKRs. The practice of binary grading involves simply answering “yes” or “no” as to whether the OKR was achieved. While this method is simple, it may not provide enough insight. 

What is a good OKR score?

A good OKR score largely depends on the specific objective or key result being measured. Generally speaking, a good OKR score reflects progress toward achieving the desired outcome; however, it’s important to note that what constitutes a good score will vary based on the complexity of the objective and the timeframe in which it’s being measured. 

A score of 0.7 or higher is often considered a good score as it indicates progress toward the intended outcome; however, a score of 100% or higher can create unrealistic expectations or compromise the framework’s integrity. If an OKR score is higher than 100%, it means that the actual result exceeded the desired results, which may mean the goal was not set ambitiously enough or the measurement was inaccurate. This result may lead to a false sense of accomplishment, which can lead to future complacency. It’s for this reason that Fellow’s OKR feature doesn’t go above 100%. 

The best tool for tracking and improving your OKR score 

Did you know that you can stay on top of your team’s goals by clearly recording, defining, and tracking the progress of your OKRs in Fellow’s Objectives tool? With Fellow, it’s as simple as defining a cycle, adding your team’s objectives, specifying your key results, and staying on track by adding an Objectives tab to your team meetings. The best part? You can quickly review your objectives during your team meetings by linking your objectives with a team meeting. This means you can review progress, resolve challenges, and keep all your OKRs on track. As progress is made on each objective, the overall progress bar will change from orange (0%) to green (100%), making it easy for everyone to visualize and track success. 

Best practices for using Fellow for OKRs

When leveraging fellow’s OKR feature, there are a few best practices to keep in mind: 

• Set clear expectations. Setting clear expectations is a must, especially if you want to get the most out of the OKR feature. This means getting clear on your expectations and making sure everyone on your team knows exactly what is expected of them. 
• Set deadlines. Deadlines are a crucial part of measuring success and making sure everyone’s on track. To keep your team accountable, make sure to include frequent reminders and notifications that inform everyone of upcoming benchmarks or deadlines.

• Schedule regular check-ins. One of the most important parts of setting OKRs is the follow up. This means that it’s crucial to host regular meetings with your team members to make sure everyone is on the same page and working efficiently towards your shared goals. By using Fellow to schedule regular check-ins, you will be able to keep your team organized and on track. Plus, with Fellow’s 500+ free meeting agenda templates, you can run productive meetings each time! Try out this free check-in template to streamline productivity:

Tips for improving your OKR score 

1Identify roadblocks and find solutions

It’s important to take a collaborative approach when working towards OKRs. Failing to check in means failing to identify roadblocks, which may lead to missed benchmarks or misunderstandings. It’s important to identify roadblocks and collaborate on solutions if you want to ensure everyone is working effectively toward completing the specified OKRs. 

2Create accountability within your team

Creating accountability within your team is incredibly important for a variety of reasons including promoting responsibility, fostering transparency, encouraging collaboration, improving performance, and inspiring growth. It’s important to note that failing to create a sense of accountability will lead to a low OKR score. If your teammates aren’t accountable, they won’t take responsibility for how their actions contribute to achieving your OKRs. 

3Celebrate successes and learn from failures

Whether things are running smoothly or not, it’s important to host a retrospective to dive into the details. Celebrating success is important because it boosts morale and lets employees know they are appreciated. There’s nothing worse than doing good work only to feel like it wasn’t appreciated or recognized. If you want to improve your OKR score, you need to sustain success, meaning you should acknowledge when an employee contributes positively. 

Similar to how it’s important to celebrate the wins, it’s equally important to learn from failure. If your team isn’t making progress towards your OKRs, it’s important to identify why and use this information as a learning opportunity. Using this time to dive into what went wrong will ensure you’re able to prevent similar mistakes in the future. 

4Keep an effective cadence 

Keeping an effective cadence is crucial when it comes to keeping your team on track. By establishing a regular cadence for tracking success and reviewing progress, you’re able to foster alignment, facilitate communication, and keep your team members focused on their OKRs. Keeping an effective cadence also makes it possible for you to answer questions or provide support before roadblocks get in the way of completion. This increases agility and boosts your chance of improving your OKR score. 

5Have OKRs easily visible 

If you want your team to be aligned when it comes to OKRs, make your OKRs easily visible. This means creating a hub where everyone can visualize success. This visual representation will serve as a constant reminder of what everyone’s working toward. Many excellent tools make this process seamless. Take Fellow’s embed feature for example. With Fellow, you can link your objectives with a team meeting to review progress, resolve challenges, and keep OKRs on track.

Knock your OKRs out of the park with Fellow 

Organizations of all kinds use the OKR methodology to set specific, measurable goals in order to achieve impactful results. By leveraging these tips, you’ll be able to effectively leverage the OKR-setting framework to set and achieve shared goals while holding you and your teammates accountable and measuring your OKR score accordingly.