OKR examples from practice
Six complete OKR sets from typical areas – each with one objective, key results that move from a baseline to a target, and the tasks that go with them. Then the mistakes we see most often in workshops, and how the same wording gets better.
What makes an example a good one
The same sentence template sits behind every set on this page.
Objective: We have achieved <target state> for <role> [by <date>], [through <direction>], so that <outcome>.
Key result: We have increased or decreased <metric> from <baseline> to <target>, [through <direction>], so that <outcome>.
The objective describes a state the team wants to have reached by the end of the cycle – qualitative, in the team's own words, without a number. The key results make that state measurable: each one with a metric, a baseline and a target. What you do to get there are tasks – deliberately kept beside the key results, not inside them.
Key results measure outcomes. What changes for the customer, in the market or in behaviour – not the output, meaning what you ship, and certainly not the input, meaning what you put in. Both of those belong in the tasks.
A key result is a good one when it measures an effect, is quantitative, stays within the team's control and does not overlap with the others. At least one of them should be a leading indicator: an effect that becomes visible early, not only at the end of the cycle. Three or four key results per objective are enough – two that carry the set, the rest optional.
Every example is sized for a three-month cycle. The numbers are illustrative: baselines come from your own data, never from a template.
OKR example: sales
Growth from existing customers, not only from new logos.
ObjectiveWe have made it so easy for existing customers to start with a second product line that sales offers it actively, so that growth no longer depends on new customers alone.
- KR 1Share of existing customers using more than one product line increased from 18% to 30%.
- KR 2Share of contacted existing customers who accept a conversation about the second product line increased from 9% to 20%.
- KR 3Time from the first conversation to a signed offer reduced from 54 to 35 days.
- KR 4Win rate on offers to existing customers increased from 22% to 32%.
Tasks: segment existing customers by potential · write a conversation guide for the second product line · run two pitch trainings · publish one reference story from an existing customer.
OKR example: marketing
From reach to enquiries sales actually wants.
ObjectiveWe have turned our website from a business card into a reliable channel for fitting enquiries, so that sales gets meetings it can plan with.
- KR 1Qualified enquiries through the website increased from 24 to 60 per month.
- KR 2Share of enquiries sales rates as a fit increased from 35% to 60%.
- KR 3Pages in the top 10 for our 20 most important search terms increased from 3 to 9.
Tasks: derive topic clusters from customer questions · build four pages for the strongest search terms · shorten the contact form · agree the rating criteria for enquiries with sales.
OKR example: product & engineering
The first success in the app, without asking support.
ObjectiveWe have made the first success in the app so easy to reach that new users get there without support, so that trials turn into paying customers.
- KR 1Share of new accounts with a saved result within the first 7 days increased from 31% to 55%.
- KR 2Time from first login to the first saved result reduced from 12 to 5 minutes.
- KR 3Support requests in the first 14 days per 100 accounts reduced from 19 to 8.
- KR 4Share of trial accounts still active after 30 days increased from 22% to 35%.
Tasks: rebuild the onboarding flow · offer example content on first start · run five user interviews about the first session · answer the three most common support questions in the interface.
OKR example: HR & recruiting
Filling technical roles as a process you can plan.
ObjectiveWe have turned hiring for technical roles from a permanent building site into a process we can plan, so that teams no longer work understaffed for months.
- KR 1Time-to-hire for engineering roles reduced from 94 to 60 days.
- KR 2Response rate to active sourcing messages increased from 11% to 25%.
- KR 3Share of roles with at least three candidates in interviews after four weeks increased from 40% to 75%.
Tasks: rewrite and test outreach messages per target group · hold a briefing with every hiring manager at kick-off · standardise the interview guide · add team voices to the careers page.
OKR example: customer service
Solved on first contact instead of passed along.
ObjectiveWe have set up service so that customers get their issue resolved on first contact, so that nobody has to tell the same story twice.
- KR 1First contact resolution rate increased from 58% to 75%.
- KR 2Average wait for the first reply reduced from 6:40 to 3:00 hours.
- KR 3Satisfaction after contact (CSAT) increased from 4.1 to 4.5.
Tasks: write the 20 most common issues into the knowledge base · reduce escalation paths to a single step · train the three hardest case groups · create templates for standard replies.
OKR example: leadership
A company-level set the teams derive their own sets from.
ObjectiveWe have sharpened our offering around the two industries we are strongest in, so that sales, marketing and delivery work on the same story.
- KR 1Share of revenue from the two focus industries increased from 46% to 65%.
- KR 2Contribution margin per project increased from 21% to 28%.
- KR 3Share of new customers from the two focus industries increased from 38% to 70%.
- KR 4Share of employees who can state the focus in their own words increased from 35% to 80%.
Tasks: review the portfolio and decide what to retire · write the positioning per focus industry · adjust the price list · schedule OKR planning with every team.
Teams derive their sets from this one – they do not copy it. Every team writes its own objective and its own key results while referring to the same strategic direction.
Weak wording and what it becomes
The same intention, once unusable and once measurable.
More revenue in sales.
We have made it so easy for existing customers to start with a second product line that sales offers it actively.
The objective now describes a state the team will recognise – not a direction that is always true.
Roll out the CRM.
Gap between sales forecast and actuals reduced from 28% to 10%.
The weak version is an activity, and a system that went live would be output – both belong in the tasks. The key result measures the effect the rollout is supposed to produce.
Improve customer satisfaction.
Satisfaction after contact (CSAT) increased from 4.1 to 4.5.
Without a metric, a baseline and a target there is no way to say at the end of the cycle whether the key result was reached.
Grow revenue by 10%.
Share of contacted existing customers who accept a conversation increased from 9% to 20%.
Revenue is a lagging indicator: it only shows at the end what happened. At least one key result should be a leading indicator – an effect that shows early whether you are on track.
The mistakes we see most often
From more than 300 OKR projects run by OKR Experten.
- Output instead of outcome. "New onboarding flow live" or "CRM rolled out" is what you ship – input and output belong in the task column. Only the effect that follows belongs in a key result.
- Eight key results per objective. The set turns into a to-do list. Two load-bearing key results plus up to two optional ones are enough for three months.
- No baseline. "Increase to 75%" cannot be scored without a starting point – and the discussion about that starting point often produces the more valuable insight.
- Only lagging indicators in the set. Revenue and margin only show at the end what happened. At least one key result should be a leading indicator that makes the effect visible early.
- Key results that overlap. If two metrics measure the same thing they move together and you learn nothing new.
- Goals the team cannot influence. A key result that depends on another department demotivates instead of steering.
- The set is written once and then forgotten. OKRs live on the weekly look at them, not on planning day.
If you develop your sets together in a room or on a digital board, the OKR template helps – it has fields for strategy, objective, key results and tasks, with the sentence templates printed along the edge. How workshop results get into the app is described under OKR workshop.
Your own sets instead of examples
The OKR Goal Assistant in OKR Companion writes objectives and key results along exactly this method – with your numbers and your context. Free to try, no credit card.
The method behind the examples – how an OKR set is built, what makes a key result a good one and how the cycle runs – is covered in the book “OKR compact”*.
* The book link is an Amazon affiliate link – as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.