OKR template (objectives and key results)
OKRs (objectives and key results) are a way to set a few ambitious goals for a quarter and measure them with numbers. Each objective says what you want to change; two to four key results say how you'll know it changed. This free Excel template works out progress on every key result from its start, target and current values, and colours each one by the owner's confidence.
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It includes a weekly check-in log and a worked example for a fictional online retailer.
What's in the template
Five sheets: OKRs (30 rows), Check-ins (a weekly log), an example of each, and a read-me. Each OKR row also records the quarter, type (commitment or stretch), owner, unit and next step.
From the Example sheet, seven weeks into Q1 2027:
| Objective | Key result | Start | Target | Current | Progress | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turn first-time buyers into regulars | Customers who buy again within 90 days | 18% | 24% | 21% | 50.0% | On track |
| Members in the new loyalty scheme | 0 | 8,000 | 5,200 | 65.0% | On track | |
| Average product review score | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 33.3% | At risk | |
| Get every order to the customer faster | Orders placed by 2pm that leave the same day | 71% | 95% | 88% | 70.8% | On track |
| Delivery complaints per 1,000 orders | 12 | 5 | 9 | 42.9% | At risk | |
| Stop losing money on returns | Orders returned | 11% | 8% | 10.2% | 26.7% | Off track |
| Cost of handling one return | £6.40 | £4.50 | £5.10 | 68.4% | On track | |
| Returns given the reason 'not as described' | 34% | 20% | 29% | 35.7% | On track |
Progress is (current − start) ÷ (target − start), so it handles numbers you want to bring down: returns falling from 11% to 10.2% against a target of 8% is 26.7% of the way. It goes below zero if a number moves the wrong way, and stays blank until start, target and current are filled in.
How to write OKRs
- Start from your strategy. Each objective should move one of the priorities in your strategic plan forward this quarter.
- Set three to five objectives at most, each in words short enough to remember: "Turn first-time buyers into regulars".
- Give each objective two to four key results. A key result is a number with a start and a target: "Customers who buy again within 90 days, from 18% to 24%". If you can't measure it on the last day of the quarter, it isn't a key result.
- Take the starting value from real figures before the quarter begins, not from memory.
- Mark each key result as a commitment or a stretch, and give it one owner.
- Check in every week, briefly. Owners update the current value and their confidence; the meeting spends its time on the amber and red rows.
- Score the quarter and decide what carries over. Record the final progress, note what you learned, and set the next quarter's OKRs from there.
Key results are outcomes, not tasks
The easiest trap is a key result that's really a to-do item. Tasks belong in an action plan; the key result is the change those tasks should cause.
| Task (goes in the action plan) | Key result (measures the change) |
|---|---|
| Launch a loyalty scheme | Loyalty scheme members from 0 to 8,000 |
| Add measured dimensions to product pages | Returns marked "not as described" from 34% to 20% of all returns |
| Set up a second packing bench | Orders placed by 2pm that leave the same day, from 71% to 95% |
| Email customers after delivery | Average review score from 4.2 to 4.5 |
A quick test: if the task were done perfectly and the number didn't move, would you call it a success? If not, measure the number.
Example: a fictional retailer at the mid-quarter check-in
The Example sheets follow a fictional 50-person online homeware retailer through the first seven weeks of Q1 2027: three objectives, eight key results, one owner each.
At the week-seven check-in, five key results were on track. Returns were the problem. The rate had fallen only from 11% to 10.2% against a stretch target of 8%, so its owner marked it off track. The check-in log shows why: the product listing fixes were working, but returns from the January sale were still arriving. The leadership team kept the target and agreed a temporary content assistant for March to finish the listings sooner.
Delivery complaints show why the template records confidence as well as progress. At 42.9% of the way to target the number looked respectable, but its owner marked it at risk: the packaging change had cut damage, but late deliveries hadn't improved.
Common mistakes
- Too many OKRs. Ten objectives with four key results each spreads attention so thin that nothing gets it.
- Key results that are tasks, so the quarter ends with everything done and nothing changed.
- Business-as-usual numbers dressed up as OKRs. Holding a figure steady is a health check, and it belongs on your KPI dashboard. That's also why the template leaves progress blank when start and target are the same.
- Set in week one and next opened in week thirteen, when it's too late to rescue an off-track result.
- Safe targets, chosen because the scores feed straight into bonuses.
- Shared ownership. When a whole team owns a key result, nobody updates it.
Frequently asked questions
What does OKR stand for?
Objectives and key results. The objective is what you want to achieve, in words; the key results are the two to four numbers that show whether you achieved it.
What's the difference between OKRs and KPIs?
KPIs track the ongoing health of the business month after month: margin, cash, on-time delivery. OKRs track a change you're making this quarter. Once the change is made, its key result often becomes a KPI, watched to make sure the new level holds.
Should every OKR be 100% achieved?
Commitments should, because someone relies on them, such as a delivery promise about to go on your website. Stretch key results are set high on purpose, so finishing short of 100% can still be real progress. The Type column says which is which.