OKR Planner & Scorer

Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, are a way of setting a goal and describing in numbers how you will know you reached it. An objective is a short, inspiring statement of what you want. Key results are the measurable outcomes that show progress. Teams usually score them at the end of a period, and many also check in during it. This planner does the arithmetic and tells you whether progress is on pace.

Entering the OKR

Write the objective in words, for example “Make onboarding delightful for new customers”. Then type each key result on its own line with four parts separated by bars: the name, the starting value, the target and the current value. For example, “Cut median time to first value (days) | 9 | 3 | 5”. Percent signs and currency symbols are ignored, so “Raise day-30 activation rate (%) | 42 | 65 | 55” works. Set the share of the period already used, such as 50% at the halfway point, and the score you count as green.

How scoring works

For each key result the tool computes progress: current minus start, divided by target minus start. The formula works whichever way the goal points. Cutting a metric from 9 to 3 with 5 reached is (5 − 9) ÷ (3 − 9) = 0.67, and raising one from 42 to 65 with 55 reached is 13 ÷ 23 = 0.57. A result that has gone backwards scores 0, one that has passed the target scores 1, and the score is always between the two. A key result whose start and target are the same is rejected, because it has no distance to measure.

The objective score is the average. Green is a score at or above your threshold, 0.7 by default, yellow is from half the threshold up to it, and red is below half. The thresholds are this tool’s defaults, so set the green score to match your team’s convention.

The pace check

The tool compares the objective score with the share of the period used. If you are 50% through and the score is at least 0.50, the status reads “On pace”. Below that it reads “Behind pace”, and the result row shows both figures, for example “62% done, 50% of the period used”.

Warnings

A note appears when an objective has fewer than two key results, which rarely describe success from different angles, or more than five, which is hard to focus on. A gentle message appears if the objective contains a number, because objectives are usually qualitative. A last note repeats how scores are worked out and says that ambitious stretch OKRs are expected to land below 1.0.

Worked examples

The default example has three key results: time to first value from 9 days to 3 (now 5), day-30 activation from 42% to 65% (now 55) and onboarding satisfaction from 3.4 to 4.5 (now 4.1). They score 0.67, 0.57 and 0.64, so the objective scores 0.62 and is yellow, and at 50% of the period used it is on pace. The second sample is a falling goal for the support queue: first response time from 12 hours to 4 (now 6) scores 0.75 and open tickets older than 7 days from 80 to 10 (now 45) scores 0.50, so the objective is 0.63, yellow, and on pace at 60% of the period used.

Using OKRs well

Set a few objectives, not dozens. Choose key results that measure outcomes, not tasks. Agree what green means before the period starts. Review at regular intervals, and score honestly at the end, then discuss what you learned. Compare scores across periods to see whether your targets are too easy or too hard.

Limits

The scores follow a simple linear rule and ignore the importance of each key result. The colour bands and the 0 to 1 scale are common conventions, not requirements. Nothing is saved or uploaded, and the planner does not track values over time.

Related tools

• RACI Matrix Builder assigns owners to the work behind each key result.
• PRD Template Builder describes the product goals that OKRs often track.
• Self-Appraisal Builder turns your scored results into a personal review.
• Startup Idea Validator is a different way of scoring plans, for ideas not yet in motion.