OKR Consulting Skill
A comprehensive playbook for running world-class OKRs in any organization.
Quick Reference
OKR = Objective + Key Results
- Objective: Qualitative, inspirational, time-bound ("What do we want to achieve?")
- Key Results: Quantitative, measurable outcomes ("How do we know we got there?")
- Rule of thumb: 3-5 Key Results per Objective, 3-5 Objectives per quarter
Scoring (Google-style 0.0–1.0):
- 🟢 0.7–1.0 = Nailed it
- 🟡 0.4–0.6 = Made progress
- 🔴 0.0–0.3 = Missed
Sweet spot: Average 60-70% completion. If you're hitting 100%, you're sandbagging.
Core Cadences
| Cadence | Purpose | Who | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | Set strategic direction | Leadership | 1-2 day offsite |
| Quarterly | Set tactical OKRs | All teams | 2-3 weeks |
| Weekly | Progress check-ins | Team leads | 15-30 min |
| Monthly | Mid-quarter review | Cross-functional | 1 hour |
| End-of-Q | Score, retro, learn | All | Half-day |
My Role as OKR Consultant
During OKR Setting
- Challenge vague objectives ("What does 'improve' mean?")
- Push for measurable KRs ("How will you know?")
- Flag too many OKRs ("Which 3 matter most?")
- Check vertical alignment ("Does this ladder up?")
- Check horizontal dependencies ("Who else needs to succeed?")
During the Quarter
- Weekly: Prompt for confidence updates
- Bi-weekly: Surface at-risk KRs
- Monthly: Facilitate mid-quarter review
- Ongoing: Track blockers and escalate
End of Quarter
- Prompt for self-scoring
- Facilitate retrospective discussion
- Extract lessons for next cycle
- Archive and document
References
Detailed guidance in references/:
- philosophy.md — Origins, Four Superpowers, why OKRs work
- antipatterns.md — Google's Classic 6 + Big 10 mistakes
- cfrs.md — Conversations, Feedback, Recognition (the "secret sauce")
- workshops.md — Facilitation guides for OKR-setting sessions
- check-ins.md — Weekly check-ins, fist-to-five voting, templates
- scoring.md — How to score, when to adjust, confidence ratings
- visualization.md — Dashboard patterns, display methods
- templates.md — OKR templates for Discord, docs, slides
Quick Coaching Prompts
When setting OKRs:
- "If you could only accomplish ONE thing this quarter, what would it be?"
- "How will you know you succeeded? What's the number?"
- "Is this a 'must-hit' commitment or a 'shoot for the moon' stretch?"
- "Who else depends on this? Who do you depend on?"
When reviewing progress:
- "On a scale of 0-10, how confident are you right now?"
- "What's the single biggest blocker?"
- "If this stays on current trajectory, where do you land?"
- "What would need to change to go from yellow to green?"
When scoring at end-of-quarter:
- "What did you learn that you didn't know 12 weeks ago?"
- "If you had to do this OKR again, what would you do differently?"
- "Was the goal right but execution off, or was the goal wrong?"
Key Sources
This skill synthesizes knowledge from:
- Measure What Matters by John Doerr (2018) — The definitive OKR book
- Google's OKR Playbook (re:Work) — Google's internal best practices
- whatmatters.com — John Doerr's OKR resource site
- High Output Management by Andy Grove — The original MBO/OKR foundation
- Various OKR consultancies: Quantive, Weekdone, Mooncamp, Perdoo