Objectives & Key Results (OKR module)

In the OKR module, you can create and manage OKRs throughout their full lifecycle and then update and track their progress in a single or multiple boxes.

OKR attributes

The Strategic Themes, Objectives, and Key Results (OKRs) have a set of characteristics that define their purpose and let you manage OKRs effectively. Think of them as the data you provide and assign at different stages as you manage your OKRs.

Strategic Themes and sub-Strategic Themes

Strategic Themes and sub-Strategic Themes share the same attributes, such as Name, Owner, and Period. But the sub-Strategic Theme has one attribute that the Strategic Theme doesn’t have: the Contribution. Just like sub-objectives and Key Results, they contribute to the parent Strategic Theme’s success. And the higher the weight they are assigned, the greater their contribution.

Refer to the Strategic theme attributes page for more information.

Objective and sub-objective attributes

Objectives and sub-objectives share the same attributes, such as Name, Owner, and Period. But the sub-objective has one attribute that the Objective doesn’t have: the Contribution. Just like Key Results, they contribute to the parent Objective’s success. And the higher the weight they are assigned, the greater their contribution.

Refer to the Objective attributes page for more information.

Key Result attributes

The set of Key Result attributes differs slightly between manual KRs (updated manually) and auto-KRs (updated automatically). All KRs have the value fields (Start, Current, and Target) that define their progress, but you can update the Current value only for the manual KR; this value for the auto-KR exists but is unavailable since it is automatically updated.

Refer to the Key Result attributes page for more information.

OKR progress

The process of updating OKRs is different for top-level Objectives, sub-objectives, and Key Results. A top-level Objective means the Objective is the parent to other OKRs but is not a child to any other Objective.

• Strategic Theme progress is a result of the progress of all its direct sub-items (sub-Strategic Themes, sub-objectives, and Key Results). Therefore, its progress is updated automatically as the progress of their children increases. A Strategic Theme cannot be updated manually.

• The top-level Objective progress is a result of the progress of all its direct sub-items (sub-objectives and Key Results). Therefore, its progress is updated automatically as the progress of their children increases. The top-level Objective cannot be updated manually.

• The progress of a sub-objective is the sum of the progress of all its direct sub-items (Key Results). The progress of the sub-objective cannot be updated manually.

• The progress of the Key Result is the result of:

  • manual updates (manual KR)

  • automatic updates based on the linked issues (auto-KR)

OKR statuses

OKR update statuses

The OKR status reflects the success state of an OKR at a given moment. There are four statuses you can assign when updating an OKR:

Open

• Not started

• On track

• At risk

• Off track

Statuses cannot be customized and must be updated manually—even if your OKR reaches negative progress or a successful 100%, its status will not be updated automatically.

Refer to the Update OKR page for more information.

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OKR closure statuses

When you close an OKR, you can assign it a status to better reflect the reason for its closure. There are five closure statuses:

• Success

• Incomplete

• Failed

• Rescheduled

• Cancelled

Open

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OKRs across multiple boxes

All OKRs created in the OKR module are global. This means that once you or another permitted user creates an OKR in their box, you can link it to your box or boxes. This is especially useful when there are specific OKRs assigned to a higher-level box, such as a project, program, or portfolio, and you want to distribute them among the respective boxes. The progress the OKRs achieve in individual boxes is also reflected in their parent box/boxes.

OKRs in other modules

Dedicated columns in the Gantt module

If you have linked your Jira issues to Key Results for specific Objectives, you can show these KRs and Objectives in the Gantt module by adding the Objectives, Key Results, and OKR Type columns.

This will let you visualize which issues contribute to which OKRs. For better visibility, you can group the tasks by any (or both) of those columns.

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OKRs as structure builders

Like tasks, OKRs also form structures, with an Objective being the top element. You can use the parent-child relationships between OKRs and tasks to automatically build a task structure in your box.

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Field synchronization (OKR fields vs BigPicture fields)

Note that the field names in the OKR module differ from those in other modules. Despite these naming differences, the fields still synchronize with corresponding fields in the Gantt and other modules.

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Import/Export OKRs

It is possible to import and export OKRs to and from a box through a .csv file.