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Example: quarterly OKRs for an onboarding team

A worked set of objectives and key results (OKRs), following chapter 11.4, Objectives, key results, and key performance indicators. The point is the shape: an inspiring objective, and a few measurable, outcome-based key results that prove it. Key results are outcomes, not tasks.

Objective: make first-time onboarding effortless

A new customer should reach their first real success without help, on their first try.

Key results

  1. Increase 7-day activation from 40% to 60%.
  2. Reduce median time-to-first-value from 25 minutes to under 10.
  3. Cut onboarding-related support contacts per 100 signups from 18 to 8.

Grade at quarter end on a 0.0 to 1.0 scale. These are aspirational, so landing around 0.7 is a good result. Keep them separate from anyone's performance review.

Guardrail KPIs (health to sustain, not targets to chase)

  • Signup-to-account error rate stays below 1%.
  • Support satisfaction (CSAT) for onboarding stays at or above 4.3 out of 5.
  • Weekly active retention at 4 weeks does not fall.

The objective and key results describe the change the team wants this quarter. The KPIs are the ongoing health that must not degrade while chasing it. Watching both together is what stops a team from moving the headline number by quietly breaking something else (Goodhart's law).

Anti-patterns this example avoids

  • No key result is a task ("ship the new wizard"); each is a measurable outcome.
  • The targets are specific and time-bound, with a clear source of truth.
  • There are only three key results, not ten, so the team stays focused.