How many OKRs should a team have?

21.07.2025

In This Answer

How Many OKRs Should a Team Have?

If you're implementing OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) in your organization, one of the first questions you’ll face is:
How many OKRs should a team actually set?

Set too few, and you risk missing important goals.
Set too many, and you dilute focus and overwhelm your team.

In this article, we’ll explore the ideal number of OKRs per team, why fewer is often better, and how to strike the right balance between ambition and execution.

The Golden Rule: Focus Over Volume

The most effective teams don’t try to do everything—they focus on what matters most.

That’s why the widely recommended rule is:

1 to 3 Objectives per team, with 2 to 5 Key Results per Objective.

This structure is lean enough to drive focus but flexible enough to cover essential outcomes. It ensures every OKR is meaningful and measurable—without becoming a checkbox exercise.

Why Limiting OKRs Works

Here’s what happens when you try to tackle too many OKRs at once:

Priorities blur: Teams lose sight of what really matters.
Accountability drops: No one knows what to focus on.
Motivation declines: Teams feel overwhelmed instead of empowered.

On the other hand, setting just a few high-impact OKRs encourages sharper focus, better execution, and clearer alignment.

How to Decide on the Right Number

Choosing the right number of OKRs isn’t just about counting—it’s about strategic clarity.

Here are a few guiding questions to help:

What are the biggest strategic priorities this quarter?
What does success look like for this team?
Do we have the resources and capacity to execute these OKRs?
Are the OKRs clear, ambitious, and aligned with company goals?

If an OKR doesn’t pass this filter, it shouldn’t make the cut.

One Company, Many Levels

OKRs are typically set at multiple levels:

Company-level OKRs: 3–5 Objectives max
Team-level OKRs: 1–3 Objectives per team
Individual OKRs (optional): 0–1 Objective per person, if used

Each level should align with the one above it—but that doesn’t mean teams should mirror every company Objective. Instead, focus on where they can make the biggest contribution.

Examples of Healthy OKR Volume

Let’s say your company has 3 company-wide Objectives for Q3. A product team might support just 1 of those Objectives but break it down into:

1 Objective: Improve product onboarding
3 Key Results: Increase activation rate, reduce time to value, and improve user satisfaction

Meanwhile, the marketing team may support a different Objective and set 2 OKRs aligned with their channels.

This modular approach keeps each team focused and accountable—without stretching them too thin.

Watch Out for These Pitfalls

Avoiding common OKR mistakes can make the difference between meaningful progress and wasted effort. Here are a few traps to steer clear of:

Setting too many OKRs
Trying to achieve everything at once usually leads to achieving nothing well. When focus is spread too thin, priorities blur and momentum stalls.

Writing vague or generic OKRs
If your Objectives or Key Results aren’t specific and concrete, they become impossible to track—and even harder to execute. Clarity beats cleverness.

Creating OKRs for every ongoing task
OKRs are not a to-do list. They should reflect strategic outcomes, not routine activities. If you include every daily task, you dilute the strategic intent behind OKRs.

Duplicating company OKRs at every level
Just copying down the company OKRs doesn’t create ownership. Each team should translate company priorities into their own impactful goals that they can directly influence.

Ultimately, your OKRs should capture what’s most important to achieve right now—not everything you plan to do.