What Key Results should my team use?

A Practical Guide to Choosing the Right Metrics for Your OKRs

You’ve defined a strong Objective — now comes the critical part: setting the right Key Results.

Key Results are more than just numbers. They translate your ambitions into measurable outcomes. They give teams focus, clarify what success looks like, and create accountability.

But many teams struggle with this step. Some confuse Key Results with tasks. Others pick metrics that are vague or impossible to influence.

This answer shows how to choose effective Key Results, with examples you can use with your team.

First: Understand What Key Results Are

In the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework, Key Results are the measurable outcomes that show whether an Objective is being achieved.

Each Objective should have 2 to 4 Key Results. Together, they answer:

How will we know we've reached this goal?

Great Key Results are:

• Quantitative
• Outcome-focused (not activity-based)
• Time-bound
• Influenceable by the team

If your Key Results are things like “launch a landing page” or “write a blog post,” stop right there. These are tasks — not results.

How to Choose the Right Key Results

Here’s a step-by-step process for selecting Key Results that make your OKRs meaningful and actionable:

1. Start with Your Objective

Your Objective is your "why." It's the big-picture goal — qualitative, directional, and inspiring.

Before choosing Key Results, ask:

• What does success look like?
• How would I measure that success?

Example Objective:
Improve customer satisfaction across support channels

2. Define What “Success” Means in Numbers

Now translate that success into numbers. Focus on outcomes, not tasks.

Good Key Results for the Objective above might include:

• Increase CSAT score from 75 to 90
• Reduce first-response time from 24h to under 4h
• Resolve 80% of tickets in the first interaction

Each of these is measurable and clearly aligned with the Objective.

3. Avoid Common Mistakes

Here are some Key Result pitfalls to avoid:

• Too many Key Results → leads to confusion
• Tasks instead of outcomes → not measurable progress
• Vanity metrics → like social followers with no business impact
• Unrealistic targets → kills motivation

A good rule of thumb: if a Key Result could be marked as “done” without making real progress toward your Objective, it’s probably not the right metric.

4. Make Them Team-Controllable

Choose Key Results that your team can actually influence. You want metrics that encourage proactive behavior — not numbers that depend entirely on external factors.

If your Objective is sales-related, don’t just measure revenue. Include Key Results your team can directly control, like:

• Number of qualified leads generated
• Sales call-to-close ratio
• Proposal acceptance rate

Examples of Effective Key Results by Team

Here are some starter ideas for different departments:

Marketing

Objective: Increase brand visibility in Q3
Key Results:

• Grow LinkedIn impressions by 40%
• Grow organic search traffic from 20,000 to 30,000 monthly visits
• Secure 3 media mentions in trade publications

Sales

Objective: Boost new business pipeline
Key Results:

• Generate $500K in new qualified pipeline
• Increase outbound meetings booked by 25%
• Achieve 35% opportunity-to-win conversion rate

Product

Objective: Improve user engagement
Key Results:

• Increase daily active users by 20%
• Reduce drop-off rate in onboarding by 30%
• Reach 60% adoption of the new reporting feature among active accounts

Customer Success

Objective: Reduce customer churn
Key Results:

• Increase NPS from 45 to 60
• Reduce churn among high-risk accounts from 15% to 8%
• Improve renewal rate from 85% to 92%

These are outcome-driven, specific, and relevant to the Objective — the gold standard for OKRs.

Review and Refine Key Results Every Cycle

Once your team runs an OKR cycle (typically quarterly), review the effectiveness of your Key Results:

• Did they measure progress accurately?
• Were they too easy or too ambitious?
• Did they guide day-to-day focus?

The best teams improve their OKRs over time — based on real-world feedback and outcomes.

Final Thoughts: Great Key Results Drive Great Performance

Key Results are the heartbeat of your OKRs. When done well, they focus your team, define success, and inspire action.

If you’re serious about using OKRs to align and empower your organization, take the time to define the right Key Results — not just the easy ones.

Want help applying this in your organization? Book a free strategy session.