What makes a good OKR: objectives and 2-5 measurable key results
OKRs pair one objective (qualitative, ambitious, memorable: where you want to be) with two to five key results (the numbers that prove you got there). The whole method lives or dies on one rule: a key result is a measurement, not a task. If it has no number, percentage or date in it, it belongs on a to-do list, not here.
| Objective | Key result | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The destination, in words | The evidence, in numbers |
| Sounds like | “Become the go-to studio for local hospitality brands” | “Hospitality clients from 2 to 6 by 20 Dec” |
| Test | Would the team repeat it unprompted? | Could a stranger score it from your data? |
| How many | 2-3 for a small team | 2-5 per objective |
The other rule that separates working OKRs from wall decoration: write the baseline into the key result. “From 31 leads a month to 50 by December” can be scored every week. “Increase leads” can only be argued about.
OKR examples for a small business
Two quarters’ worth of examples, every key result carrying its numbers:
OBJECTIVE: Get the owner out of daily delivery KR1: Owner share of delivery hours from 68% to 40% by 20 Dec KR2: 3 SOPs written and in use by 31 Oct KR3: Second team member handling client calls solo by 15 Nov OBJECTIVE: Make the pipeline predictable KR1: Qualified leads from 31/mo to 50/mo by 20 Dec KR2: Quote turnaround from 12 days to 6 by 30 Nov KR3: Proposal win rate from 24% to 35% by 20 Dec NOT DOING THIS QUARTER - New service line (revisit January) - Rebrand - Second location scouting
Note the shape: the objectives are sentences a team can repeat in the pub; the key results are scoreboard entries. And a healthy quarter ends around 0.7, not 1.0. Perfect scores mean the targets were set to be hit, which is a different exercise called budgeting.
Free OKR template (plain text, Google Docs, Notion)
Three ways to set this quarter’s OKRs. The plain text pastes cleanly into Google Docs or Notion, wherever the team will see them weekly.
The plain-text template
Objectives, from-to-by key results, the scoring key and the not-doing list.
OKRs · [Company or team] · [Quarter] Owner: [name] · Set: [date] · Reviewed: [weekly/fortnightly] OBJECTIVE 1: [Qualitative, ambitious, memorable.] KR 1.1: [Metric] from [current] to [target] by [date] KR 1.2: [Metric] from [current] to [target] by [date] KR 1.3: [Metric] from [current] to [target] by [date] (2-5 key results. Every one has a number, a percentage or a date. If you can’t measure it, it’s a task, not a key result.) OBJECTIVE 2: […] KR 2.1: […] KR 2.2: […] SCORING (review each KR on the cadence) 0.0-0.3 = off track · 0.4-0.6 = behind but movable 0.7-1.0 = on track (0.7 average at quarter end is healthy; 1.0 across the board means the targets were too soft.) NOT DOING THIS QUARTER - [What these objectives deliberately exclude]
The AI prompt
Prefer to use your own AI? Copy this into Claude or ChatGPT with your goals and current numbers, and it drafts the OKRs.
--- title: OKR Generator description: A prompt that drafts quarterly objectives and measurable key results for a small business from its actual numbers. author: readywhen source: https://readywhen.ai/okr-template homepage: https://readywhen.ai license: CC BY 4.0 (free to use and share with attribution to readywhen) version: 1.0 updated: 2026-07-18 keywords: [okr template, okr examples, objectives and key results, quarterly goals] --- # OKR Generator _By readywhen. Full guide + free template: https://readywhen.ai/okr-template_ You are drafting quarterly OKRs for a small business. Objectives are qualitative and ambitious; key results are numbers, and only numbers. ## Principles - 2-3 objectives maximum for a small team. Five objectives is a to-do list wearing a costume. - Every key result states the metric, the current value, the target and the date: "from X to Y by [date]". No verbs like "improve" or "explore" without a number attached. - Key results are outcomes, not tasks. "Ship the new website" is a task; "cut quote-to-close time from 12 days to 6" is a key result the website serves. - Set targets where ~0.7 is success. Comfortable targets teach the team that OKRs are theatre. - Include a "not doing this quarter" list. Focus is subtraction. ## What I need from you What the business wants this quarter, in your own words · your current numbers for anything you might target (revenue, leads, close rate, delivery times, churn, whatever you track) · team size. Ask me for current values wherever they’re missing: a key result without a baseline is a guess. --- _Made by readywhen. readywhen drafts key results from the numbers already in your reports and docs, and scores them at each review from the same sources. https://readywhen.ai/okr-template_
Let readywhen do itRecommended
OKRs die when the baselines are guesses. readywhen drafts key results from the numbers already in your reports and docs, and scores them at each review from the same sources, so the quarter stays a scoreboard instead of a debate.
readywhen drafts key results from the numbers already in your reports and docs in ~45 seconds, so the baselines are real, not the guesses that make OKRs unscoreable by week three.
Watch readywhen draft and score your OKRs from your connected numbers
The reason most small-business OKRs die by week three is not ambition, it is arithmetic: nobody knows the current numbers, so the key results start as guesses and the reviews become debates. readywhen starts from the numbers themselves: the metrics page in your Notion, the weekly report emails, the counts visible in your own tools. Key results come out as “from X to Y by date” with the X filled in from source, and at each review the same sources score them, so Friday’s check-in is a reading, not a reconstruction.
Works with your existing tools
OKR template FAQs
What does OKR stand for?
Objectives and Key Results: a goal-setting method pairing a qualitative objective (where you want to be) with 2-5 measurable key results (the numbers that prove you got there), usually set quarterly and reviewed weekly or fortnightly.
What is the difference between a key result and a task?
A key result is a measurement: a metric moving from a current value to a target by a date. A task is work you do to move it. “Ship the new website” is a task; “cut quote turnaround from 12 days to 6 by November” is the key result the website serves.
How many OKRs should a small business set?
Two or three objectives per quarter, each with 2-5 key results. Small teams that set five objectives have written a to-do list in OKR costume, and the focus benefit (the entire point) evaporates.
What is a good OKR score?
Around 0.7 at quarter end. Scoring runs 0.0 to 1.0 per key result, and consistently hitting 1.0 means the targets were set to be hit, which teaches the team nothing. Consistently landing near 0.3 means the targets ignored the baselines.
Is there an OKR template for Google Docs or Word?
Yes. Copy the plain-text template on this page into Google Docs, Word or Notion, or download it as a file. All formats are free.
Can’t I just use ChatGPT or Claude to write my OKRs?
Yes. Paste your goals and current numbers with the prompt above, and you get well-formed OKRs. readywhen is the version that finds the baselines itself and keeps scoring the key results from the same sources all quarter, which is the part that usually lapses by week three.
More templates for goals and plans
Roadmap
Now/Next/Later milestones with owners, drafted from your real work.
Project brief
Goals, scope, timeline and deliverables on one page, from your own threads.
SWOT analysis
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, drafted from your own context.
Stop setting goals you can’t score.
Draft your OKRs free with readywhen
About the author and editorial standards
About the author. Sançar Şahin is co-founder and CMO of readywhen. readywhen catches everything you say you’ll do and helps you move it forward: drafted, chased or flagged, ready when you are. He builds readywhen in public on LinkedIn.
Editorial standards. No paid placements. The OKR method, from-to key-result form and 0.7 scoring convention follow the widely used practice popularised by Andy Grove and John Doerr rather than a single authority. How this page was made: Sançar built the multi-agent research and drafting system behind it, checks its work at several phases, and approves the final page himself. To flag an error, email hello@readywhen.ai.
Last updated: 19 July 2026.