What is an OKR?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) help teams focus on what matters most and measure meaningful progress toward it.
Objectives describe what you want to achieve.
Key Results define how you’ll measure success.
Initiatives and Outcomes represent the work and effects that drive progress toward those Key Results.
In Kiplot, OKRs are designed to work across different levels of measurement maturity - from simple manual tracking to fully attributed, initiative-level impact.
Plans, forecasts, and actuals - what’s the difference?
Each Key Result can show three views of progress:
Plan – where you intend to be over time
Forecast – where you currently expect to land, based on initiatives and assumptions
Actual – what has actually happened so far
All three are shown as cumulative values, making them easy to compare.
Impact can be tracked at the right level
Kiplot lets you track Key Result progress at the initiative level or directly on the Key Result.
If you know which initiatives drive the result, record impact on the initiative (attributed).
If you only know overall progress, record it on the Key Result (unattributed).
Either way, Key Results show a clear progress-over-time view you can plan, forecast, and check against actuals.
Forecasting power vs simple tracking
Kiplot supports both precise forecasting and simple progress tracking.
Attributed contributions (recommended when possible)
If you know each initiative’s contribution, record the change an initiative creates each month (e.g., “+10 in April”).
This unlocks the key benefit: forecast dates move with delivery - so your Key Result forecast stays aligned with schedule changes.
Unattributed contributions (fallback when attribution isn’t possible)
If you don’t have reliable initiative-level estimates, update the Key Result directly using running totals.
This is best when you can’t confidently break down progress by initiative yet.
Key Results always show the overall story; attribution just improves the why and when.
How initiative forecasts and actuals behave
Understanding timing is key:
Forecast contributions: Move automatically when initiative delivery dates change
Actual contributions: Are historical facts and ever move or adjust automatically
This ensures forecasts stay realistic while actuals remain auditable.
Example OKRs
Objective: Increase Efficiency in Delivery
Key Results:
Reduce sprint cycle time by 20% by Q4.
Increase the number of completed story points per sprint by 25% by Q3.
Achieve a 95% on-time delivery rate for all sprints by Q4.
Objective: Enhance Customer Satisfaction through Agile Practices
Key Results:
Increase customer satisfaction scores by 15% by Q3.
Achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 50 by the end of Q4.
Implement a feedback loop with 100% of customers after each project by Q2.
Permissions
Objectives and Key Results can be accessed through a user’s role or shared through business units or directly with them.
Objective and Key Result Sharing
Sharing an Objective does not automatically share all Key Results linked to the Objective. Key results need to be shared separately.
Action | Permission |
|---|---|
Configure Objective Groups | Strategic Portfolio Administrators |
Configure Measures | Strategic Portfolio Administrators |
Create an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) |
Edit an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the Objective or Objective’s Business Unit |
View an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the Objective or Objective’s Business Unit |
Create a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) |
Edit a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the Key Result or Key Result’s Business Unit |
View a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the Key Result or Key Result’s Business Unit |
Create or edit contributions on an Initiative or Outcome | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the initiative or outcome |
View contributions on an Initiative or Outcome | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the initiative or outcome |
For more detailed instructions on how OKRs work for Restricted users, please see the Restricted User OKR Permission page.
Configuration
You need Strategic Portfolio Administrator permissions to configure OKRs.
In order to add Objectives and Key Results into Kiplot, you’ll need to set your Measures in Configuration. You can also group your OKRs using the Objective Groups functionality.
Measures play a crucial role in quantifying the progress and success of objectives. All measures should be added to the configuration. Once they’ve been added you’ll be able to add them to a Key Result on an objective.
Objective Groups enable you to group your objectives depending on the specific needs, priorities and structure of your organization. Common approaches to grouping objectives effectively include: strategic themes, functional areas, lifecycle stages, customer segments, cross-functional initiatives.
Once you’ve added your Objective Groups and Measures you can use the blue toggle in the configuration page to manage whether they’re enabled or disabled.
Objectives
Action | Permission |
|---|---|
Create an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) |
Edit an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the Objective or Objective’s Business Unit |
View an Objective | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the Objective or Objective’s Business Unit |
Fields on objectives
These fields are available on all objectives entered in Kiplot.
Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
Key | Text | Automatically assigned unique identifier, uneditable. |
Title | Text | Provide a title for the Objective. |
Description | Text | Provide a more detailed explanation of the Objective. |
Objective Group | Dropdown | Objective groups allow you to group Objectives into configurable groups. |
Business unit | Dropdown | Assign a Business Unit - any users with view or edit access to the business unit will be able to access the Objective. |
Created | Text | Automatically assigned, uneditable. |
Creating an objective
You can add objectives to Kiplot in the OKRs page. To add an objective simply click on the blue ‘create’ button in the top right corner. Fill out the Objective name and description fields and then click create. Your objective will now appear on the OKRs page.
Archive an objective
There are two ways to archive an objective:
On the objectives list, you can press the delete icon.
On the objective’s detailed page, you can press the menu icon in the top right-hand side and press “archive objective”.
Assigning Objectives to Objective Groups
To assign an Objective to an Objective Group simply open up the Objective and select the Objective Group from the drop down list. Only Objective Groups that are added to the Configuration will show up in this list.
Key Results
Action | Permission |
|---|---|
Create a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) |
Edit a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the Key Result or Key Result’s Business Unit |
View a Key Result | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the Key Result or Key Result’s Business Unit |
Fields on key results
These fields are available on all lessons entered in Kiplot.
Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
Key | Text | Automatically assigned unique identifier, uneditable. |
Title | Text | System generated title of the Key Result. |
Label | Text | Provide a title for the Key Result. |
Description | Text | Provide a more detailed explanation of the Key Result. |
Objective | Dropdown | The parent Objective that the Key Result belongs to |
Business unit | Dropdown | Assign a Business Unit - any users with view or edit access to the business unit will be able to access the Key Result. |
Created | Text | Automatically assigned, uneditable. |
Creating a Key Result
Add a key result to an objective: Select 'Add key result' within an objective's details to define a measurable outcome that contributes to its success. This opens the form for specifying the key result's details.
Give the key result a name: A name is automatically generated or you can give it a customised name.
Define the key result measure: Choose the relevant metric from the available options to track the key result's progress. This establishes the quantifiable basis for measuring success.
Set the key result target value: Enter the desired achievement level in the target value field. This defines the specific numerical goal that indicates success for the key result.
Set key result dates: Select the start and target dates to define the timeframe for achieving your key result. This establishes the start and end points for tracking progress.
Save the key result: Select the 'Add' button to finalize your new key result. It will then be linked to its objective and ready for performance tracking.
Archiving a Key Result
There are two ways to archive an objective:
On the key result list, you can press the delete icon.
On the key result’s detailed page, you can press the menu icon in the top right-hand side and press “archive key result”.
Adding Key Results to Objectives
Creating a key result through the objectives page will automatically link the Key result to the Objective. However, if you have created the Key Result from the Key Result list page, then you can link the Objective through the Objective dropdown list on the Key Result detail page.
Navigate to the Key Result Detail page.
Select an Objective in the Objective field.
Performance tracking setup
Action | Permission |
|---|---|
Create or edit contributions on an Initiative or Outcome | Strategic Portfolio Full Access (or above) or Edit access to the initiative or outcome |
View contributions on an Initiative or Outcome | Strategic Portfolio Member (or above) or View access to the initiative or outcome |
When you click into a key result, you will find the page where you can plan and track the progress of your key result. In this page you can set up and manage both the Plan, Forecast, and Actual values against the Target Value. This provides insight into the key result's performance over time, including contributions from initiatives and outcomes.
To understand how your Key Result is tracking overall, navigate to the “Performance” tab within a Key Result.
The performance view shows the overall progress of a Key Result in one place. It combines all plan, forecast, and actual values—including the rolled-up impact of linked initiatives—into a cumulative view over time. This makes it easy to see how the Key Result is tracking against its target at a glance.
Define the key result plan
Input planned values across different periods to outline the expected progression of your key result. This establishes a baseline for tracking and forecasting, allowing visualisation of the intended path to your target.
Navigate to the performance tab on the key result.
Within the overview section, click into the period value that you would like to change.
These values will be automatically added to the overview graph.
Define the unattributed key result forecasts and actuals
If you don’t have reliable initiative-level estimates, update the Key Result directly using the overview totals. This is best when you can’t confidently break down progress by initiative yet.
Navigate to the performance tab on the key result.
Within the overview section, click into the period value that you would like to change for the Key Result forecast or actual value.
These values will be automatically added to the overview graph.
Analyze Initiative Contributions
To understand how initiatives and outcomes are linked to Key Results, see Value Contributions.
The contributions section shows how individual initiatives and outcomes are affecting the Key Result. Each initiative or outcome displays its month-by-month forecast and actual impact, which are automatically rolled up into cumulative totals on the Key Result. Find out more about Contributions here.
In the above example, we can see that the “State-of-Art Access Control” outcome was forecast to contribute 100,000 in October but actually contributed 70,000 in January.
Goals on the initiative roadmap
You can view and access the goals you’ve created for your organization directly from the initiative roadmap. By expanding the Goals section at the top, you’ll see your goals along with their associated key results. Additionally, you'll be able to view the mapped value realization of your initiatives, showing when they are planned to be realized and how they contribute to achieving your key results.
Clicking on the three dots on a goal will give you the options to
Go to page - This option will redirect you to the OKRs section within the strategic portfolio, taking you directly to the selected goal
Apply as filter on roadmap - This option will filter your roadmap to display only the initiatives that contribute to the selected goal
Find out more about the initiative roadmap.