10 Powerful OKR Examples for Project Management: Aligning Goals and Success with OKRs for Project Managers

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a powerful goal-setting framework that can help project managers and their teams align on priorities, focus their efforts, and drive successful outcomes. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore 10 impactful OKR examples for project management and how to effectively leverage OKRs to improve project planning, execution, and delivery. Read on to learn how leading organizations use OKRs to inspire growth, improvement, and innovation on project teams.

What Exactly Are OKRs and How Do They Work?

Before diving into OKR examples, let’s quickly define what OKRs are and how they work. OKRs stands for “objectives and key results” - it is a goal-setting methodology used by companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter to align employees around measurable goals and track progress.

The OKR framework consists of:

• Objectives: Qualitative goals that are ambitious, meaningful, and inspirational, such as “Launch new customer referral program”

• Key Results: Quantitative metrics that measure progress toward the objective, such as “Acquire 500 new referred customers”

OKRs are set at the organization, team, and individual level on a quarterly or annual basis. Employees then check in regularly on their progress toward hitting the key results.

OKRs focus less on task completion and more on aligning efforts to accomplish impactful outcomes. The regular check-ins provide transparency around goal progression and opportunities for continuous improvement.

Now let’s explore how project managers and teams can leverage OKRs to drive project success.

1. Set Organization-Level OKRs to Prioritize Key Initiatives

At the organization level, OKRs can help leadership teams identify 3-5 key initiatives to focus on for the quarter or year. Setting organization-level OKRs clarifies which projects and goals are most important to making progress on strategic objectives.

For example, a SaaS company might set the following annual organization-level OKR:

Objective: Increase self-serve product adoption
Key Results:

• 500 new signups per month through self-serve portal (up from 200)

• 80% of new users onboarded through self-serve (up from 60%)

• $50K in monthly revenue from self-serve signups (up from $20K)

This provides clear direction to project teams on where to focus their efforts to support the organization’s top priority of increasing self-serve adoption. Projects that drive toward this objective should take precedence.

Annual or quarterly OKRs at the org-level help provide that north star for project teams and enable leadership to quickly reallocate resources to the most important initiatives.

2. Set Team OKRs to Align on Shared Goals

Once organization-level OKRs are set, project teams should define their own objectives and key results aligned to the company’s top priorities. Team OKRs create alignment and clarity across project members while allowing autonomy to determine how to achieve the shared goals.

For example, the SaaS company’s self-serve focused project team might establish:

Objective: Simplify and improve self-serve user onboarding
Key Results:

• Reduce steps in onboarding flow by 20%

• Achieve 4.5 star rating on onboarding experience

• 80% of new users successfully onboard without support tickets

With team OKRs, everyone understands the shared objective they are working towards and can see their individual contributions in the key results. They have freedom around how they accomplish the objective - designing workflows, defining requirements, coding functionality, etc.

Having transparent team OKRs keeps everyone aligned, even across remote teams. They also provide a clear way to track if project activities are successfully driving toward the team’s shared goals.

3. Set Individual OKRs to Connect Personal Goals to Project Success

In addition to organization and team OKRs, individual contributors on project teams should also define 1-3 personal OKRs aligned to team goals. This helps connect their day-to-day work directly to project outcomes.

For example, a developer on the self-serve onboarding project might set:

Objective: Streamline required steps in onboarding user flow
Key Results:

• Reduce onboarding steps by 25% in MVP test (from 10 to 7 steps)

• Achieve 5x faster form completion times 

• Code and deliver simplified onboarding flow by Q4

Individual OKRs provide clarity around how each team member can personally drive toward team and organization objectives. They create empowerment and accountability within a transparent framework.

Regular check-ins on individual OKR progress (weekly or biweekly) allows the project manager to identify any roadblocks and provide support early on. This enables the team to course correct quickly.

4. Set OKRs to Improve Project Planning

Many project failures stem from unclear objectives, poor planning, or lack of buy-in on goals across stakeholders at the start. OKRs provide a framework for creating alignment and clarity around project purpose from the outset.

Here’s an example OKR that a project manager might set in the planning stages:

Objective: Create aligned project plan across key stakeholders
Key Results:

• 100% of stakeholders aligned on project vision and goals

• Executive sponsor sign-off on project plan and timelines 

• Team leads define requirements for each project workstream

This OKR forces the project manager to get objective confirmation that planning activities were successful in driving alignment, surfacing requirements, and securing buy-in. The measurable key results protect against assumptions that stakeholders are on the same page when they might not be.

Regular check-ins on the “create aligned project plan” OKR ensures the critical upfront planning work is done rigorously, avoiding misalignment that can doom projects later on.

5. Set OKRs Around Stakeholder Communication and Management

Stakeholder management is critical to project success. Setting OKRs around stakeholder alignment, communication, and satisfaction helps avoid problems down the line.

For example, at the start of a complex enterprise project, the project manager might define:

Objective: Proactively inform and engage executive stakeholdersKey Results: 

• 100% of key execs briefed prior to project kickoff

• Executive steering committee meets 4x per quarter 

• 80%+ of exec updates result in positive feedback

Or during project execution, an OKR like:

Objective: Deliver exceptional client experienceKey Results:

• 4.5 or higher average client satisfaction score

• 2+ positive testimonials from key clients 

• Monthly client appreciation events held

OKRs centered on stakeholder communication and satisfaction motivate the team to be proactive. They provide metrics to indicate potential issues early, when they are easier to course correct. The regular check-ins ensure stakeholder management remains a consistent focus.

6. Set OKRs Around Project Budgeting and Resource Management

Many project failures come down to poor budgeting or resource management. Teams overspend or underspend budgets, resources are over or underallocated, and tasks end up misaligned to funds and talent.

In the planning stage, project managers can use OKRs to drive discipline around budgeting:

Objective: Create accurately resourced project budgetKey Results:

• Budget aligns to internal finance guidelines 

• Budget approved by executive sponsor

• Only critical project costs included in budget

During execution, OKRs can catch budget issues early:

Objective: Maintain project budget
Key Results:

• Spend to remain within 5% of budget 

• Monthly budget reconciliations 

• No budget overruns over $5K

Or to address potential resourcing problems:

Objective: Optimize project team resourcingKey Results:

• Team utilization between 90-95%

• Quarterly team satisfaction scores of 4/5 

• No project delays due to talent gaps

The right OKRs shine a spotlight on budget and resourcing metrics that are leading indicators of downstream issues. This allows for proactive course correction to keep budget and talent needs optimized.

7. Set OKRs to Improve Project Quality and Performance

Defining OKRs around project quality and performance enables teams to maintain high standards versus allowing quality to slip.

Example quality and performance OKRs might include:

Objective: Deliver exceptional product quality
Key Results:

• Less than 1 defect per 1,000 units

• 100% of products pass QC standards

• 4.5 star average rating from quality team

Objective: Drive on-time project delivery
Key Results:

• 95% of milestones delivered on schedule

• Zero critical project delays 

• Client satisfaction scores of 4.5+ on delivery timing

Objective: Increase team performance and productivity
Key Results:

• 20% increase in team output per quarter

• 15% faster defect resolution times

• 30 min avg time savings through efficiency improvements 

Adding a focus on quality, performance, and productivity holds teams accountable to high standards versus passive acceptance of issues. The measurable results provide early warning signs of potential problems.

8. Set OKRs to Drive Continuous Improvement

One of the powers of OKRs is enabling continuous improvement. Teams don’t just hit a goal and stop - key results are frequently updated to motivate constant improvement.

Some example continuous improvement OKRs might look like:

Objective: Increase efficiency of ingestion process
Key Results:

• Decrease ingestion time by 20%

• Add automated ingestion for 50% of data sources

• Reduce analyst prep time for ingestion by 30%

Objective: Shorten product development cyclesKey Results:

• Release 4 product updates versus 2 annually 

• Cut final testing time from 4 weeks to 2 weeks

• Reduce QA cycle times by 25%

Objective: Increase team innovation and idea generation
Key Results: 

• Weekly brainstorming sessions held

• 5+ new ideas to product roadmap per quarter 

• 2 innovative features released Q4 

Structuring OKRs to incentivize continuous incremental improvement versus satisfying fixed goals drives an organization forward. The regular objective updates prevent teams from becoming complacent.

9. Set Customer-Focused OKRs

Improving customer satisfaction and driving business outcomes should be the ultimate objective of every project. Setting customer-oriented OKRs ensures that focus is not lost.

Example customer-centric OKRs might include:

Objective: Delight customers with an amazing onboarding experienceKey Results:

• 4.8+ app store rating for simplicity 

• Churn rate of less than 2% for new customers

• 80% of support tickets give 5 star CSAT rating

Objective: Drive business growth through client referralsKey Results:

• 500 new customers via referrals 

• 20% increase in referral rate 

• $1M revenue growth through referrals

Objective: Improve customer retention through engagementKey Results:

• Email open rate above 50%

• Webinar attendance rate of 40%

• 6+ visits per user monthly

While teams get focused on project execution and metrics, customer-centric OKRs ensure energy stays centered on how work ultimately impacts clients and the business.

10. Set Outcome-Focused OKRs

At their best, OKRs motivate teams to accomplish something meaningful beyond just completing tasks. They drive focus and effort toward tangible outcomes that have an impact.

Some examples of outcome-focused OKRs for projects:

Objective: Successfully launch new high-value product Key Results:

• $100K in sales first month

• Positive first customer reviews 

• Zero critical defects post-launch

Objective: Transform customer support experienceKey Results:

• Cut call wait times by 50%

• Reduce case resolution time by 20%

• Increase CSAT scores from 4.2 to 4.5

Objective: Build culture of mindfulness and creativityKey Results:

• Daily meditation practice for 60% of team

• 4.5/5 team ratings on work-life balance

• 6+ team innovation hackathons held

The right outcome-focused OKRs will differ for every project and team. But at the core is incentivizing teams to achieve meaningful objectives beyond just checking tasks off a list.

Key Takeaways for Project Managers

OKRs provide a powerful framework for project managers to drive alignment, execution, and outcomes across project teams. Keep these best practices in mind:

• Set organization-level OKRs to identify and prioritize key initiatives

• Use team OKRs to align cross-functional teams to shared goals

• Enable team members to connect work to outcomes via individual OKRs

• Structure OKRs to address project planning, budgets, resources, quality, stakeholders, customers, and company goals

• Design measurable key results tied to leading indicators of project success

• Update OKRs frequently to motivate continuous improvement 

• Maintain focus on achieving meaningful outcomes, not just completing tasks

With the right OKR examples and processes in place, project managers can leverage objectives and key results to inspire focus, engagement, and ultimately, successful project outcomes. OKRs enable transparency, accountability, and motivation toward objectives that matter.

Summary of Key Points

• OKRs (objectives and key results) are a goal-setting framework used by leading companies to drive growth and alignment

• Organization-level OKRs identify strategic initiatives to focus project efforts toward

• Team and individual OKRs create transparency and accountability toward shared goals

• OKRs can improve project planning, stakeholder alignment, budgets, resources, quality, and outcomes

• They provide a system to track measurable indicators of project success early

• Frequent OKR check-ins enable problem-solving and continuous improvement

• Customer and outcome-focused OKRs prevent losing sight of big picture goals

• Used well, OKRs motivate teams beyond task completion toward impactful results

Project managers that leverage OKRs set their teams up for focus, engagement, and eventual success on even the most complex initiatives.