You know what OKRs are and how to create them technically. This article shows you how to use OKRs effectively in your day-to-day work — from setting good goals and tracking progress to interpreting results correctly.
💡 Not yet familiar with the OKR concept? → What Are OKRs? Concept & Basics
Step-by-step technical guide? → Capturing & Managing OKRs
🎯 What makes a good OKR?
An OKR is most valuable when it both inspires and makes it measurable whether you have achieved your goal. Here are the key principles:
The Objective — ambitious but realistic A good Objective is qualitative, motivating, and clearly formulated. It answers the question: Where do we want to go? It should be ambitious enough to motivate, but realistic enough to remain achievable.
❌ Too vague: "Improve our customer satisfaction"
✅ Better: "We will become the first point of contact for our customers when they have questions about the platform"
The Key Results — concrete and measurable Key Results answer: How will we know we have achieved the goal? They are always quantitative and have a clear due date. 2–4 Key Results per Objective is recommended.
❌ Too soft: "Improve customer feedback"
✅ Better: "Increase Net Promoter Score from 6.2 to 7.5 by end of Q2"
💡 OKRs in flowit focus on performance goals — concrete, measurable outcomes. For competency development, use development cards and evaluations.
📍 Where do I find my OKRs in flowit?
Navigate to Goals & OKRs in the left menu. You will see a single overview page — what is displayed depends on the transparency level that your admin has configured as the global setting:
Private You see your team with only your own OKRs.
Team You see your team with all OKRs captured within that team — both your own and those of your teammates.
Organisation You see all teams in the organisation with all OKRs that have been captured across the entire company.
💡 The transparency level is a global setting configured by your admin — it cannot be set individually when creating a single OKR.
🔄 Tracking progress — how to do it right
Regularly updating your Key Results is the most important part of OKR practice. OKRs are only a useful management tool when progress is kept up to date.
How do I update a Key Result?
Navigate to Goals & OKRs
Click on the relevant Objective
Select the Key Result you want to update
Enter the current value and save
When should I update? Ideally at least once a week — or whenever the value has changed. flowit automatically sends you a reminder when a Key Result has not been updated for some time.
💡 You can also request an update: if as an Objective owner you would like a Key Result owner to update their value, you can send a direct request. The owner will then receive a notification.
📊 Using OKR status correctly
Every Objective and Key Result has a status that shows the current state. Use the status actively — it makes it immediately visible where action is needed.
Status | Meaning |
On Track | Goal is progressing as planned |
At Risk | Goal is at risk — action needed |
Off Track | Goal is unlikely to be achieved |
Completed | Goal has been achieved or closed |
💡 Be honest with the status. Setting "At Risk" early is more valuable than a false "On Track" — it gives your team and manager the opportunity to react in time.
📅 OKR rhythm in everyday work
OKRs work best when embedded in a regular rhythm:
At the start of a cycle:
Define Objectives and Key Results and capture them in flowit
Link OKRs to higher-level goals
During the cycle:
Update Key Results regularly
Adjust status when the situation changes
Seek a conversation early when "At Risk" or "Off Track"
At the end of a cycle:
Reflect on goal achievement: What did we achieve? What didn't we — and why?
Document learnings for the next cycle
Close OKRs or carry them over to the next cycle