OKRs for product teams: How I actually use them
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OKRs fail when they become a spreadsheet of tasks with percentages. Used well, they're a focus and alignment device: what matters this period, and how we'll know.
Objectives and Key Results (my definitions)
- Objective: qualitative, inspiring-enough direction ("Make onboarding obviously valuable for new admins")
- Key Results: measurable evidence you moved ("raise Day-7 activation from X to Y," "cut median time-to-first-value from A to B")
If your KR is "ship project Phoenix," you wrote a deliverable, not a result. Shipping can be part of a plan; it isn't proof customers got value. A simple product lifecycle for product managers view helps keep that learning loop visible after the initial ship.
Best practices for setting objectives
- Few objectives (1–3 per team) — focus is the point
- Ambitious but not fantasy; separate committed vs aspirational if your culture needs it
- Owned by a team that can actually influence the outcome
- Tied to strategy, not to whoever yelled last
- Written in language customers would recognize as progress
- Negotiated with eng/design early so you're not surprising partners with unownable targets
Key Results that don't lie
- Prefer rates and times over vanity counts
- Pair with counter-metrics (quality, incidents, margin)
- Agree on data sources before the quarter starts
- Mid-period check-ins beat end-period surprise
- Write the measurement recipe (numerator/denominator/time window) in the doc
OKRs vs KPIs
KPIs are ongoing health metrics (uptime, churn, NPS, MRR). OKRs are timeboxed improvement bets.
I'd watch KPIs always; I'd choose a few OKRs to change a KPI or a driver of it. Don't duplicate your entire dashboard as OKRs—you'll drown in red/yellow/green theater.
| Tool | Cadence | Job |
|---|---|---|
| KPI | Always-on | Health / monitoring |
| OKR | Period (often quarterly) | Focused improvement |
| Roadmap theme | Multi-period | How you'll pursue outcomes |
How I'd use KPIs to grow the business
- Pick a small executive set + team-level drivers
- Instrument the funnel that feeds them
- Review anomalies with qualitative research
- Fund roadmap themes that move drivers, not vanity spikes
- Teach stakeholders the difference between a dip and a disaster
For teams that need a more concrete goal-setting routine, I use SMART goals for product managers. The alignment work also depends on clear ownership and communication, which is where stakeholder management for product managers becomes practical. I also tie those goals back to product strategy frameworks for product managers so the quarter has a strategic through-line.
Closing thoughts
OKRs don't replace product sense. They make priorities discussable. If everything is priority 1, you don't have OKRs—you have anxiety.
Want help connecting goals to product practice? The Product Manager Certification and newsletter can help.
