When done well, OKRs are effective in driving focus and alignment.¹ OKRs cascade down from the company level, and a single OKR can be shared across teams.  Here is my OKR template.  

Drafting

O for Objectives must matter for the customer and/or business, and are ideally inspirational. Objectives can be multi-quarter and cross-team. 

KR for Key Results must be results to state the obvious, not activities. KRs must be “SMART”, and not open to interpretation. While OKRs can be shared across teams, each KR must have a directly responsible individual (DRI). 

Monthly reporting 

% complete at the end of the month is reported exponentially, not linearly, like so: 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and 80% between 0% and 100%. This accounts for the last-mile push and also avoids the default of 50% completion.  

Score forecast end of quarter to give forward guidance on the final score¹ and spark a discussion.  

Notes are for succinct storytelling on what went well or what is needed to up the score. 

Be realistic in reporting % completion and scoring. 

Etc 

I recommend not to use aspirational OKRs¹, and instead focus on executing committed OKRs well. Aspirational OKRs can be scoped down and converted to committed OKRs. 

Tying OKR scores to compensation and bonus can have unintended consequences.¹  

PS: Check out more articles on building products. I write to pay it forward and to clarify my thinking.

1. What matters: definition, scoring, comp & bonus, aspirational    
2. SMART criteria, link