Set clear, inspiring goals and track them with hard numbers using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
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Objectives and Key Results—usually shortened to OKRs—form a two-layer goal-setting method popularised by John Doerr in Measure What Matters. First you write an Objective: a short, inspiring statement of what you want to achieve. Then you list the Key Results that will prove you have achieved it. When every key result is met, the objective is considered done.
An objective answers “Where do we want to be?” It must be qualitative and motivational—something a team can rally round. “Dominate the UK mid-market accounting niche” or “Become the most trusted data-privacy advisor for SaaS founders” work far better than “Increase revenue” because they paint a picture of success.
Key results translate that picture into numbers. They are specific, time-boxed, and binary: you either hit them or you do not. To support “Dominate the UK mid-market accounting niche”, a bookkeeping agency might track:
If any key result fails, the objective remains unfinished—even if every other metric looks healthy.
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With only one or two objectives per quarter, teams stop scattering energy across low-value tasks. A digital agency might park minor site refreshes so designers can concentrate on the key-result metric “Launch five case-study microsites generating 500 demo views”.
Everyone sees the same scoreboard and knows exactly how success is measured. When a law firm sets “Win 90 % of GDPR compliance tenders” as a key result, junior associates and senior partners share a single, indisputable target.
When disagreements arise—should you attend a trade show or finish an integration?—teams ask, “Which option advances the objective?” The bookkeeping agency above would skip an unrelated expo if it does not help sign mid-market clients.
Pick a horizon of one quarter for operational teams or one year for strategic leadership. The objective must be qualitative and memorable—no metrics yet.
B2B examples
Test the wording with the team; if people struggle to recall it, shorten or sharpen.
Key results should:
Agency illustration
Small B2B firms (under 30 staff) often thrive with a single company-level OKR. Larger organisations cascade: leadership sets one objective, and each department writes supporting OKRs. Example cascade for the law firm:
Company objective – “Fastest GDPR partner.”
Marketing key result – “Rank #1 in Google for ‘GDPR compliance service’ by December.”
Delivery key result – “Cut average first-draft turnaround from 12 days to 6.”
Sales key result – “Close 90 % of tenders within 45 days.”
Link each departmental key result to the overarching objective to avoid silo drift.
Create a simple 0–1 scoring: where 0 = no progress and 1 = fully hit. If halfway through the quarter the bookkeeping agency’s “40 new clients” metric sits at 0.45 (18 wins), they know they must average seven per fortnight rather than five to catch up. Use colour codes on dashboards—green (0.7-1), amber (0.4-0.7), red (below 0.4)—to convey status at a glance.
At quarter-end run a retrospective:
If the law firm achieves 88 % of tenders won but retention lags, next quarter’s OKR may pivot to client-experience improvements rather than pure speed. Carry forward unfinished objectives only if they remain the highest-impact levers; otherwise archive and reset focus.
OKRs turn lofty ambition into measurable execution. By framing a single, inspiring objective and tying it to a handful of binary key results, agencies, consultancies, law firms, and bookkeeping firms gain laser focus, faster decisions, and transparent accountability—exactly the working-smarter discipline that unlocks sustainable growth.
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