Objective progress
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This section dives deep into the Objective page, which is your central hub for tracking progress and managing all KRs and sub-objectives associated with your objective. It is designed to make it easy for you to monitor and contribute to achieving your objectives. Let's explore its key features and how to use them effectively.
Objectives page main features
Progress chart
This section shows a visual representation of the overall progress on your objective.
Info area and the description
In the info area, you can effortlessly view and edit all the details related to your objective. Once the objective is closed, a "Closed" label will appear at the top of the info area, and the grade you selected will be added to the other information.
Status changes and Activity
Check out the Status changes tab to review past updates on the objective. Click the blue Update button to make a new entry. Only the latest update from each day will be visible, keeping things concise and focused.
The activity tab provides a snapshot of status changes for KRs and sub-objectives. Stay informed about additions, updates, and closures without delving too deep into each item.
Comments
Comments let you bring the discussion about the OKR’s status right into the app. To start commenting, click the + New comment button on an update made to an Objective. Then, add a comment in the text field below the original update.
You can also @mention people from your Jira in the comments. After saving the comment, you will see options to reply, edit, or delete your comment. Users can respond to each other's comments, but only the author of a comment can edit or delete it.
Who can send comments?
In the Advanced Permissions settings, there’s a separate permission that allows users to comment and reply to comments. In the Basic setup, users with editing permissions will be able to comment on OKR updates.
When someone sends a comment, the involved users will receive an email notification. Each user can decide which information they’d like to receive. To manage what kind of notifications you’d like to receive, go to Settings > Notifications.
Alignment
The Alignment section provides a comprehensive view of how an OKR relates to other OKRs within the OKR structure. It consists of five tabs for different types of relationships:
Sub-objectives – See all sub-objectives directly aligned to the current objective, and view basic progress data for each. You can also update a sub-objective's status, weight, or delete it using the three-dot menu. Add a new sub-objective by clicking + Add > Sub-objective.
Key Results – See all KRs directly aligned to the current objective, and view basic progress data for each key result. You can update a key result's status, weight, or delete it using the three-dot menu. Add a new key result by clicking the + Add > Key result.
Dependencies – Here, you can see all OKRs linked to the current one via a dependency link, and view basic progress data for each linked OKR. Two types of dependency links exist:
Blocks: OKR A impedes the progress of OKR B.
Blocked by: OKR B's progress is blocked by OKR A.
Dependency links are bi-directional, meaning adding a link from OKR A to OKR B also creates a link from OKR B to OKR A. To create a dependency, go to the Dependencies tab and click the Link menu > Dependency. Then, select the link type and the target OKR, and click the Link button to save.Using the three-dot menu, you can update the OKR’s status or unlink it.
Contributions – Here, you can see all OKRs linked to the current one via a contribution link. Contribution links, which are also bi-directional, show OKRs that support each other even if they're not in a direct hierarchy. Two types of contribution links exist:
Supports: OKR A contributes to the progress of OKR B.
Supported by: OKR B's progress is supported by OKR A.
To create a contribution, go to the Contributions tab and click the Link menu > Contribution. Then, select the contribution type and the target OKR, and click the Link button to save.Using the three-dot menu, you can update the OKR’s status or unlink it.
Copies – If applicable, in this tab, you can see the OKR from which the current one was copied. It also displays all OKRs that are copies of the current one (if any).
These links are automatically created during the copy process, and you can update an OKR's status or unlink it using the three-dot menu.
Issues connected to the objective's KRs
On this Kanban board, you can see all issues connected to the objective’s KRs. Each issue is labeled to indicate which KR it is connected to. It's not possible to add issues directly to the objective. To add issues to a KR, go to its page or link the issue from the Jira issue view.
How to update the progress of an Objective
The Objective’s progress can be automatically calculated by the app or manually updated by the user. The progress is always expressed as a percentage.
Manual Objective progress update
To manually update the progress of an existing Objective, this Objective must be in manual mode.
Go to the Objective details page.
In the Progress section, click More actions (…).
From the dropdown, select Convert to manual progress tracking.
Confirm Objective conversion.
Now that your Objective is in the manual progress mode, you can update its progress.
Click Update on the Objective details page or on the Objective details side panel.
On the Objective update modal, update the value in the Update current progress field.
Click Submit.
Automatic Objective progress update
If your Objective is in the manual mode, convert it to automatic progress tracking on the Objective details page.
Now that your Objective is in the auto-progress mode, the OKR for Jira app automatically calculates the progress for that Objective based on the status of its direct children, either key results or sub-objectives.
Once you update the manual KR's progress, or the progress is automatically updated for an auto-KR, the app updates the progress for the objective that the key result supports.
Objective progress = The sum of progress of all direct sub-items divided by the total number of those sub-items.
How to update the status of an Objective
Go to the Objective page and click the Update button. This will open the Objective update modal.
Select a date. By default, the date is set to today, but you can change it to a past date and/or time.
Choose the current status of the objective. The previous status, if any, appears below.
Write a short description of the progress made and add any information that might be relevant to others.
Confirm with the Submit button.
Your update should appear in the Status changes section.
Updating from the ‘Not started’ status
If you’re updating an objective from a “Not started” status to a different one, you will be prompted with a dialog asking if you’d like to update the parent objective as well. That can help you speed up the start of all items above this Objective.
If you decide to update a higher-level objective in one go, its update dialog will appear with the same status and description as you’ve chosen on the “Not started” objective. You will also be able to set the same status in all parent objectives.
How to close an Objective
Closing an objective lets you review the work done, assess progress, and ultimately grade the objective. By grading the objectives, you determine whether the goal has been achieved and, if not, how close you were to reaching it.
You can close all sub-objectives and their KRs when closing the higher-level objective, so it may be a good idea to start closing your OKRs from the top one.
Navigate to the objective’s page.
Locate the three-dot menu (top right) and select Close. Close the objective modal displays.
Select the final update of the objective. You can choose from 5 statuses available when closing an OKR: Success, Incomplete, Failed, Canceled, Rescheduled.
The chosen status will also be applied to all open sub-objectives and KRs. To set a different final status for the sub-items of the objective, you need to close them earlier.Briefly explain the reason behind closing the objective, keeping others informed about your decision.
This description will be applied to this objective only. You can edit the descriptions of final updates for all of the sub-objectives and KRs after you close the objective.Assign a grade to the objective and its sub-items on a 0-1 scale reflecting achievement level. Here's a general guideline:
0: No progress made.
0.3-0.5: Minor progress achieved.
0.6-0.9: Nearing the target, but not quite there.
1: Goal fully achieved.
Note: The suggested grade is based on progress. Feel free to use your own grading scale if applicable.
Click Close objective to finalize the process.
While closing an Objective, you can use the Change items weight to 0 toggle that will set the weights of this item and all its descendants to 0 if enabled. When you close an Objective with the Canceled status, the Change items weight to 0 toggle will be activated automatically.