Working with Objectives
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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 the success of your objectives. Let's explore its key features and how to use them effectively.
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Objective Page Features
Progress chart
Here, you get a visual representation of the overall progress on your objective. It's calculated based on the combined progress of all contributing sub-items (KRs and sub-objectives).
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 allow you to bring the discussion on the OKR’s status right to the tool. 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 Advanced Permissions settings, there’s a separate permission that allow users to comment and reply to comments. In the Basic setup, users with editing capabilities will have permission to comment on the OKR updates.
When someone sends a comment, the involved users will receive an email notification. Each user can decide what kind of 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, here 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 or status of an Objective
The progress of your objectives is based on the progress of their key results, so you cannot manually update the objective's progress value.
It's a good idea to keep everyone in the loop by regularly updating the status and providing a brief summary of your objective's progress each week. This way, your colleagues and supervisors stay informed without having to navigate through individual OKRs. Here is how:
Go to the Objective page and click the Update button. This will open the Objective update screen.
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 it exists, appears underneath.
Write a short description of the progress done and add any information that might be relevant to others.
Confirm with 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 starting 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 allows you to review the work done, look at the progress, and ultimately grade the objectives. By grading the objectives, you determine whether the goal has been achieved and, if not, how close you were to reaching it.
Navigate to the objective’s page.
Locate the three-dot menu (top right) and select Close. Close the objective screen will open.
Select the final update of the objective. You can choose from 5 statuses available when closing an OKR: Success, Incomplete, Failed, Cancelled, Rescheduled.
The chosen status will be also 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.