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Create Strategic theme and sub-theme
What is a Strategic theme?
A Strategic theme (ST) is a big, long-term goal that guides an organization for several years. Think of it as a multi-year mission.
Unlike a regular Objective, which usually aims to be completed within a year, a Strategic theme serves as an umbrella for a collection of Objectives and their Key Results (OKRs).
Strategic themes are global, meaning that any user permitted to use the OKR module can link OKRs relevant to their box to an existing Strategic theme.
This ensures that everyone can see and contribute to the company's overarching, long-term vision, even if their day-to-day goals are shorter-term. This shared visibility helps align efforts across different teams.
A Strategic theme is a top-level parent, which means you cannot create a top-level parent Objective directly under it.
A Strategic theme is a top-level parent, which means you cannot create an Objective or Key Result above it.
The typical hierarchy looks as follows:
Strategic theme > Objective > Key Result
Note that it is possible to create a nested hierarchy with multiple levels of sub-themes and sub-objectives. If needed, you can also add a Key Result directly under a Strategic theme.
Strategic theme attributes
A Strategic theme has the following attributes (the attributes marked with an asterisk* are mandatory to provide during the Strategic theme creation process):
Name* - Give a descriptive name for the goal you want to achieve.
Description - Provide a brief Strategic theme description for your stakeholders.
Progress tracking - Select Child OKRs to enable automatic progress updates, or Manual to update progress manually.
Period* (Expected start and Expected end) - Select one of the pre-defined periods from the dropdown or create a custom one. Once you select the period, the start/end dates are automatically filled in.
Type - Strategic theme is an OKR type of its own. The ST type cannot be changed on the ST creation screen; you cannot edit, hide, or delete it.
Owner* - The Objective Owner field is automatically filled with the name of the person who creates a Strategic theme, but you can edit it.
Collaborators - Add other people who are involved in achieving the Strategic theme.
Teams - Add team(s) associated with the Strategic theme.
Labels - Add label(s) to find the Strategic theme faster.
Sub-theme attributes
Sub-themes have the same attributes as Strategic themes, with an added focus on contribution:
Contribution - Define a contribution % that reflects how much a given sub-theme contributes to its parent Strategic theme's progress upon full completion. By default, all OKRs under the same Strategic theme share the contribution equally, but you can edit their individual values.
Strategic theme attributes on the Strategic theme creation screen | Sub-theme attributes on the sub-theme creation screen |
|---|---|
 | |
Create a Strategic theme
If you have the Settings > Allow restricting OKRs option enabled, you can restrict OKR during the creation process (or later).
You can create a Strategic theme for your initiative (project, program, or portfolio) directly on the:
OKR Overview page
OKR Hierarchy page
Progress Dashboard page
From the top-right corner, click the Create button and select Strategic theme.
On the new Strategic theme screen, fill in the Strategic theme details (attributes).
Click the Create button to complete the process.
Create a sub-theme
If you want to break your Strategic theme into smaller themes, you can create a sub-item for it on the:
OKR Overview page (OKR context menu and OKR details side panel)
Tree view page
OKR Overview
Context menu
Find the Strategic theme for which you want to create a sub-theme.
Click More actions (…) next to the Strategic theme and select Add sub-strategic theme from the context menu.
On the new sub-theme screen, fill in the sub-theme details (attributes).
Click the Create button to complete the process.
OKR Details side panel
Make sure the OKR Details panel is enabled in the OKR Overview settings > Details panel settings (Personal).
Select the Strategic theme for which you want to create a sub-theme.
Click More actions (…) and select Add sub-strategic theme from the dropdown.
On the new Strategic theme screen, fill in the Strategic theme details (attributes).
Click the Create button to complete the process.
Tree view
On the Strategic theme, click the plus (+) button.
Select Add sub-strategic theme from the dropdown.
On the new Strategic theme screen, fill in the Strategic theme details (attributes).
Click the Create button to complete the process.
OKR Details page
On the Strategic theme details page, scroll down to the Alignment section.
Under the Alignment, click the +Add button and select Sub-strategic theme.
On the new Strategic theme screen, fill in the Strategic theme details (attributes).
Click the Create button to complete the process.