Quarterly OKR Planning Doc

OKRs set in isolation drift from the company's actual priorities. This planning doc fixes that by starting where good planning starts: scoring the quarter that just ended, restating the company priorities the team must support, and only then drafting. Use it live in the planning session so the retrospective, the debate, and the final commitments all live in one place anyone can trace later.

QUARTERLY OKR PLANNING — TEAM: ________  QUARTER: Q_ ____

1. LAST QUARTER REVIEW
   OKR 1 final score: ___ /1.0   What we learned: __________
   OKR 2 final score: ___ /1.0   What we learned: __________
   Carry over? (yes/no, why): __________

2. CONTEXT FOR THIS QUARTER
   Company priorities this team must support:
     - __________
     - __________
   Known constraints (capacity, dependencies, risks):
     - __________

3. DRAFT OBJECTIVES (brainstorm, then cut)
   Candidate Objectives: __________________________
   Cut to the 2-3 that matter most: __________________________

4. FINAL OKRs
   Objective A: __________   Owner: ______
     KR: ______  baseline ___ -> target ___
     KR: ______  baseline ___ -> target ___
   Objective B: __________   Owner: ______
     KR: ______  baseline ___ -> target ___

5. ALIGNMENT CHECK
   Each Objective links up to which company priority? __________
   Any Key Result with no work behind it yet? __________

How to use this template

1. Start with last quarter's scores. Planning without a retrospective repeats the same mistakes at a higher confidence.
2. Write the company priorities this team supports before drafting, so the OKRs are aligned by construction, not by hope.
3. Brainstorm broadly, then cut hard to two or three Objectives. The cut is the planning, not the brainstorm.
4. End on the alignment check: every Objective links up to a priority, and every Key Result has work behind it.

Frequently asked questions

How long should OKR planning take?

For a single team, a focused 90-minute session using a doc like this is usually enough once last quarter is scored beforehand. Company-level planning that others cascade from needs longer.

Should OKRs be top-down or bottom-up?

Both. Leadership sets the company priorities; teams draft their own OKRs that support them and negotiate back any that are unrealistic. That negotiation is what creates real ownership.