← Back to Help Center

How to prepare your organization

OKRs work best when the whole organization understands why you're using them and how they connect to daily work. A little preparation before rollout saves a lot of confusion later.

Get leadership aligned first

Before involving the wider organization, make sure leadership agrees on 2-3 company objectives for the upcoming cycle. If leadership isn't aligned, that misalignment spreads down into every team's goals.

Choose your hierarchy levels

Decide which levels you'll track: Company, Team, and Individual are the most common. You can configure these under Settings → OKR Configuration. Smaller organizations often start with just Company and Team level goals, then add Individual objectives once the habit sticks.

Pick a cycle length and check-in cadence

Quarterly cycles are the most common starting point. Decide up front whether check-ins happen weekly or bi-weekly, and turn on Settings → Check-in reminders so key result owners don't forget.

Communicate the "why"

Before asking people to write objectives, explain in plain terms what OKRs are for: focus on what matters most, not tracking every task. Teams that understand the purpose write far better objectives than teams that treat it as a compliance exercise.

Next step

Once your organization is ready, move on to writing good objectives.