Introduction to OKRs

What Is an OKR?

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It’s a simple way of writing down a goal so that everyone — whether at the college level, the division level, or within a single department — can tell, in plain numbers, whether it’s actually being achieved.

Every OKR has two parts:

Objective — what we want to achieve. This is qualitative and inspirational: it should describe a meaningful change, not just a task on a to-do list.
Key Results — how we’ll know we achieved it. These are quantitative: specific numbers, percentages, or milestones with a deadline attached.

OKRs can be written at any level of the institution. West Valley College’s college-wide OKRs set the overall direction, and individual divisions, departments, and units can write their own OKRs that ladder up to and support those priorities — or address goals specific to their own area of work.

Regardless of level, it’s best practice to limit yourself to no more than three objectives at a time, each with three to five key results. Keeping the list short is a feature, not a limitation — it forces focus on what matters most instead of spreading effort thin across dozens of competing priorities.

Example OKR: Good vs. Poor

The table below shows the difference between a poorly written OKR and a well-written one, using a simple personal example: setting a goal to run a 5K.

Objective	Key Results	Notes
Run a 5K	Buy running shoes Go to the gym sometimes Sign up for a race	Poor example Objective is just a task, not a meaningful goal Key results are activities, not outcomes “Sometimes” can’t be measured
Transform from someone who dreads exercise into a runner who feels strong and accomplished	Complete a 5K race in under 32 minutes without stopping to walk Run consistently 3 times per week for 10 weeks leading up to the race Improve running endurance from 2 minutes continuous to 35+ minutes	Good example Paints a picture of real transformation Each key result has a specific number and deadline, so it’s obvious whether it happened

Objective

Key Results

Notes

Run a 5K

Buy running shoes
Go to the gym sometimes
Sign up for a race

Poor example

Objective is just a task, not a meaningful goal
Key results are activities, not outcomes
“Sometimes” can’t be measured

Transform from someone who dreads exercise into a runner who feels strong and accomplished

Complete a 5K race in under 32 minutes without stopping to walk
Run consistently 3 times per week for 10 weeks leading up to the race
Improve running endurance from 2 minutes continuous to 35+ minutes

Good example

Paints a picture of real transformation
Each key result has a specific number and deadline, so it’s obvious whether it happened

How to Write a Good OKR

Use this checklist when drafting your own:

Start with the transformation, not the task. Ask “what would be different if we succeeded?” rather than “what activities will we do?”
Make it inspiring enough to motivate people, but still realistic within the timeframe.
For each key result, attach a number and a date. If you can’t picture the specific evidence that would prove it happened, it’s not a real key result yet — it’s still an activity.
Avoid vague qualifiers like “sometimes,” “more,” or “better” without a baseline and target attached.
Limit yourself. Three to five key results per objective is plenty. If you need more, the objective is probably too broad.

OKRs vs. College Excellence Indicators (CEIs) — What’s the Difference?

West Valley College uses two related but distinct measurement tools, and it’s worth being clear on how they differ:

College Excellence Indicators (CEIs) are ongoing, standing measures of institutional health — things like Access, Completion, Transfer, Workforce, Equity, Sense of Belonging, Campus Climate, Partnership/Fundraising, and Leadership. CEIs are unlikely to expire or change over time. The specific way we calculate them may get refined as our data and methods improve, but it’s hard to imagine something like a three-year transfer rate ever not being part of how we measure our excellence. Think of them like a person’s vital signs — blood pressure, heart rate — that you’d want to track no matter what specific health goal you’re currently working toward.

OKRs are time-bound efforts to move the needle on something specific, right now. They exist because the college has identified a particular change it wants to drive in the current planning cycle (Fall 2025–Fall 2027), and once that period ends or the goal is achieved, the OKR is retired or replaced with a new one.

Put simply: CEIs measure how well we are doing, continuously. OKRs describe what we’re actively trying to change, for a defined period of time.

Because of this, every OKR is designed to move one or more CEIs — the current OKRs map to CEI domains such as Access, Teaching & Learning, Completion, Equity, Sense of Belonging, Transfer, Workforce, Campus Climate, Partnership/Fundraising, and Leadership. But not every CEI has an active OKR behind it at any given time — some indicators are being monitored simply to make sure they stay healthy, without an active push to change them right now. Click here to learn more about CEI.