Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
14 July 2025
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Introduction
Agile, project management, and tech teams thrive on clarity and momentum. Two powerful tools—Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—help teams set ambitious goals and track progress. This article explains OKRs and KPIs with practical examples tailored for Agile, project management, and tech teams. It shows how to align daily work with big-picture success.
OKRs
OKRs are a goal-setting framework that inspires teams to aim high and measure progress with precision. Think of OKRs as a "growth engine"—pushing teams beyond daily routines to achieve bold, transformative goals.
OKR Characteristics:
OKR Structure:
OKR Example for Agile:
Scenario: A mobile app development team struggles with slow delivery cycles, frustrating users.
Objective: Accelerate product delivery to delight users with faster updates.
KR1: Improve the percentage of sprint goals successfully delivered from X% to Y% by Q3’s end.
KR2: Cut average user story cycle time from 12 days to 9 days.
KR3: Achieve 95% automated regression testing coverage for critical features (up from 70%).
OKR Example for Project Management:
Objective: Enhance stakeholder engagement.
KR1: Increase stakeholder satisfaction score from 65% to 85% by quarter-end.
KR2: Conduct at least four stakeholder workshops this quarter (up from one last quarter).
KR3: Achieve 80% or higher engagement rates on monthly progress updates, measured via open and response rates.
OKR Example for Technology:
Objective: Improve platform reliability for enterprise users.
KR1: Reduce average incident response time from 45 minutes to under 30 minutes this quarter.
KR2: Achieve 99.99% uptime in Q3, up from 99.9% in Q2.
KR3: Complete 100% of scheduled resiliency drills, increasing from 80% completion last quarter.
KPIs
KPIs are metrics that monitor ongoing performance, offering a real-time pulse on team operations. Think of KPIs as a "health check"—ensuring systems, teams, and projects run smoothly and efficiently.
KPI Characteristics:
KPI Example for Agile:
Defect Density: Target fewer than two defects per 100 story points.
KPI Example for Project Management:
Budget variance, schedule adherence. Our actual project schedule measures hit within 1% of the planned dates.
KPI Example for Technology:
API uptime targets 99.99% availability each month.
Using Both OKRs and KPIs
High-performing teams often combine both for maximum impact.
Example:
A tech team uses KPIs to maintain 99.99% server uptime while setting an OKR to reduce incident response time by 25%.
🚗 Analogy:
KPIs are the dashboard—speed, fuel, and engine health. OKRs are the GPS—destination and progress toward goals.
Pro Tips for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Leaders
Conclusion
OKRs and KPIs are a dynamic duo for high-performing teams. KPIs keep operations humming, while OKRs propel teams toward bold, transformative goals. By balancing the two, Agile, project management, and tech teams are positioned to achieve operational excellence and groundbreaking innovation.
In Short:
Next Steps:
The "KPIs and OKRs Side-by-Side" visual below provides an overview of the tools.
Read on to learn more.
More
Continue reading for:
About KPIs
No single individual is credited with creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Instead, KPIs evolved over time as part of broader management practices. Here’s highlights of the history:
About OKRs
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) were created by Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel. Here’s highlights of the history:
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.
Experience
Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.
Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.
He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.
Award-Winning Author
Graffius has authored three books.
International Public Speaker
Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.
With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.
The speaker engagement request form is here.
Thought Leadership and Influence
Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:
Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:
Additional details are here.
He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.
Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.
The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.
Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.
Education and Professional Certifications
Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:
He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management
Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.
Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email
Introduction
Agile, project management, and tech teams thrive on clarity and momentum. Two powerful tools—Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—help teams set ambitious goals and track progress. This article explains OKRs and KPIs with practical examples tailored for Agile, project management, and tech teams. It shows how to align daily work with big-picture success.
OKRs
OKRs are a goal-setting framework that inspires teams to aim high and measure progress with precision. Think of OKRs as a "growth engine"—pushing teams beyond daily routines to achieve bold, transformative goals.
OKR Characteristics:
- Purpose: Set ambitious goals and track measurable progress.
- Timeframe: Fixed cycles, typically quarterly.
- Focus: Innovation, improvement, and strategic wins.
OKR Structure:
- Objective: A concise, inspiring goal that rallies the team.
- Key Results: 2–5 measurable outcomes that track progress and ensure accountability.
OKR Example for Agile:
Scenario: A mobile app development team struggles with slow delivery cycles, frustrating users.
Objective: Accelerate product delivery to delight users with faster updates.
KR1: Improve the percentage of sprint goals successfully delivered from X% to Y% by Q3’s end.
KR2: Cut average user story cycle time from 12 days to 9 days.
KR3: Achieve 95% automated regression testing coverage for critical features (up from 70%).
OKR Example for Project Management:
Objective: Enhance stakeholder engagement.
KR1: Increase stakeholder satisfaction score from 65% to 85% by quarter-end.
KR2: Conduct at least four stakeholder workshops this quarter (up from one last quarter).
KR3: Achieve 80% or higher engagement rates on monthly progress updates, measured via open and response rates.
OKR Example for Technology:
Objective: Improve platform reliability for enterprise users.
KR1: Reduce average incident response time from 45 minutes to under 30 minutes this quarter.
KR2: Achieve 99.99% uptime in Q3, up from 99.9% in Q2.
KR3: Complete 100% of scheduled resiliency drills, increasing from 80% completion last quarter.
KPIs
KPIs are metrics that monitor ongoing performance, offering a real-time pulse on team operations. Think of KPIs as a "health check"—ensuring systems, teams, and projects run smoothly and efficiently.
KPI Characteristics:
- Purpose: Measure and maintain operational excellence.
- Timeframe: Continuous tracking (daily, weekly, or monthly).
- Focus: Stability and consistency in day-to-day work.
KPI Example for Agile:
Defect Density: Target fewer than two defects per 100 story points.
KPI Example for Project Management:
Budget variance, schedule adherence. Our actual project schedule measures hit within 1% of the planned dates.
KPI Example for Technology:
API uptime targets 99.99% availability each month.
Using Both OKRs and KPIs
High-performing teams often combine both for maximum impact.
- KPIs support smooth operations, like a car’s dashboard tracking speed, fuel, and engine health.
- OKRs guide teams to ambitious destinations, like a GPS charting the path to the next milestone.
Example:
A tech team uses KPIs to maintain 99.99% server uptime while setting an OKR to reduce incident response time by 25%.
🚗 Analogy:
KPIs are the dashboard—speed, fuel, and engine health. OKRs are the GPS—destination and progress toward goals.
Pro Tips for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Leaders
- Balance Both: Strong KPIs ensure operational stability, while bold OKRs drive breakthroughs.
- Align with Strategy: Tie OKRs to organizational vision and KPIs to daily priorities to avoid conflicts.
- Review Regularly: Monitor KPIs weekly to catch issues early; review OKRs quarterly to assess progress. Adapt as needed.
- Keep It Simple: Limit OKRs to 1–2 per team per quarter and focus on 3–5 key KPIs.
- Celebrate Wins: Recognize achievements—big (hitting an OKR) or small (maintaining a KPI) or anything in between—to boost team morale.
- Avoid Pitfalls: Ensure both OKRs and KPIs are meaningful.
Conclusion
OKRs and KPIs are a dynamic duo for high-performing teams. KPIs keep operations humming, while OKRs propel teams toward bold, transformative goals. By balancing the two, Agile, project management, and tech teams are positioned to achieve operational excellence and groundbreaking innovation.
In Short:
- KPIs = Tracking progress
- OKRs = Setting direction
Next Steps:
- Identify KPIs: Pinpoint 3–5 metrics that reflect operational health (e.g., uptime).
- Set an OKR: Craft one ambitious Objective with 2–3 measurable Key Results for the next quarter.
- Review and Iterate: Schedule weekly KPI check-ins and quarterly OKR reviews to monitor results and adapt as needed.
The "KPIs and OKRs Side-by-Side" visual below provides an overview of the tools.
Read on to learn more.
More
Continue reading for:
- About KPIs,
- About OKRs,
- About Scott M. Graffius,
- How to Cite This Article,
- and more.
About KPIs
No single individual is credited with creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Instead, KPIs evolved over time as part of broader management practices. Here’s highlights of the history:
- Early 20th Century: The roots of KPIs trace back to Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Scientific Management movement (1911), which introduced the idea of measuring worker output to improve productivity.
- 1950s: Peter Drucker, often called the “father of modern management,” popularized the importance of measuring performance with the famous (attributed) phrase: “What gets measured gets managed.” While Drucker didn’t invent KPIs, his work laid the conceptual groundwork.
- 1980s-1990s: The term “Key Performance Indicators” gained traction alongside the rise of Balanced Scorecards (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) and other strategic management frameworks.
About OKRs
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) were created by Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel. Here’s highlights of the history:
- Grove introduced the concept internally at Intel as early as 1975.
- Grove covered it in his 1983 book, “High Output Management,” though he didn’t use the exact term “OKRs.” He called it the “iMBO” (Intel Management by Objectives); it was an evolution of Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives (MBO) concept.
- John Doerr, a former Intel employee, popularized OKRs when he introduced them to Google in 1999. Doerr formally labeled the system OKRs, and Google’s early adoption helped make the framework famous.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.
Experience
Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.
Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.
He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.
Award-Winning Author
Graffius has authored three books.
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
- Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.
International Public Speaker
Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.
With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.
The speaker engagement request form is here.
Thought Leadership and Influence
Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Bayer,
- BMC Software,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
- Computer Weekly,
- Constructor University - Germany,
- Data Governance Success,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- Dropbox,
- EU's European Commission,
- Ford Motor Company,
- Gartner,
- GoDaddy,
- Harvard Medical School,
- Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
- IEEE,
- Innovation Project Management,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- Journal of Neurosurgery,
- Lam Research (Semiconductors),
- Leadership Worthy,
- Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
- London South Bank University,
- Microsoft,
- NASSCOM,
- National Academy of Sciences,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- Pinterest Inc.,
- Project Management Institute,
- Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
- SANS Institute,
- SBG Neumark - Germany,
- Singapore Institute of Technology,
- Torrens University - Australia,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Tufts University,
- UC San Diego,
- UK Sports Institute,
- University of Galway - Ireland,
- US Department of Energy,
- US National Park Service,
- US Soccer,
- US Tennis Association,
- Verizon,
- Wrike,
- Yale University,
- and many others.
Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:
- Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
- The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
- The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.
Additional details are here.
He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.
Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.
The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.
Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.
Education and Professional Certifications
Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:
- Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
- Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
- Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
- Project Management Professional (PMP),
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
- IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).
He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management
Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.
Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email
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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 14). Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams.html. 
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
DOI: (coming soon)
Content Acknowledgements
All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners. 
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Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
Copyright
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