OKR Review Meeting Agenda Template

OKR review is the heart of the OKR cycle in that it serves as the link between OKR planning and goal achievement. It facilitates the success of a project by keeping all participants motivated, actively involved, and accountable for the outcome. 

The OKR project team often hold an OKR review meeting to analyze performance with respect to each objective and key result. It also serves as the ideal platform to conclude learnings, identify bottlenecks, and deliberate on new strategies. 

If executed well, the OKR review meeting completes the project with positive insights and helps the team perform better in the future. To ensure your meeting successful, we have prepared the ideal meeting template that covers the necessary topics as well some useful meeting tips. 

OKR Review Meeting Factsheet

The meeting should comprise all stakeholders in the OKR project, including

• the team leader

• all team members

• the OKR coach, if there is one

The usual practice is to have an OKR review meeting at the end of each OKR cycle to analyze the performance against goals. The session typically lasts 40-80 minutes, depending on the team size and their OKR experience.

Aside from a comprehensive review, the team should also conduct OKR check-ins on a regular basis to monitor progress.

OKR Review Meeting Template Walkthrough

Goal performance

To start with, welcome the participants, and remind everyone of the goals of the meeting.

Then evaluate the status of each objective and see if we have achieved our goals. You can use the popular “signal light” indicators:

• Red light: far from reaching the goal

• Yellow light: nearly finish the project

• Green light: we have reached the goal perfectly

To gauge the progress made, discuss the expected result at the beginning compared to the current state of affairs. 

More importantly, make sure you kick off positively while being objective, as this will set the tone for the whole meeting.

Learnings 

Now that you have successfully walked through the list of objectives and generated some key insights, it's important to share them with the team. Keep in mind that any insight you gain can be of benefit to other team members, being that it accelerates your individual and collective growth.

• What new attempt did you make that facilitated a key result? 

• Did you draw the conclusion that something needed to be done differently?

• Were you certain that a different approach would not be detrimental?

The questions stated above should merely be used as a source of inspiration. Feel free to modify or come up with your own.

Blockers

In the course of reviewing the list of objectives, pinpoint any impediments to your progress, but what's more important is deciding how you're going to deal with them. 

Here are a few questions you might ask in order to address the problems and come up with suitable answers.

• What’s the biggest roadblock that hinders us from achieving the objectives?

• Do we need additional resources and tools to achieve the goals?

• Was there enough time to achieve the desired results?

OKR modifications 

A key part of OKR management is adjusting it as needed. Following the analysis of the OKRs, the team may have second thoughts and feel that objectives may be unrealistic, considering the current status. 

Rather than making them less challenging and ambitious, focus on re-strategizing and ensuring that your employee and team’s OKRs keep aligning with your vision.  

Next steps

Following proper OKR analysis and evaluation, the team can then streamline its focus on objectives in order to advance and prioritize in the next cycle.

You may conclude that certain key results will not progress for reasons beyond your control and that it would be preferable to wait until the following quarter while putting more effort into off-track, delayed, and on-track key results.

How to Run a Successful OKR Review Meeting

Below are tips to establish an effective OKR Review meeting structure.

1. Decide on the structure that works best for you

To begin with, you need to decide on a meeting frequency depending on your company's needs. OKR review sessions should span 40 to 80 minutes so as to give you enough time to ponder over your progress.   

Meeting scheduling and timekeeping may seem challenging at first, but as you get acclimated to the routine, make sure to stick with it. The progress review sessions should be brief and to the point, with independent, in-depth research on any particularly significant outcomes.

2. Have an all-inclusive session

Keep the review session open to all participants who contributed directly or indirectly to the objectives, as they serve as a great incentive for teamwork and participation as well as achieving your goals.

The motive behind review sessions is to remind everyone that their input matters and that it helps the company grow overall.

3. Prepare a comprehensive meeting agenda

A simple yet precise OKR review agenda must be maintained at all times to create a routine and develop the correct mindset to keep your employees relaxed when meetings take an unusual turn. 

For your OKR check-ins, you can use the following industry-leading template and modify it as necessary:

• OKR status

• Learnings

• Blockers

• Initiatives

Note: It is also recommended to share the agenda in advance to get input from all team members.

4. Teamwork is key

All hands should be on deck. Every participant should obtain the necessary facts and figures about the progress and setbacks of their respective OKRs. Be sure to identify the significant insights you would like to obtain from other team members to make everyone’s time worthwhile and ensure a quick check-in. 

Keep in mind that keeping an up-to-date record of the team’s progress is vital to keeping your team on track. 

5. Make note-taking a habit

Note-taking is the most effective technique for keeping records at meetings. It allows you to take down important points and keep track of action items that must be accomplished. 

You should always draw a conclusion at the end of your review session and deliberate on how you intend to share and preserve the insights that have just emerged.

Make the process worthwhile

Coming up with OKRs is the first step towards productivity, and having successive rounds of productive OKR reviews is key to ensuring you achieve your projected results.

Following a productive cycle, an OKR review increases team morale and sparks motivation for the following cycle. Every check-in increases the team's awareness of how everyone is working toward the same or very similar higher-level objectives.