The best Objectives and Key Results (OKR) software makes it simple and easy for you to manage productivity goals within your organization.
OKR is a framework for setting and achieving goals within an organization. The concept was coined by the late Andrew Grove while he served as the CEO of chipmaker Intel.
OKRs enable teams to set project goals and work together to achieve them. The team leader can track the progress and foster collaboration (opens in new tab) as their project progresses. You can implement this framework using a simple pen and paper or a software platform, although the latter is preferable.
We researched extensively to identify the best OKR software available so that you won’t have a problem choosing a good one. To select the best ones, we consider important factors including pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, etc.
We’ve rated the best project management software.
The best OKR software of 2023 in full:
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Asana is a very popular project management tool used globally. It markets itself as a “work management” platform, which rings very true. This platform makes it easy to set and track goals for organizational projects.
You can create multiple goals on Asana at the simple click of a button. Your goals will be visible to work colleagues, either team-wide or company-wide depending on what you permit. When creating a goal, you can select a preferred “update method”, and the progress will be automatically tracked as the team members complete their assigned tasks.
Note that Asana’s Goals feature is only available to companies that subscribe to its Business plan, which starts at $25 per user per month, quite expensive. However, an alternative is to assign each goal as a task and tell the task assignee to provide regular updates for you to keep track of the progress.
The free version of Asana lets you create unlimited tasks and work on unlimited projects, which is very good. The premium plan unlocks access to more features such as custom fields, rules, and advanced analytics.
Asana offers a 30-day free trial period to test its features. You can cancel your subscription within this period without any charges. When it’s time for payment, you can do it easily with your credit or debit card.
Read our full Asana review.
Peoplebox is a specialized platform for OKRs & organizational performance reviews. It lets you easily create and track company goals as they come to fruition. You’ll find pre-built OKR templates, so you don’t have to stress building yours from scratch. You can provide context for each goal to help every employee know what is driving the goal and motivate them to work towards it.
Peoplebox is primarily web-based, so your team can track their goals from any location and get a unified view of their progress. As a team leader, you can create a customizable dashboard to track the progress of a project. A noticeable drawback is that Peoplebox has no mobile app, so users can only access it from their web browser, which might not be as convenient as using a mobile app.
Peoplebox has integrations with many business software tools, eg, Slack and Microsoft Teams for communication and Salesforce for customer relationship management. You can even find integrations with other OKR tools such as Asana and Jira.
A Peoplebox subscription starts at $7 per user per month, which is pretty affordable compared to many rival platforms.
Lattice is a popular performance management platform for enterprises. It enables HR professionals and team leaders to manage employee productivity and progress.
OKR management is one of Lattice’s core features. The platform gives you a speedy, seamless way to set organizational OKRs and track them from a single dashboard. You can insert OKRs into status updates, employee performance check-ins, one-on-one meetings, etc. Project managers and team leaders can track the goals seamlessly and identify whether to take action or not. Similarly, employees can keep tabs on the progress of the whole organization with ease.
You can integrate Lattice with many other work apps, eg, Salesforce and Slack, to ensure that your OKRs are up to date. If you’re new to using OKRs, Lattice offers in-depth guides on adopting them to drive effectiveness and efficiency within your organization; you can even find an entire e-book written on the concept.
Lattice starts at $11 per person per month, and this plan gives you access to everything the platform offers about goal tracking and OKR management. You can add advanced features such as employee engagement surveys and compensation cycles for between $4 and $6 per user per month. If you represent a large organization, you can negotiate a discounted package but must commit to at least $4,000 annually.
We didn’t find any information about a free trial on Lattice’s website, which puts the platform at a disadvantage compared to competitors like Asana which offers up to 30 days of a free trial.
Almost everyone is familiar with Microsoft, the creator of the Windows operating system. The company is also famous for Microsoft 365, a bundle of software tools that it offers enterprises on a subscription basis.
Viva Goals is a goal-setting and management tool that Microsoft offers to 365 subscribers. This software enables individuals and enterprises to track their goals via OKRs and keep tabs on them.
With this software, you can create, manage, align, and customize OKRs from a single dashboard. Different members of a team can use a shared dashboard to track the progress of the goals and gain advanced insights. The Viva Goals app is accessible on its own and also inside the Microsoft Teams collaboration software or Azure DevOps.
Security is paramount for every platform that an enterprise will use to track its projects; you definitely don’t want competitors or malicious actors snooping on your work. Microsoft’s Viva Goals encrypts data by default to prevent hackers from snooping in on them. Administrators can set up advanced account permissions or single sign-on for extra security.
Viva Goals is already included in a Microsoft 365 subscription. For people who aren’t subscribed to 365, it costs between $6 and $9 per user per month. The more expensive plan includes access to Viva Leaning to integrate learning content into your company’s project management platform; Viva Insights for advanced project analytics; and Viva Topics for easy knowledge sharing within an organization.
Trello is arguably the most popular project management tool worldwide, with nearly 5 million users. The platform makes it easy for organizations to create and collaborate on projects, even if they have staff spread across the globe.
Trello was not built specifically for OKRs but still doubles as a good OKR planning tool. You’re free to create goals and assign them to different team members. Once each team member completes their assigned part, they can indicate it by marking the checklist. This will help you, the administrator, keep track of the goals and the role of each member is playing to achieve them.
Another alternative is to use something called a Trello “Power-Up”, basically a third-party integration. You can connect Trello to a third-party tool that enables you to add OKR cards and manage them within the app. OKRStudio is an example of such a power-up. It enables you to create and assign OKRs within Trello and display OKR badges on Trello cards. However, you’ll have to pay an extra $5.99 per user per month, and other similar third-party integrations cost money.
Trello is a very intuitive tool to use, with an interface that’s easy to navigate. You can access it via the web platform or by downloading the app on your iOS or Android device.
Read our full Trello review.
We’ve also listed the best free project management software.
Advantages of OKRs
Accountability & Ownership: In this project management method, everyone is assigned their unique objectives and the results they must achieve. Hence, there’s clear accountability on who is responsible for what, and the team members take ownership of their assigned tasks. If there’s any issue, it’s easy to point out the source and suggest remedies.
Focus: When everyone is assigned their distinct objectives, it makes them focus better on achieving that objective and putting in their best possible.
Organizational transparency: The OKR model gives every team member a clear insight into every other colleague’s responsibilities to achieve a project. There’ll be no blaming and finger-pointing when everyone can clearly see who is responsible for what or not.
Alignments: OKRs ensure that an entire team or organization is aligned on a broader goal. Figuratively, each member contributes their brick to build the house.
The OKR model gives the team leader(s) clear insights into the progress of their project and makes it easy to give valuable feedback to members.
