End-of-Year Planning: The OKR Framework to track wins!

You’ve done the SWOT. You’ve done Start-Stop-Continue. Now what?
Now you define what “winning” actually looks like.
Most planning dies in the execution gap. Teams know what to focus on, but never define success. It’s unclear whether they “did well” or not.
OKRs fix that.

What Are OKRs?

Objectives and Key Results = A goal-setting framework used by Google, Intel, LinkedIn, and thousands of companies.

Simple structure:

Objective: What you want to achieve (ambitious, qualitative)
Key Results: How you’ll measure it (specific, quantitative)

Formula: Set 3-5 Objectives. Each gets 3-5 Key Results.

Cadence: Quarterly cycles with weekly check-ins.

Why it works: Forces you to define success in numbers, not feelings.

How OKRs Connect to Your Planning

You’ve built the foundation. Now layer on measurement:

SWOT Analysis → Reveals what’s true about your business
Start-Stop-Continue → Decides where to focus resources
OKRs → Defines what success looks like and tracks progress

Example flow:

SWOT says: “Competitors are automating faster (threat) and we have manual processes eating 20% of capacity (weakness)”

Start-Stop-Continue says: “STOP manual data entry, START automation project”

OKR defines success:

Objective: Eliminate manual data entry bottlenecks
Key Results:
- Reduce data entry time from 867 hours/month to 200 hours/month
- Increase orders processed per employee from 80 to 120/month
- Deploy automation to 100% of order types by March 31

Now everyone knows exactly what “success” means.

The OKR Structure

Objectives: The “What”

Ambitious, inspirational, qualitative.

Good objectives answer: “If we achieve this, will it meaningfully change our business?”

Examples:

Scale revenue without scaling headcount
Eliminate operational bottlenecks
Transform client experience through speed
Build a remote-first operation
Become the fastest provider in our market

Bad objectives:

“Improve efficiency” (too vague)
“Maintain current performance” (not ambitious)
“Update our website” (that’s a task, not an objective)

Key Results: The “How You’ll Know”

Specific, measurable, time-bound.

Good key results answer: “If we hit these numbers, did we achieve the objective?”

Examples:

Objective: Scale revenue without scaling headcount

Key Results:

Increase revenue per employee from $125K to $165K
Grow revenue from $2.1M to $2.8M (33% growth)
Hold headcount at 18 employees (zero new hires)
Improve net margin from 19% to 25%

Objective: Eliminate operational bottlenecks

Key Results:

Reduce “where’s my order” inquiries from 45/week to 5/week
Cut average order processing time from 3.2 days to 1.8 days
Decrease manual touchpoints per order from 12 to 4
Free 400 hours/month of team capacity

Your 30-Minute OKR Exercise

Grab your SWOT results and Start-Stop-Continue list.

Step 1: Pick Your Top 3-5 Priorities (10 minutes)

From your Start-Stop-Continue list, what are the highest-impact changes?

Ask: “If we only achieved 3 things this quarter, what would move the needle most?”

Write these as Objectives (qualitative, ambitious).

Step 2: Define Success Metrics (15 minutes)

For each Objective, ask: “How will we know we succeeded?”

Write 3-5 Key Results (quantitative, specific).

Framework:

Start with a verb: Increase, Reduce, Achieve, Launch, Complete
Include current state → target state
Add a deadline

Example Key Result:

❌ “Improve turnaround time” (too vague)
✅ “Reduce turnaround time from 3.2 days to 1.8 days by March 31” (precise)

Step 3: Reality Check (5 minutes)

Ask yourself:

Are these ambitious? (If you’ll definitely hit 100%, they’re not ambitious enough)
Are they measurable? (Can you track progress weekly?)
Do they connect to SWOT insights? (Are you leveraging strengths, addressing weaknesses?)
Did you Stop something to make room? (Remember: capacity doesn’t appear magically)

Target: 70% achievement = success. If you hit 100% every time, you’re not ambitious enough.

Example OKR Set for Document Services

Q1 2026 OKRs:

Objective 1: Eliminate manual process bottlenecks
Key Results:

Reduce manual data entry from 867 hrs/month to 300 hrs/month
Cut order processing time from 3.2 days to 2.0 days
Increase orders per employee from 85 to 115/month

Objective 2: Scale capacity without headcount growth
Key Results:

Grow revenue from $2.1M to $2.6M (24% growth)
Maintain team at 18 employees (0 new hires)
Improve revenue per employee from $117K to $144K

Objective 3: Transform client experience through speed
Key Results:

Answer “where’s my order” in under 30 seconds (currently 8 minutes)
Reduce client inquiry volume from 45/week to 15/week
Achieve 95% on-time delivery (currently 78%)

The Weekly OKR Rhythm

OKRs aren’t “set and forget.” They’re living metrics.

Monday morning (15 minutes):

Review last week’s progress on Key Results
Update numbers (what changed?)
Identify blockers
Assign actions for the week

Monthly (30 minutes):

Deeper review of all OKRs
Adjust if needed (market changed, priorities shifted)
Celebrate wins, analyze misses

End of quarter:

Score each Key Result (0-100%)
Run retrospective: What worked? What didn’t?
Feed insights into next quarter’s Start-Stop-Continue

Common OKR Mistakes

Mistake #1: Too Many OKRs 3-5 Objectives with 3-5 Key Results each = MAX.

More than that? You’re not prioritizing, you’re listing.

Mistake #2: Making Them Too Easy If you hit 100% consistently, you’re sandbagging. Stretch goals are supposed to stretch.

Mistake #3: No Weekly Tracking OKRs without tracking = goals you forget about. Check in weekly or don’t bother.

Mistake #4: Confusing Tasks with Objectives “Launch new website” = Task “Transform client experience through digital-first engagement” = Objective

Connecting the Trilogy

Here’s how the three frameworks work together:

December: Annual Planning

SWOT Analysis (15 min) → What’s true about our business?
Start-Stop-Continue (30 min) → What should we change?
Set Annual OKRs (30 min) → What does success look like?

Quarterly: Review & Adjust

Review last quarter’s OKRs → Did we hit our targets?
Mini-SWOT (10 min) → What changed in our market?
Update Start-Stop-Continue (15 min) → What should we adjust?
Set Q2 OKRs (20 min) → What’s our focus next 90 days?

Weekly: Execution

Track OKR progress (15 min)
Remove blockers
Stay focused

The Bottom Line

SWOT = Clarity on reality
Start-Stop-Continue = Decisions on focus
OKRs = Accountability on results

Most companies do planning theater. They set vague goals, measure nothing, and wonder why nothing changes.

Smart companies define success in numbers. Then they track those numbers. Weekly.

That’s the difference between “we’re working on efficiency” and “we freed 567 hours this month.”

One is a platitude. The other is progress.

Your Turn

You’ve done SWOT. You’ve done Start-Stop-Continue.

Now spend 30 minutes setting OKRs.

Then track them. Every week. For 90 days.

By March 31, you’ll know if you’re winning. And if you’re not, you’ll know exactly why.

That’s the power of measurement.

The Complete Planning Trio

Post 1: Start-Stop-Continue Framework – Resource allocation
Post 2: SWOT Analysis – Situational assessment
Post 3: This post – Goal setting & measurement

Use all three. Build a plan grounded in reality, focused on priorities, and measured by results.

Enter 2026 ready to execute, not just plan.

Keywords: OKR framework, objectives key results, goal setting, strategic execution, performance measurement, quarterly planning, business metrics, operational goals, strategic planning framework, measurable goals, business accountability

Source: OKRs developed by Andy Grove at Intel (1970s), popularized by John Doerr at Google (Measure What Matters, 2018)

Ready to stabilize and scale?
Contact us at 👉 www.realdocs.us/contact

What Are OKRs?

How OKRs Connect to Your Planning