How to Set or Update Quarterly OKRs that Actually Drive Growth

The fall season is the perfect time to revisit your business goals. After the summer slump, teams are ready to refocus, and the final stretch of the year demands clarity and accountability. That’s where quarterly OKRs come in. By setting fall goals that are ambitious and measurable, you give your business a clear roadmap to move the needle before year-end. Whether you’re fine-tuning existing objectives or creating new ones, updating quarterly OKRs now ensures your team stays focused, accountable, and growth-driven during one of the busiest seasons of the year.

OKRs vs. SMART Goals

While both OKRs and SMART goals are powerful tools for driving performance, they serve different purposes and operate on various levels of strategy.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)

OKRs are designed to set ambitious, organization-wide priorities. The “Objective” defines what you want to achieve (usually directional and inspirational) while the “Key Results” define how you’ll measure success with clear, quantifiable outcomes. OKRs encourage teams to stretch beyond their comfort zone and track progress with transparency. They’re best used when you need to inspire focus and alignment around growth, innovation, or transformation.

OKR Examples for Small Business

When it comes to quarterly OKRs, small businesses benefit most from goals that balance ambition with measurable progress. Here are a few examples tailored for common priorities:

1. Boost Local Brand Awareness

• Objective: Establish ourselves as the premier [industry] business in our local market by this fall.
• Key Results:
  • Increase Google Business Profile reviews from 45 to 75 with an average rating of 4.5+.
  • Grow Instagram followers by 20% and engagement rate by 10%.
  • Earn two local press mentions or community spotlights by the end of the quarter.
    

2. Drive Revenue Growth Through Customer Retention

• Objective: Strengthen customer loyalty to increase repeat business.
• Key Results:
  • Achieve a 15% increase in repeat customer purchases
  • Launch a customer referral program and secure 30 new leads from referrals.
  • Improve email campaign open rates from 18% to 25%.
    

3. Improve Operational Efficiency

• Objective: Streamline operations to save time and cut costs.
• Key Results:
  • Reduce average invoice processing time from 5 days to 2 days.
  • Automate 50% of customer appointment bookings through online scheduling.
  • Lower missed appointment rate from 12% to under 5%.
    

4. Expand Online Sales Channels

• Objective: Grow e-commerce revenue by reaching more customers online.
• Key Results:
  • Launch product listings on at least two new platforms (Amazon, Etsy, etc.).
  • Increase website conversion rate from 2% to 3.5%.
  • Generate $20,000 in new online sales by quarter’s end.
    

5. Enhance Team Productivity

• Objective: Build a more efficient, accountable team culture.
• Key Results:
  • Implement a project management tool and achieve 90% team adoption.
  • Complete weekly team check-ins with 100% attendance.
  • Reduce project delivery time by 15% compared to last quarter.

SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) 

SMART goals are slightly different because they focus on precision and practicality. They help individuals or small teams set well-defined, realistic targets that are attainable within a given timeframe. SMART goals are often task-oriented and detail-driven, making them ideal for project milestones, personal performance metrics, or incremental improvements.

SMART Goal Examples for Small Business

SMART goals help small businesses break down big ambitions into clear, achievable steps. These goals are narrower and more task-specific than OKRs, but when combined, they ensure everyday actions push the business toward its larger objectives.

1. Marketing

• Grow the business’s Instagram following by 500 new followers over the next 90 days by posting three Reels per week and engaging with 10 local accounts daily.
  

2. Sales

• Increase monthly revenue by 10% by closing at least 15 new customer accounts by the end of the quarter.
  

3. Customer Service

• Reduce the average reply time from 12 hours to 4 hours within the next 60 days by utilizing a shared inbox tool to improve customer response time.
  

4. Operations

• Reduce supply costs by 8% within three months through negotiations with three new vendors and the implementation of bulk-order discounts.

Action Plan for Business Growth

1. Prepare your data.

2. Draft the objectives.

3. Define 2-4 key results per objective.

4. Choose initiatives that will help you achieve key results.

5. Assign ownership.

6. Create a resource and risk plan.

7. Publish “OKR Cards.”

8. Kickoff and commit.

1. Prepare your data.

When setting up quarterly OKRs, start by gathering the correct data, including last quarter’s numbers, current company priorities, customer feedback, sales insights, and an honest look at headcount and capacity. From there, establish baselines by capturing the current metrics for each potential Key Result, such as conversion rates, NPS, monthly revenue, churn, or cycle time. Next, define a clear quarterly theme to keep the team anchored and aligned; for example, you might set a “Fall Focus: retention + operational efficiency” to guide trade-offs and decision-making. Finally, create guardrails by explicitly writing down what you will not take on this quarter. This prevents spreading yourself too thin, ensures focus, and makes it easier to hold teams accountable for the goals that matter most.

2. Draft the objectives.

For small teams, it’s best to set just one to three objectives to maintain clarity and focus. Each objective should be inspirational and outcome-oriented—something memorable and directional that rallies the team, without including specific numbers. A helpful litmus test is to ask: if all of the key results were achieved, would this objective clearly be true? If the answer is yes, then you’ve defined a strong and effective objective.

3. Define 2-4 key results per objective.

When writing key results, focus on outcomes rather than outputs. For example, “Increase repeat purchase rate to 28%” is far stronger than simply stating, “Launch a loyalty program.” To make your key results effective, SMART-ify them by including a baseline, a target, and a deadline. It’s also essential to balance the system by pairing a speed-related key result with one tied to quality or cost, which helps prevent negative trade-offs. Finally, set the right level of stretch by aiming for a 70-80% probability of success—ambitious enough to push your team, but not so unrealistic that it feels unattainable. For instance, an objective might be to “Become the go-to [industry] brand in our city this fall,” with key results such as raising a Google rating from 4.2 to 4.6 through 30 new five-star reviews by December 31, increasing website lead conversion from 2.4% to 3.2% by the end of the quarter, and earning two local media mentions plus one community partnership by mid-December.

4. Choose initiatives that will help you achieve key results.

Once your objectives and key results are in place, brainstorm the projects that could drive those outcomes. To prioritize effectively, score each idea using an impact vs. effort matrix, then cut ruthlessly to ensure only the highest-value initiatives move forward. Every initiative should directly trace back to a single key result. This keeps your team focused, aligned, and working on the efforts that truly move the needle.

5. Assign ownership.

Assign clear ownership by designating one Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) for each objective and each key result. This ensures accountability and eliminates confusion about who is driving progress. Alongside every key result, document the specific data source and the cadence for updates. For example, tracking metrics in Google Analytics every week or pulling data from the CRM daily. By pairing ownership with consistent, transparent reporting, teams can stay aligned and spot issues before they become roadblocks.

6. Create a resource and risk plan.

Be sure to allocate the right resources (budget, tools, and people) so your team has what it needs to succeed. As you plan, identify any key dependencies that could impact progress and outline a clear blocker escalation path. Specify who should be notified when issues arise, how quickly they need to be addressed, and through which channel. This proactive approach ensures that obstacles are managed efficiently and don’t derail your quarterly OKRs.

7. Publish “OKR Cards.”

Create a one-page summary for each objective to keep everything clear and accessible. Each page should include the objective statement, along with its key results listed with baseline, target, data source, and update cadence. Be sure to link the related initiatives, noting their owner, start and end dates, and current status. Finally, add key risks, assumptions, guardrails, and a “last updated” timestamp so everyone knows the context and freshness of the information. This simple structure keeps goals transparent, actionable, and easy to track.

8. Kickoff and commit.

Kick off your quarterly OKRs with a focused 30-45 minute meeting where you walk the team through the “why” behind the goals, the key bets you’re making, the targets you’ve set, and the cadence for tracking progress. Be sure to record all decisions made during the discussion and share the finalized OKR cards in a visible workspace. This ensures everyone is aligned from the start and has easy access to the goals and expectations moving forward.

How to Track Progress (Make It Boringly Consistent)

To effectively track progress, start by setting up clear instrumentation and dashboards. Create a single source of truth by integrating your CRM, analytics, and helpdesk data into a unified dashboard. 

SMB Tip: Thryv’s task and team collaboration tools can help you break down goals into actionable steps with due dates, ownership, and accountability.

Track leading indicators, such as click-through rate or demos booked, and lagging indicators, like revenue and churn, to get a complete picture of performance. Then, define success criteria upfront so expectations are consistent: if you’re at least 80% to target, then you’re on pace, if you’re 50-79%, then the OKR needs attention, and anything under 50% is off track.

Establish a cadence and put it on the calendar to ensure accountability. Hold a weekly 20-30-minute key result check-in, where the DRI updates everyone on progress. During the review, call look at the status on each key result, and for any that need attention, clearly identify the cause, assign a corrective action for the next seven days, and note the owner and due date. Update the blockers log and escalate issues as needed.

At mid-quarter (around week six), conduct a formal review to re-prioritize initiatives as needed. Avoid lowering key result targets unless assumptions are objectively incorrect, and document any changes. At quarter close, score each key result to determine the objective’s overall performance. Wrap up with a one-page retrospective summarizing what worked, what didn’t, and what the team will change moving forward.

Turning Quarterly OKRs Into Real Growth

Quarterly OKRs aren’t just another planning exercise; they’re a framework for keeping your business aligned, accountable, and focused on what truly drives results. By setting fall goals with clarity and discipline, you give your team the structure it needs to navigate the busiest season of the year while staying committed to growth. As you move into Q4, think of your OKRs as both a compass and a scoreboard: they point you in the right direction and show you, in real time, whether you’re making progress. With the right objectives, measurable results, and consistent check-ins, you’ll finish the year stronger and set the stage for even greater momentum in the year ahead.