Alignment and progress
How OKR plans, objectives, key results and child key results fit together, how dates and statuses cascade, and how progress is calculated and rolled up.
OKRs in OpenAleph are organised as a tree. Each level contributes to the one above it, so a change on a single Key Result is reflected in its objective and in the whole plan. This page explains the structure, the scopes and the progress calculation.
The structure
| Level | Belongs to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| OKR plan | Your company | "2026 – H2" |
| Objective | One plan | "Become the reference tool for our clients" |
| Key Result | One objective | "Reach an NPS of 50" |
| Child Key Result | One Key Result | "Run 40 client interviews" |
The tree stops at child Key Results: a child Key Result can't have children of its own.
Organisation and individual objectives
Each objective has a Scope:
- Organisation: a shared objective (company, department or team level). It and its Key Results can have assignees, who contribute and are notified.
- Individual: a personal objective carried by its owner. It can't have assignees, and neither can its Key Results. Switching an objective to Individual removes all existing assignees of the objective and its KRs.
Use the Scope filter on Objectives and KRs to show one kind or the other.
There is no automatic link between objectives of different plans or between the OKR and Goals modules: alignment happens inside a plan, through the tree above and through who owns and contributes to each item.
Child Key Results
Use child Key Results to split a big Key Result into measurable parts, for example per team or per person.
- Open the Key Result's three-dot menu and choose Add Key Result, or open the KR page and click New Key Result.
- The Parent Key Result is already set. The child KR takes the parent's dates and owner by default; change them if needed.
- Choose its indicator and values, then click Create Key Result.
The parent then becomes a global Key Result: its page lists its children in a Key Results block (with Current, Upcoming and Finished tabs), its progress is calculated from them (the value entered on the parent before is no longer used), and Update current value disappears. Its indicator type can no longer be changed.
How progress is calculated
| Item | Progress |
|---|---|
| Number or Percentage Key Result | (current value − starting value) ÷ (target value − starting value), in %, rounded. Never below 0%, can exceed 100%. Works for decreasing targets too (for example from 20 incidents down to 5). |
| True/False Key Result | 0% while the current value is the starting value, 100% once it changes. |
| Global Key Result (with children) | Average of its child Key Results, each counting for 100% at most. |
| Objective | Average of its Key Results (children are counted through their parent), each counting for 100% at most. 0% if it has no Key Result. |
| OKR plan | Average of its objectives. 0% if it has no objective. |
Important: a Number or Percentage Key Result whose target value is 0 always shows 0% progress. For "reduce to zero" goals, use a True/False Key Result or a target of 1.
Example: an objective has two KRs. KR 1 goes from 0 to 10 clients and is at 5 (50%). KR 2 is True/False and done (100%). The objective is at 75%. If the plan has a second objective at 25%, the plan is at 50%.
Dates and statuses across levels
- An objective has its own dates, pre-filled with the plan's dates when you create it from the plan page. A Key Result takes the dates of its objective by default, and a child KR those of its parent; you can adjust KR dates.
- Every item is Current or Upcoming according to its own start date, and switches automatically.
- Finished is set item by item. When you finish an objective or a KR, you choose whether its children are finished too (Finish all). Finishing a plan doesn't finish its content.
- Archiving a plan archives all its objectives and Key Results; unarchiving brings them all back to Current or Upcoming.
- Deleting an item deletes everything under it.
Common questions
Why can't I update the value of a Key Result?
It has child Key Results. Its value is calculated from them.
Can a child Key Result have its own children?
No. The maximum depth is plan › objective › Key Result › child Key Result.
Can I link an objective to an objective of another plan?
No. Each objective belongs to one plan and there is no link between plans.
Why did my objective's progress not reach 100% when one KR is at 150%?
Each Key Result counts for 100% at most in the objective's average, so one KR over its target doesn't make up for another one behind.
Still stuck?
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