Have you ever wondered how some companies seem to achieve their goals while others struggle to progress?
If you are looking for a tool to organize and track your business goals, this is the right place.
Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program. It is the best team collaboration tool. You can use Google Sheets to manage your business goals and align everyone from your team around a common objective.
In this quick guide, let us discuss the top 5 FREE Google Sheets OKR template to set your goals and challenge yourself to reach them effortlessly. It also includes the step-by-step guide to creating an OKR template from scratch in Google Sheets.
So, everyone, please read the article until the end.
What is OKR?
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OKRs are the secret behind the success of companies like Intel, Google, and Spotify.
But what exactly are OKRs, and how can they help you excel in your career?
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results.
It is nothing but your roadmap to success, guiding you toward achieving your goals in a way that benefits your professional journey and the company.
Before discussing the best free OKR templates, let’s see why Google Sheets is the best tool to manage OKRs.
Why are OKR Templates created using Google Sheets a must-try?
OKRs help business owners achieve huge and complex goals in a short period with the help of their colleagues.
You need a simple and effective software tool to create and share OKRs with the team. Google Sheets is the perfect solution for this.
Let’s discuss a few benefits of using Google Sheets to track your OKRs.
- Ease of Use – Google Sheets is a beginner-friendly tool with an intuitive user interface. Anyone can start using this spreadsheet program within a couple of hours. It has a very short learning curve. You will get access to all of the powerful tools and functions right from the main menu and toolbar section.
- Accessibility – You can access Google Sheets from your desktop, laptop, mobile phone, and tablet. All you need is an active internet connection. Simply put, they will be able to view, edit, or comment on your OKRs from anywhere in the world at any time.
- Integration – Google Sheets seamlessly integrates with all kinds of Google apps, including Docs, Slides, Forms, etc. You can export and import data easily with a few clicks. Apart from native Google apps, you can integrate Google Sheets with third-party apps using add-ons.
- Budget-friendly – Task management apps may break your bank. Compared to those apps, Google Sheets is totally free to use. You can customize the OKR templates to meet your unique requirements without limitations.
- Robust Reporting – Make sure to explore Google Sheets’ charts and graphs to create a dashboard to showcase the progress over time. You can make use of line, bar, pie, scattered, etc., types of graphs. Customizing them is a breeze.
- Team Collaboration – OKRs need to be shared with your teammates. The good news is that Google Sheets can be shared with unlimited users. All of the changes made by the users can be tracked using the built-in Version History tool. You can also assign specific roles to each user and ensure they will edit, view, or comment on your document.
The list is quite huge.
But I hope you got the point. Google Sheets is one of the best tools for managing OKRs monthly and quarterly.
Top 5 Free Google Sheets OKR Template
You can find tens of OKR templates on the internet for both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.
In other words, it may be difficult for you to check each template to find the perfect one for your unique requirements. Knowing this fact, we have decided to do the heavy lifting for you.
We have compiled a list of 5 free OKR tracking templates for you in the following section.
#1 – OKR Tracking Template by SoftwareAccountant
Click Here To Use This Template!
This simple OKR tracking template by SoftwareAccountant helps users set goals and avoid getting lost along the way.
Make sure to enter the company name and also the name of the individual who has prepared the OKR sheet at the top of the template.
The template allows you to enter three OKRs for different departments, time frames, and corresponding key results.
You can even track the target and actual days taken along with progress in percentages for each key result for your OKRs. It is designed to provide a clear overview of your performance and help you stay on track toward achieving your objectives.
There is also a Notes section at the bottom where you can add any comments or updates related to your OKRs, ensuring easy reference.
It is easily customizable, and you can include more OKRs by adding rows and columns.
#2 – OKR Tracking Template by SmartSheet
Click Here To Use This Template!
This OKR template can be used to track the performance or growth goals very closely.
You can monitor your progress by using the scoring provided in each dropdown.
The template enables you to assess the weekly target score using various colors and numbers, with ‘0’ representing the lowest and ‘1’ representing the highest.
For each quarter, you can list objectives and four to five key results you want to track. It also includes columns to assign owners and project details to help define roles and communicate with team members regarding the project.
Small and Medium-sized businesses can use this OKR template by Smartsheet for growth and productivity improvement.
This template is very straightforward and has no formulas. It comes with a rating scale that needs to be manually entered for each key result.
#3 – OKR Spreadsheet by Peerdo
Click Here To Use This Template!
This Google Sheets OKR template can be used to plan the objectives and key results for both the company and specific teams.
Make sure to add the personal touch to this template by editing the company name, slogan (if any), and company initiatives at the top. It also allows you to set the time frame for the entire period.
Overall progress can be determined by calculating the average of the attained key results.
Additionally, you can enter initiatives for each OKR to outline the specific steps or tasks needed to achieve them.
There are two sheets in this template:
- Company OKRs – To track the company objectives and Key results
- Team OKRs – To keep an eye on the team’s progress and performance
It also has a separate sheet to record the employee details.
The template is easy to customize; even beginners can use it easily. Make sure to play with the colors to make the template more appealing.
#4 – OKR Tracker Template of WhatsApp by Thijs Niks
Click Here To Use This Template!
This is a very advanced OKR tracker template designed by one of the product managers at WhatsApp to keep the employees focused on business goals.
Under the “Readme” sheet, you will find a detailed description and guidelines on how to use this template and make the most out of it.
You can provide each team with a different OKR sheet for easy reference, like the marketing and engineering sheets included in this template, to track the progress of the respective teams.
Teams can set their own OKRs and review their progress regularly and monthly. Note that the template has data validations and conditional formatting to highlight important data points or trends for more visual analysis.
This is a very advanced template and can be used by large-scale businesses to track their progress with stakeholders.
You can download the template for free and customize it as per your unique requirements.
#5 – OKR Goal Setting Template by Coefficient
Click Here To Use This Template!
This template by Coefficient is the perfect choice to streamline your goal-setting and tracking.
You can enter your company name and address, your long-term mission and aspiration, and the desired outcome. It allows you to add up to five objectives with three OKRs for each and their corresponding supports and obstacles.
This is a very easy-to-use template with no formulas, making it an excellent choice for small businesses to establish and achieve their goals effortlessly.
You can customize it and even add more fields to it if required. It comes with the flexibility to change the colors using the formatting options provided in the toolbar section of Google Sheets.
How to Create an OKR Tracking Template in Google Sheets
Google Sheets boasts a range of useful features that can be used to create an OKR tracking template on your own.
You can even visually represent your data using graphs and charts for quicker analysis.
Let us create the following OKR template,
Note that this is a step-by-step guide with helpful instructions; make sure to read till the end.
STEP #1 – Creating the Header
Our header will include the title and company information, which is crucial when sharing the OKR template with colleagues.
Here are the steps,
- Open a new Google Sheet by clicking here
- Select the entire first row
- Increase the height as per your preference
- Select all the cells from “A1” to “F1”
- Click on “Merge Cells”
- Type “OKR Tracking Template”
- Increase the font size to 23
- Change the font type to “Lexend”
- Make the font bold
- Change the cell background color to dark blue (Hex Code – #001149)
- Change the font color to white
With the above steps, the header should look as follows,
Next, it is essential to enter the company name and the name of the person who has prepared the OKR. It establishes clarity regarding the context and ownership of the OKRs. It also helps understand who is responsible for maintaining and updating the document and whom to contact for any clarifications.
Let’s begin,
- Select the cell “A3”
- Type “Company Name”
- Select the cells “D3” and “E3”
- Click on the “Merge cells” icon from the toolbar section
- Type “Prepared By”
- Change the font type to “Lexend”
- Make the font bold
- Adjust the font size to 14
- Change the font color to dark blue (Hex Code – #001149)
Now, the template looks like,
Now, let’s move on to adding the Objectives and Key results.
STEP #2 – Add the first OKR Table
This is the main step. Here, we’ll discuss the steps to create an OKR table for the first objective.
Let’s begin,
- Select all the cells “A5” to “F5”
- Click on “Merge Cells”
- Enter “OKR 1”
- Change the font type to “Lexend”
- Adjust the font size to 12
- Change the cell background color to dark blue (Hex Code – #001149)
- Change the font color to white
- Adjust the Vertical alignment to the Center as shown below
- Select the cell “A6”
- Enter “Assigned Team”
- Change the font to “Lexend”
- Make the font bold
- Change the font size to 10
- Change the font color to dark blue (Hex Code – #001149)
- Merge the cells “C6” to “F6”
- Change the background color to Light gray (Hex Code – #f3f3f3)
Similarly, add the remaining fields as shown below,
To enter the key results, with target, actual, and progress scores,
- Select all the cells from “A9” to “C9”
- Merge the cells
- In cell “D9”, enter “Target”
- In cell “E9”, type “Actual”
- In the cell “F9”, enter “Progress”
- Select the cells “A9” to “F9”
- Change the background color to dark gray (Hex Code – #d9d9d9)
- In the cell “A10”, type “Key Result 1”
- Make the font bold
- Change the font to “Lexend”
- Adjust the font size to 10
You can apply the borders to the table as shown below,
Finally, the template will look like below,
STEP #3 – Add the Remaining OKR Tables
You can repeat the above steps to create more OKR tables or simply copy and paste the above tables.
Remember to change the numbers of the OKRs to OKR 2, OKR 3, and so on.
Refer to the following screenshot,
STEP #4 – Formatting the Template
Once the header and all the tables are ready, you can start entering the details.
Make sure to play around with the available formatting options in Google Sheets. We have created the following template based on our expertise.
You can download the above template using the following link.
Note that we have also added a few formulas to automate the goal-setting and tracking process in the above template.
For more such Google Sheets templates, please refer to our blog section.