How long should OKRs last?
Navigating the first stumbling block to writing great OKRs.
“How long should they last?” is one of the first questions that comes up when a team starts writing their OKRs. It’s not a hard question to answer, but it will take some thought (and maybe some experimentation) to get it right.
There are two things you need to balance when picking an OKR time frame.
Give your OKRs enough time that you can make real progress, but not so long that the world will change under your feet.
For a small and nimble startup:
You can certainly make a lot of progress in a year or a quarter. But if you’re learning quickly (and you should be) then chances are good you’ll need to adjust course much more often. Picking a long OKR duration will result in you leaving a pile of half-finished, jettisoned OKRs in your wake. Never completing your goals isn’t a great recipe for internal morale. For groups that need to change direction quickly, shorter time frames like monthly or even weekly OKRs can be more effective.
