OKR vs KPI: the key differences – or do KPIs and OKRs actually go hand in hand?
It's Monday morning, and it's the same ritual as always: one reporting call rolls straight into the next, the dashboard glows in every colour, and dozens of KPIs scroll past on the screen. The numbers look impressive – yet a quiet question hangs in the room: "So what do we actually do with all this?"
Two hours later, you walk into a strategy workshop. Someone brings up OKRs. Objectives and Key Results are suddenly going to fix everything: more focus, more alignment, more impact.
And you're left thinking:
"What's really going on here – and how do KPIs and OKRs work together without burying my team in reporting?"
That's exactly what this article is about. Step by step, you'll get to grips with OKRs and KPIs, understand the differences that matter, work through a hands-on example with procoli mini, and walk away with a story that actually holds together – not just another checklist.
OKRs and KPIs: two languages for the same goal
Picture this: your company wants to reinvent the way it works with external partners. You want to leave the email chaos behind and move to something like procoli mini, where external partners just click a link and get involved.
Leadership sets out some broad company goals:
- Less coordination overhead with external partners
- More transparency for project managers
- Greater reliability on deadlines
From here, two languages take over:
One talks about direction, focus and bold ambition: OKRs – Objectives and Key Results.
OKRs are described as a way to "connect ambitious goals (Objectives) with clear, measurable outcomes (Key Results), so teams stay focused and aligned." (Atlassian)The other talks in numbers, trends and movements: KPIs – Key Performance Indicators, often just called metrics or performance measures.
KPIs are "quantitative measures that show how effectively a company is achieving its business objectives." (Wikipedia)
The two belong together. The story starts with your goals, not your metrics. You use OKRs to set direction and give it structure. You use KPIs to make that direction – and your company's performance – measurable.
Objectives & Key Results: OKRs set the stage for change
Every OKR is one Objective plus a handful of Key Results. The Objective says what you want to achieve. The Key Results tell you how you'll know you've got there.
For procoli mini, an Objective might be:
"We make procoli mini the standard for external collaboration across our key projects."
It's deliberately ambitious – aspirational, even. Not yet measurable, but crystal clear about where you're headed. The Key Results are what make it tangible: quantitative, measurable and time-bound.
- "At least 70% of all projects involving external partners actively use procoli mini this quarter."
- "The average response time from external partners to task links falls by 30% this quarter."
- "At least 80% of external partners comment or upload files in the web view."
That's Objectives and Key Results in action:
- The Objective inspires.
- The Key Results set clear targets you can measure progress against.
- Progress stops being a gut feeling and becomes a number.
The result is an OKR structure that pulls your team in one direction. You trade vague statements like "we want to get better" for sharp ones you can honestly grade at the end of the quarter.
KPIs: the metrics that keep you up at night
Running alongside your OKRs are your KPIs – the numbers that tell you how steady the ship is. They stay with you over a longer stretch of time and give you a calm, no-drama view of how the business is performing.
In your procoli setup, KPIs might look like this:
- "Average response time from external partners to task links"
- "Share of tasks with a complete file upload from external partners"
- "Share of projects still actively using procoli mini after six months"
Each of these is an indicator. KPIs tell you whether things are running smoothly or where you need to step in. You use them to keep an eye on performance and to judge it.
One thing to remember: having KPIs doesn't mean you've picked the right direction. KPIs judge what's already true; OKRs decide where you're going. Keep that distinction firmly in mind.
OKRs vs. KPIs: why "vs" is the wrong question
In a lot of debates it quickly hardens into an either/or: "OKRs vs KPIs", as if you had to pick a side. That's a wrong turn.
You're really working on two different levels:
- OKRs answer: "Which strategic goals are we chasing this quarter? What change do we want to see?"
- KPIs answer: "How's our performance holding up? Which numbers warn us when something's drifting off course?"
So the real difference between OKRs and KPIs is this: OKRs drive change, KPIs watch the status quo.
Next to OKRs, KPIs feel more matter-of-fact. You're measuring revenue, cycle times, error rates. OKRs, by contrast, bring the story, the direction, the focus.
Once that clicks, you can see why "OKR vs KPI" is the wrong question altogether. The one worth asking is:
"How do we use OKRs and KPIs together, so we hit our goals and keep our performance rock-steady?"
A story from the day-to-day: OKRs and KPIs around procoli mini
Let's zoom in on a real scene from project management.
Say you run a projects department, and a lot of your work involves external partners – agencies, construction firms, specialist contractors. The communication usually lives in email threads, and it's just not that effective.
Now imagine you decide to bring in procoli mini. External partners get their tasks through a link, comment straight in a web view and upload files – no login, no training on yet another tool.
As the leader, you and your team set one central company OKR:
Objective:
"We halve the coordination effort with external partners across our core projects."
Key Results:
- "70% of all projects with external partners actively use procoli mini this quarter."
- "The average number of emails per external contractor drops by 30% versus the previous quarter."
- "At least 80% of external partners finish the tasks assigned to them within the agreed deadline."
You can feel OKRs doing the heavy lifting here:
- The goal is unambiguous.
- The Key Results are measurable and ambitious.
- Whether you've hit them is something anyone can verify.
In parallel, you set KPIs to keep watch over the system:
- "Number of support tickets for procoli mini per month"
- "Share of tasks with full documentation (comments + files)"
- "Average time to the first reply from an external partner"
Together, this mix of KPIs and OKRs creates structure. The OKRs pull everyone into a new way of working; the KPIs make sure that shift doesn't tip into chaos.
If you're ready to finally put external collaboration on a measurable, lightweight footing, join the procoli waiting list now and secure early access.
OKRs and when to use KPIs: structuring your working rhythm
Work usually moves in timeboxes: sprints, releases, quarters. That rhythm is exactly where you decide how OKRs and KPIs come together.
At the start of a quarter:
- You line up behind the company's goals.
- You draw out 1–2 relevant Objectives for your department.
- You set 2–4 Key Results per Objective – clearly measurable, clearly time-bound.
- You run this with your team and make sure the goals feel ambitious but still within reach.
Through the quarter:
- You hold regular check-ins (say, every two weeks) to see how your Key Results are coming along.
- Alongside that, you watch your KPIs to spot whether you're still delivering cleanly despite ambitious OKRs – or whether you need to kick off some supporting initiatives.
At the end of the quarter:
- You review which OKRs you reached, and what they taught you.
- You look at how your KPIs moved.
- You set new OKRs – grounded in the numbers, not just a hunch.
What you get is a loop: set goals – act – measure – learn. OKRs and KPIs together are its backbone. You never have to choose between "OKRs or KPIs" – ideally you use both, deliberately, in time with your timeboxes.
Creating OKRs: step by step, from blank page to clear structure
The hardest part is often just getting your OKRs down on paper in the first place. That empty document can feel intimidating.
Here's a pragmatic way through:
- Pick your starting point
Begin with 2–3 core company goals that genuinely matter to your department. Growth, product quality, efficiency, customer satisfaction – this is where you set your focus. - Write the Objectives
Draft one Objective per goal. It should inspire, point in a direction and carry strategic weight. A good Objective is short, clear and easy to connect with. - Set the Key Results
Define 2–4 Key Results per Objective. Each one is measurable, quantitative and pinned to a specific timeframe. Word it so that, on the deadline, you can say without debate: "done" or "not done". - Cross-check against existing KPIs
See which KPIs your company already tracks and how they back up your OKRs. Some you'll adopt straight away as Key Results; others keep running quietly in the background.
Do this and you get OKRs your team actually takes seriously – ambitious and tangible at the same time, and a natural fit with your best practices.
KPIs in the business: how many metrics does your team really need?
On the KPI side, the trap is the opposite one: going overboard.
Every department turns up with its favourites. Sales want leads, marketing wants clicks, product wants active users, support wants ticket counts. Before long you've got a set of 40 KPIs that nobody genuinely reads any more.
Far better to focus on the handful of measures that truly prop up your OKRs:
- A small set of core KPIs per department
- Each one with a clear meaning: "what does this number tell us to do when it looks bad?"
- An explicit link to the relevant Objectives: "how does this metric help us understand our OKRs?"
Keep reminding your team that OKRs and KPIs aren't there for their own sake. They exist to help you make decisions and launch the right initiatives – not to fill colourful dashboards.
Q&A
What's the single biggest difference between OKRs and KPIs?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) set out strategic, often ambitious goals and make progress visible through measurable, time-bound key results. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are the metrics you use to monitor and judge ongoing performance – of a company, a department or a team – over a set period.
How do OKRs and KPIs actually work together?
OKRs set the direction and drive change; KPIs measure the impact and the stability. You derive OKRs from your company goals, write Key Results, and then lean on KPIs to track progress and keep an eye on how steady your processes are. That's how the two reinforce each other.
When should I reach for OKRs, and when for KPIs?
Reach for OKRs when you want goals that push beyond the status quo – new products, new markets, deep changes to how you work. Reach for KPIs when you want to keep tabs on the performance and processes you already have. In practice you'll run both at once: OKRs for direction, KPIs for measuring performance.
How many OKRs and KPIs actually make sense?
For most teams, one or two OKRs per department per quarter – each with two to four Key Results – is plenty. Add three to five core KPIs that surface performance and risk. Too many goals and metrics blur your focus; a few well-chosen ones make it far more likely you'll actually reach your goals.
What role does a tool like procoli mini play in OKRs and KPIs?
procoli mini helps you make collaboration with external partners measurable. Task links, response times, file uploads and discussion histories all produce concrete data – data you can feed into OKRs (as Key Results) and KPIs (as measures of performance and stability). That's how you tie strategy, measurement and everyday project work into a single system.