The Complete OKR Scoring Guide: How to Grade Your Key Results
At the end of each quarter, it's time to score your OKRs. Scoring is where the real learning happens — it's not about passing or failing, it's about understanding what worked, what didn't, and why.
The 0 to 1.0 Scoring Scale
The most common OKR scoring approach uses a simple 0 to 1.0 scale:
0.0 — No progress made
0.3 — Some progress, but fell significantly short
0.5 — Made meaningful progress but didn't hit the target
0.7 — Hit the target (this is the "sweet spot" for stretch goals)
1.0 — Exceeded expectations
For committed (non-stretch) OKRs, you should expect a score of 1.0. For stretch OKRs, a score of 0.6-0.7 is actually ideal. It means you aimed high enough to push the team while still making substantial progress.
How to Score Each Key Result
For quantitative key results, scoring is straightforward. If your key result was "Increase revenue from $100K to $200K" and you achieved $165K, your score is 0.65 ($65K of $100K target improvement).
For milestone-based key results, break them into stages. If you had four milestones and completed three, that's roughly 0.75.
Interpreting Your Scores
If most scores are 1.0: You're sandbagging. Your goals aren't ambitious enough. Push harder next quarter.
If most scores are 0.7: You're in the sweet spot. Your key results are properly calibrated.
If most scores are below 0.3: Something went wrong. Were the goals unrealistic? Did priorities change? Did the team lack resources? Dig into the why.
Running a Productive Scoring Session
1. Each team member scores their own key results before the meeting
2. Review scores as a team and discuss significant deviations from expectations
3. Identify what you learned — both from successes and shortfalls
4. Capture insights for next quarter's goal-setting
Scoring shouldn't feel like a performance review. It's a learning exercise. The worst thing you can do is punish teams for missing stretch goals — that teaches people to set easy targets. Instead, celebrate the learning and progress that came from aiming high.
Use scoring as input to your quarterly check-in process, and carry the lessons forward.