OKR champion guide

Driving OKR adoption across an organization is never easy—but it’s worth the effort. When implemented well, OKRs provide a near real-time view of what work is happening across the organization and how teams are progressing.

Tips for OKR Champions to Drive Adoption

Build a network of champions

• Identify OKR champions at every level—team leads, functional heads, and pod leaders—to act as partners in driving adoption within their teams.

Establish a strong check-in culture

• Ensure every team completes weekly check-ins within the tool.

• Ask managers and leaders to set a fixed weekly check-in cadence.

• Encourage users to configure their weekly reminder notifications to match their team’s cadence.

Reinforce the importance of OKRs

• Clearly communicate that OKRs in the tool are a true reflection of an individual’s work.

• Ensure OKRs are directly used as inputs for performance management.

• Encourage managers to export their direct reports’ OKRs at the end of each quarter for reviews.

Promote collaboration within the tool

• Drive cross-functional collaboration on the platform instead of offline channels.

• Encourage teams to comment actively on OKRs to share updates, context, and progress.

• Use action items to create accountability and track dependencies.

Raise the quality of check-ins

• Ensure teams understand what a good check-in looks like and why it matters.

• A strong check-in should include:

  • Current status and progress

  • Root cause analysis if things are off track

  • Clear next steps to achieve the goal

Humanize the experience

• Remember: tools can’t replace human connection.

• Make profile pictures mandatory so people feel more connected and engaged on the platform.

• Ensure everyone uploads their profile picture in the tool.

With consistency, ownership at every level, and the right habits in place, OKRs can become a powerful engine for alignment, execution, and accountability across the organization.