Understand Goals/OKRs

Goals/OKRs connect strategy to measurable work

Use Goals/OKRs when the team needs to see what matters for a planning period, how success will be measured, and which canvases are connected to the work. A project can show what needs to ship. A canvas can hold the thinking. Goals/OKRs show the direction, measurement, connected canvases, and progress history in one place.

In ALLO, the main pieces are Session, Objective, Key Result, Initiative, Check-in, and Snapshot. If those terms are clear, the rest of the workflow becomes much easier to understand.

Use the next article that matches the job in front of you:

• Create a Session to start a planning period.
• Manage Session cadence to set the review rhythm.
• Create an Objective to define direction.
• Add Key Results to measure success.
• Create an Initiative to create or open the canvas that belongs to an Objective or Key Result.
• Check in progress to keep status current.
• Tree view to review hierarchy.
• Snapshots to review progress at a point in time.

Availability and permissions

If you cannot see Goals/OKRs or an item is read-only, start with Troubleshoot OKR permissions.

Where to find Goals/OKRs

Open the Goals/OKRs area from the workspace navigation where it is available. The area usually starts with Sessions or the current active planning context. From there, you can open Objectives, review Key Results, add Initiatives, make Check-ins, and use Snapshots.

The right-side My OKRs view is useful when you need your assigned work without losing the broader Session context. It keeps personal responsibility visible while the main view stays focused on the team structure.

If Goals/OKRs is not available in navigation, confirm that you are in the correct workspace and that your role or plan includes access. If a direct link opens but the navigation menu is missing, ask a workspace admin to review feature availability and your access.

The main concepts

A typical Goals/OKRs workflow

Start with a Session so the work has a time boundary and review cadence. A Session might represent a quarter, semester, campaign, launch cycle, or team planning period.

Create Objectives inside the Session. Objectives should be clear enough for someone outside the planning meeting to understand the intended direction.

Add Key Results under each Objective. Key Results should be measurable and checkable. Use numbers, percentages, dates, milestones, quality bars, or other units that the team can review.

Add Initiatives when the Objective or Key Result needs its own canvas. The Initiative opens as a canvas, so the strategy stays connected to the visual workspace where the team plans, discusses, assigns, and reviews the work.

During the Session, make Check-ins. A Check-in should explain what changed, not only update a number. The list, graph, detail view, and sidebar should tell the same progress story after a Check-in is saved.

Use Tree view when hierarchy matters. It shows cascading Objectives and Key Results like a map, so teams can see what rolls up to what and adjust parent-child structure when they have permission.

Use Snapshots for reviews. A Snapshot helps the team compare what progress looked like at a specific point instead of relying only on the current live state.

A complete example

Session: 2026 Q3 Customer Support Quality

Objective: Make account and permission problems easier for customers to solve without waiting for support.

Key Result 1: Reduce invite and permission support conversations by 30%.

Key Result 2: Publish complete Help Center coverage for workspace roles, sharing, Inbox, and deactivated access.

Initiative: Rewrite workspace and collaboration Help Center articles in a connected canvas with review notes and publication tasks.

Check-in: The workspace articles are drafted. Collaboration and Inbox articles are in review. Permission support volume will be checked after publication.

Snapshot: End-of-week Snapshot shared with the support lead before the next planning meeting.

What makes a good Objective

A good Objective is directional and memorable. It says what should improve, change, launch, or become true. It should not be a disguised task list.

Weak Objective: Update invite docs.

Better Objective: Make workspace access understandable for new admins and external reviewers.

The better Objective leaves room for multiple Key Results and Initiatives. It explains the outcome, not only the work.

What makes a good Key Result

A good Key Result can be checked during the Session. It uses a value, milestone, status, or unit that the team understands.

Weak Key Result: Improve onboarding.

Better Key Result: Increase successful workspace invite acceptance from 70% to 90%.

If your Key Result uses a custom unit, write the unit clearly. ALLO can preserve custom units from OKR data, so the unit should make sense later to people who did not attend planning.

What makes a good Initiative

An Initiative is the canvas attached to an Objective or Key Result. It should be concrete enough that someone can open it, understand the work, and review progress.

Weak Initiative: Do better support.

Better Initiative: Add invite email troubleshooting to Help Center and link it from workspace invite flows.

Initiatives are not measurements. They are connected canvases, so the plan, files, notes, tasks, subtasks, and review material can live with the Goal/OKR context. The Key Result is how you tell whether the work helped.

Where List, Tree, detail, and Snapshot views fit

List view is best when you need to scan the Session, edit rows, add Objectives, add Key Results, or paste multiple Key Results quickly.

Tree view is best when you need to understand hierarchy. Use it for cascading OKRs, parent-child review, and drag-and-drop structure changes where your permissions and current filters allow it.

Detail views are best when one Objective, Key Result, Initiative, or Check-in needs focused work.

Snapshot is best when you need a time-based review state. It preserves what the selected review period looked like, while the live Session can keep changing.

Permission and visibility notes

Goals/OKRs can be available, read-only, or unavailable depending on workspace settings, roles, ownership, collaboration, and item access. Initiative canvases can also have their own canvas access requirements.

If you can see an Objective but cannot edit it, you may have view access only. If you can see an Initiative title but cannot open its connected canvas, check the canvas permission. If a Session is missing, it may be archived, filtered, or in another workspace.

Workspace deactivation blocks access before Goals/OKRs item links can help. If a former member cannot open an old Objective link, see Access a deactivated workspace.

Common mistakes

Do not use Objectives as task lists. Use Initiatives for work.

Do not write Key Results that cannot be checked. If there is no measurable outcome, it will be hard to Check in progress honestly.

Do not skip Check-ins until the end of the Session. Without Check-ins, the team only sees final numbers and loses the story of what changed.

Do not recreate missing Goals/OKRs before clearing filters, checking the active workspace, and checking archived Sessions.

Do not assume an Initiative canvas has the same permission as the Objective. A person may see the Goal/OKR row but still need access to open the canvas.

Recover when Goals/OKRs look wrong

If the Goals/OKRs area is missing, check the active workspace and ask an admin whether the feature is enabled for your plan or role.

If a Session is missing, clear filters, check archived Sessions, and confirm that you are in the right workspace.

If an Objective, Key Result, or Initiative is read-only, check your role and item access. Use Troubleshoot OKR permissions.

If a Check-in does not save, refresh the item and confirm whether the latest value appears before entering the same update again.

If a Snapshot looks different from the live Session, that may be expected. A Snapshot preserves a progress view from a point in time, while the live Session can keep changing.