KPIs & OKRs Playbook, Step by Step for 2027

Replace reports nobody acts on with a few KPIs and OKRs that people own, from a metric tree and clear targets to weekly check-ins and an honest end-of-cycle review.

Who it's for

Managers, team leaders, founders and consultants who want measures and objectives that people act on, not reports that people file. Each play works as a workshop of 90 minutes to half a day, or a week of short sessions; the book focuses on choosing and using measures rather than listing KPI formulas.

What you'll learn

• Build a metric tree from one goal, mark indicators as leading or lagging and choose five to eight KPIs, checked against the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (Robert Kaplan and David Norton)
• Give every KPI one owner, the decision it serves, a meeting and an action trigger, and pair any KPI that could be gamed with a balancing indicator, heeding the warning of the economist Charles Goodhart
• Set targets from a baseline of at least 12 periods using a named method, with green, amber and red bands and a written action for each
• Write OKRs as developed by Andy Grove at Intel and popularised by John Doerr: one to three objectives, three to five key results each, initiatives kept separate and every OKR marked committed or aspirational
• Align OKRs across teams in one workshop, bringing gaps, duplicates, conflicts and dependencies into the open
• Run a 20-minute weekly check-in with confidence scores and a five-line written update
• Score key results from 0 to 1, separate execution from choice and mark each KPI keep, change or retire

What's inside

• 44 pages, 7 plays
• Every play sets out its objective, when to use it and when not to, the time, people and materials it needs, numbered steps, a diagram, a ready-to-use template, an illustrative example from a fictional UK organisation and common mistakes to avoid
• One template per play: Metric Tree Worksheet, KPI Ownership Card, Target and Threshold Sheet, OKR Drafting Sheet, OKR Alignment Grid, Weekly OKR Check-in Board, and End-of-Cycle Review
• A closing action plan, Your First Quarter With KPIs and OKRs, with a one-page checklist that runs all seven plays in one 13-week quarter
• PDF in A4 format — read on screen or print
• Instant download after purchase

Contents

1. Build a Metric Tree From Your Goal
2. Give Every KPI an Owner and a Rhythm
3. Set Targets and Thresholds That Mean Something
4. Write OKRs That Stretch
5. Align OKRs Across Teams
6. Run Weekly Check-ins
7. Score, Reflect and Reset the Cycle

Part of The Business Library

This playbook is one of the 55 ebooks in The Business Library, available together for £109 (worth £1,437 if bought separately: the total of the individual prices of the included titles in our store). It is also included in The Ultimate Business Bundle, which adds 8 checklists and toolkits and 10 workbooks — all 73 products for £147.