One Execution View for OKR and Balanced Scorecard Integration

TL;DR

Companies don’t have to choose between OKRs and Balanced Scorecard; they work better together. OKRs help set big goals and make businesses more flexible, while Balanced Scorecard makes sure that all business perspectives are in line with the company’s overall strategy. Profit.co combines both frameworks into one platform for execution. This gives you the strategic depth of Balanced Scorecard and the flexibility of OKRs, so you don’t have to use multiple tools or methods.

Why Pick One Over the Other When You Can Have Both?

If you’re in charge of making sure that your company’s strategy is carried out, you’ve probably had this argument before. Team A swears by OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) because they helped Google and Intel grow. Team B stands by the Balanced Scorecard, pointing to decades of results that have been proven in many fields.

And what about you? You’re stuck in the middle, not knowing why this has to be an either-or situation.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. The best companies aren’t picking between OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard; they’re using both of them together. And with tools like Profit.co, you can combine both frameworks into one unified execution view that gives you the best of both worlds.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory . Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Sun Tzu

 

Why is this integration vital, how does it work, and why could it be what your company needs?

Getting to Know the Two Frameworks: OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard

Before we get into integration, let’s quickly go over what each framework has to offer.

What are OKRs?

OKRs are all about having goals and staying focused. You set a goal that motivates you. They tell you where you want to go and 3 to 5 key results that show you how you’ll know you got there. OKRs usually happen every three months, which pushes teams to set stretch goals, work quickly, and change swiftly. OKRs are quarterly cycles where teams come up with new ideas and grow.

What are balanced scorecards?

The balanced scorecard, on the other hand, is your strategic compass. Kaplan and Norton came up with the Balanced Scorecard (Balanced Scorecard) in the 1990s. It makes sure you look at how well your organization is doing from four important angles: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth. It’s all about balanced long-term health for short-term gains. Balanced Scorecard usually works in cycles that last a year or more.

Do you see the difference? Balanced Scorecard provides the balanced strategic vision, and OKRs are your plans and process to achieve them with high-performing teams

Why integrating Balanced Scorecard and OKRs makes perfect sense

Most organizations don’t have to choose between needing flexibility and needing strategic balance. They need both. You need to be able to change with the market, start new projects, and keep teams motivated by setting clear, achievable goals. But you also need to make sure that all this work is actually helping you reach your bigger business goals in all areas.

Your OKRs gain strategic context. Instead of setting goals on their own, your quarterly OKRs become the tactical execution of your strategic Balanced Scorecard goals. Every key result is now clearly linked to one of your four Balanced Scorecard views. This means that your teams are not only meeting their goals but also moving your overall strategy forward.

Balanced scorecards can sometimes seem vague or too broad. When you break down your Balanced Scorecard strategy into quarterly OKRs, you turn those big goals into specific, measurable actions that teams can work on together.

• You make sure that everyone is on the same page over time. Your Balanced Scorecard gives you a 3-5 year strategic direction, and your OKRs break that down into quarterly sprints. Everyone knows where the company is going and what they need to do this quarter to get there.
• You find a balance between ambition and stability. OKRs push you to think big and set stretch goals, while Balanced Scorecard makes sure you don’t put too much emphasis on one area at the expense of others. You can be both ambitious and strategic.

The Integration Challenge and Why Most Companies Have Trouble

In theory, it sounds great to combine OKRs and Balanced Scorecard. In real life? Keeping track of everything in spreadsheets or using different tools can be a daunting task.

We have seen companies try to do this integration using spreadsheets. They have their Balanced Scorecard in one PowerPoint deck, their OKRs in another tool, or worse, all over the place in Google Sheets, and they spend weeks every quarter trying to put everything together. They’ve connected the dots, and by that time the quarter is half over.

Some other problems are:

1. Double entry: Teams enter data in more than one place, which causes problems and wastes time
2. Visibility gaps: Leaders can’t see how OKRs are adding up to Balanced Scorecard goals without running complicated reports.
3. Alignment problems: When frameworks are kept separate, teams make OKRs that don’t really support Balanced Scorecard views
4. Reporting chaos: Making dashboards that show both strategic and tactical progress is a full-time job

This is exactly why integration platforms are important.

How Profit.co combines OKRs and Balanced Scorecard into one view

Profit.co gives you one platform where OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard can be integrated together. You don’t have to choose between them or manage two separate systems.

This is how it works:

1. Unified Strategic Framework: The first step is to set up your balanced scorecard with your strategic goals for all four points of view. These become your north star, your long-term strategic priorities that guide everything else.
2. Smart OKR Cascading: When teams make quarterly OKRs, they are asked to link them to relevant Balanced Scorecard goals and points of view. This isn’t just for reporting; it makes sure that every OKR someone sets is helping you reach your strategic goals. No more goals that don’t fit with the bigger picture.
3. Real-Time Visualization: Profit.co gives you dashboards that show both your Balanced Scorecard strategic progress and your OKR tactical execution in one view. You can quickly see how your quarterly OKRs are affecting your annual strategic goals from all four Balanced Scorecard points of view
4. Automated Alignment: When a key result is updated, it automatically rolls up to the relevant Balanced Scorecard metric. No manual data entry, no reconciliation headaches. Everything stays synchronized in real time
5. Cascade and Connect: On the same platform, you can set your top-level Balanced Scorecard goals and then break them down into departmental OKRs, team OKRs, and individual OKRs. Everyone, from the CEO to the people who do the work, can see how their work fits into the bigger picture of the company’s strategy

Let me show you what this integration looks like in a hypothetical mid-size SaaS company.

The customer perspective of your Balanced Scorecard has a strategic goal: “By 2026, become the most customer-focused platform in our category.”

With Profit.co’s all-in-one approach, your Customer Success team sets an OKR every three months:

Objective: Dramatically improve customer onboarding experience

• Key Result 1: Raise the percentage of people who finish onboarding from 60% to 85%
• Key Result 2: Cut the time it takes to get value from 14 days to 7 days
• Key Result 3: Get a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 50 or more from new customers

This OKR is linked to your Balanced Scorecard customer perspective goal. As the quarter goes on and these key results are achieved, your strategic dashboard will automatically show you how close you are to your long-term goal of putting customers first.

Your CEO can open Profit.co and see both the strategic view, where Balanced Scorecard shows overall progress across all four perspectives, and the tactical view, which shows which OKRs are on track and which ones need help. Your team leads see their specific OKRs with full context of how they support strategic priorities.

No need to switch between tools. You won’t have to wonder if your daily work is important. Only one clear, unified view of how to do things.

What are the Best Ways to Integrate

If you want to combine OKRs and Balanced Scorecard, whether it’s with Profit.co or another method, here are some things to think about:

• Begin with your Balanced Scorecard foundation. First, set your strategic goals for all four points of view. This gives you a base to work from
• Make the mapping clear. Every OKR should be clearly linked to a Balanced Scorecard perspective and goal. If an OKR doesn’t fit with anything else, think about whether it should be in your plan.
• Don’t make it too hard. Your Balanced Scorecard should be strategic and high-level, with no more than 10 to 15 goals. Be specific and tactical with your OKRs
• Look at both often. Check in on OKRs every week or every other week. Check your Balanced Scorecard every month or every three months to see how your strategy is doing.
• Use the right tool. Seriously, don’t try to do this in Excel. Profit.co is an all-in-one platform that will save you a lot of time and give you insights that you wouldn’t be able to see on your own.

The Bottom Line

The conflict between the OKR and the Balanced Scorecard is over. The organizations that picked one aren’t the winners; the ones that figured out how to use both are.

OKRs give you the drive, focus, and flexibility to get things done quickly. The Balanced Scorecard helps you make sure that what you’re building is balanced and will last. Together, they make a full execution system that links daily tasks to long-term goals.

Profit.co’s integrated approach gets rid of the usual problems that come up when trying to use both frameworks at the same time. You get one platform, one source of truth, and one clear picture of how your business is doing at both the strategic and tactical levels.

You can confidently say, “Both. And here’s the platform that makes it easy,” the next time someone asks if you should use OKRs or a Balanced Scorecard