Key results are the actionable steps needed to achieve the results that you’d like to see completed in the process of reaching your objective. Key results should be able to be measured or tracked in order to determine progress made towards your objective.
In Profit, you’ll find four ways to create key results:
To begin creating key results, select the “Add a new key result” button beneath your objective.
Then, the program will provide you with the options to choose how you want to add your key results.
Though Quick Create isn’t an option to the right of the key result, you can quick create a key result by typing your KR name in the text box
Using step by step
Profit’s structured step-by-step key result creation tool guides users through creating their key results. This tool is good for beginners and those new to Profit because it outlines and walks you through each step. After selecting the step-by-step guide, you’ll find seven steps for creating your key results.
Because the steps slightly differ for each key result type, below you’ll find an explanation of the step-by-step guide for all six types.
The KR types are:
- Percentage Tracked
- Milestone Tracked
- Baseline KPI
- Increase KPI
- Decrease KPI
- Control KPI
Of the six key result types, each has their benefits for achieving a specific type of result. They can be understood further by breaking them into two categories: measurable and trackable key results. Increase KPI, Decrease KPI, and Control KPI are measurable key results. In contrast, Percentage Tracked, Milestone Tracked, and Baseline KPIs are trackable key results. To know which type to use, think about what your KPI is and how it can be measured.
Percentage Tracked
Percentage Tracked key results allow you to track key results whose progress can be measured using a percentage. For example, “Publish 10 Blog Posts” can be represented by the percentage of blog posts you’ve published. If you’ve published five posts, your key result would be 50% complete, or if you’ve published nine, it would be 90% complete.
Using the step-by-step guide, the first step asks you to think about what you’d like to do and which key result type you’d like to create.
To create a Percentage Tracked key result, press “Select” at the bottom of the Percentage Tracked column.
To move on to step two, press “Next” at the bottom of the first step. The second step asks you what you’d like to change and what you’re tracking. For example, if you choose to track your progress for “Publish 10 Blog Posts”, you would write that here.
Press
The target date is pre-selected based on the objective but it can be changed as needed.
The fourth step asks you if you’d like to add any additional context to your key result. This context could be additional details or plans you might have for executing your key result that might help you, your management, or team members understand your key result better.
The fifth step asks if you’d like to assign your key result to anyone. Maybe you’re creating your key result for a coworker to work on and you need to assign it to a peer, or if your manager is creating a key result, they have the option to assign it to you here.
To assign the result, you can start typing their name in the textbox, or you can click the magnifying glass to see a list of employees, departments, and teams to choose from.
This step can be skipped if you do not want to assign your key result to anyone else.
The final step asks you how often you want to update your status or check-in on your key result. You can select weekly updates, monthly updates, or daily updates.
Once you’ve finished, select “Complete” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your key result.
Milestone Tracked
The Milestone Tracked option is ideal for tracking key results that need to be completed in multiple steps. While many key results are quantitative, there are times in which your progress can’t be measured numerically. In these instances, the completion progress of Milestone Tracked key results is based on the completion of these steps or milestones.
For example, if your goal is to hire a new sales manager, there are steps you will need to take to complete that process. The first step could be to post and advertise the position. Then you could select the top ten candidates, decide which to phone screen and which to interview in person, provide the top candidate with an offer, and onboard them. Each of these steps is representative of a different stage of your key result completion.
To create a Milestone Tracked key result using the step-by-step guide is to choose “Milestone Tracked” in the first step.
Press “Next” to continue on to step two. The second step asks you what you’d like to change. For Milestone Tracked key results, this requires you to determine the steps you need to take to complete the key result. Step two offers several milestone templates to choose from.
However, if none of the ready-made options best fit your needs, you can create your own sequence. You can title your sequence based on what you’re looking to change and add steps that you would like to take to make this change. To create your own sequence, select “Create New” at the top of the section.
While creating your milestone sequence, you can enable a toggle labeled “Save as template” to
save a copy of it in the “My templates” category. Then, your sequence will be available for future use when creating new key results.
Users can also share their templates with other employees so they can use it in their key results.
When you’ve chosen or created your sequence, press “Next” to move on to step three. The third step asks you when you’d like to have your key result accomplished. The target date for your key result can be set quarterly or annually, just like your objective target date.
The target date is pre-selected based on the objective but it can be changed as needed.
The fourth step asks if there’s any additional context you’d like to add to the key result. This context could be additional details or plans you might have for executing your key result that might help you, your management, or team members understand your key result better.
The fifth step asks if you’d like to assign your key result to anyone. To assign the result, you can start typing their name in the textbox, or you can click the magnifying glass to see a list of employees, departments, and teams to choose from.
This step can be skipped if you do not want to assign your key result to anyone else.
The final step asks you how often you want to update your status or check-in on your key result. You can select weekly updates, monthly updates, or daily updates.
Once you’ve finished, select “Complete” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your key result.
Baseline KPI
The third key result option is the Baseline KPI. This can be used when you don’t have a clear idea about the value of a KPI and you want to establish one. For example, this could involve either establishing a customer satisfaction score or an employee score–it’s about creating something you don’t have at the moment and need to establish a baseline for moving forward.
The first step is to select Baseline KPI for your key result type.
Press “Next” to continue on to step two. The second step asks you what you’d like to change. For example, if you choose to establish a customer satisfaction score, you would select that KPI option.
Just like with Milestone Tracked key results, you also have the option to customize Baseline KPIs. This function also applies to the Increase, Decrease, and Control KPIs. To do so, click on the “Create KPI” option at the top right-hand corner of step two next to the search bar.
If you choose to create a new KPI, the first thing you need to do is select the category. The category asks you to broadly classify your KPI from a drop-down list, whether it be in Customer Support, HR, IT, Sales, etc.
Once you select a category for your KPI, you’ll need to label it with a name. For example, you might create a KPI to track the “Number of Customer Recommendations.”
Next, select the key result type for your KPI. After you’ve established a baseline, you’ll need to determine if you’d like to increase, decrease, or control the KPI. If your goal is to eventually increase the number of customer recommendations, you would want to select Increase KPI, because your goal would be to increase the number of people your customers recommend your services to.
Last, you need to choose a measurement type. In this case, if you were looking to increase the number of customer recommendations, you’d select numeric because your KPI is based on a numeric value. There are other instances, however, where you might select currency (ex: annual revenue), percentage (ex: conversion rate), or time (ex: training hours).
After you’ve chosen or created a KPI, the third step asks you to select the sequence of steps that will need to be taken in order to create a baseline. This step is similar to the third step for creating a Milestone Tracked key result.
You also have the option to create your own sequence (See Milestone Tracked Using Step by Step).
Step four asks for your key result completion target date. The third step asks you when you’d like to have your key result accomplished. The target date for your key result can be set quarterly or annually, just like your objective target date.
The target date is pre-selected based on the objective but it can be changed as needed.
The fifth step asks if there’s any other context you’d like to add to your key result. This could be an additional note or detail for yourself or anyone viewing your key results for clarification.
Step six asks if you’d like to assign your key result to anyone. To assign the result, you can start typing their name in the textbox, or you can click the magnifying glass to see a list of employees, departments, and teams to choose from.
This step can be skipped if you do not want to assign your key result to anyone else.
The final step asks you how often you want to update your status or check-in on your key result. You can select weekly updates, monthly updates, or daily updates.
Once you’ve finished, select “Complete” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your key result.
Increase KPI
Next is the Increase KPI option. This can be used when you are trying to increase the value of a KPI. For example, you may use this option for increasing revenue or increasing the number of retail outlets your organization has in a given area. Depending on what you’re looking to increase, you can make your increase value a specific number, percentage, amount of money, or time.
To create an Increase KPI, first select the “Increase KPI” option from step one.
Press “Next” to continue on to step two. The second step asks you what you’d like to change. For example, if you’re looking to increase your revenue, you would select “Revenue” as your KPI.
Just like with Milestone Tracked key results, you also have the option to customize Baseline KPIs. This function also applies to the Increase, Decrease, and Control KPIs. To do so, click on the “Create KPI” option at the top right hand corner of step two next to the search bar.
If you choose to create a new KPI, the first thing you need to do is select the category. The category asks you to broadly classify your KPI from a drop-down list, whether it be in Customer Support, HR, IT, Sales, etc.
Once you select a category for your KPI, you’ll need to label it with a name. For example, you might create a KPI to track the “Number of Customer Recommendations.”
Next, select the key result type for your KPI. After you’ve established a baseline, you’ll need to determine if you’d like to increase, decrease, or control the KPI. If your goal is to eventually increase the number of customer recommendations, you would want to select Increase KPI, because your goal would be to increase the number of people your customers recommend your services to.
Last, you need to choose a measurement type. In this case, if you were looking to increase the number of customer recommendations, you’d select numeric because your KPI is based on a numeric value. There are other instances, however, where you might select currency (ex: annual revenue), percentage (ex: conversion rate), or time (ex: days of supply).
Step three then asks for the values you’d like to increase. The medium is dependent on the KPI that you’ve chosen in the second step.
For example, if you’ve chosen to increase revenue, your value in step three will be measured in currency. Here input your current value (what you have now) and the value you’d like it to increase to (ex: $1 million to $1.5 million).
In step four, you’ll select the target date for your key result. The target date for your key result can be set quarterly or annually, just like your objective target date.
The target date is pre-selected based on the objective but it can be changed as needed.
The fifth step, asks you to add any additional context that might help to clarify your KR for you or your managers.
The fifth step asks if you’d like to assign your key result to anyone. To assign the result, you can start typing their name in the textbox, or you can click the magnifying glass to see a list of employees, departments, and teams to choose from.
This step can be skipped if you do not want to assign your key result to anyone else.
The seventh and final step asks how often you’d like to update or check-in on your key results. You can select weekly updates, monthly updates, or daily updates.
Once you’ve finished, select “Complete” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your key result.
Decrease KPI
In some instances, it may be best to lower the value of a KPI. For example, an organization may aim to reduce the employee attrition rate or reduce the number of issues in a test or product. Like with Increase KPIs, depending on what you’d like to change, your decrease can take the form of a numeric value, percentage, currency, or time.
The first step is to select the “Decrease KPI” option from the guide.
Step two asks you to select the KPI related to what you’d like to change. For example, maybe you want to Decrease the Average no. of interactions per ticket from 5 to 2. Ticket replies or average tickets could be your KPI.
Just like with Increase KPI key results, you also have the option to customize KPIs for decreases if the KPI you’re looking for isn’t present. To do so, click on the “Create KPI” option at the top right hand corner of step two next to the search bar.
If you choose to create a new KPI, the first thing you need to do is select the category. The category asks you to broadly classify your KPI from a drop-down list, whether it be in Customer Support, HR, IT, Sales, etc.
Once you select a category for your KPI, you’ll need to label it with a name.
Next, select the key result type for your KPI. In this case, because you’re looking to decrease a value, you would select “Decrease KPI.”
Last, you need to choose a measurement type. In this case, if you were looking to decrease the number of ticket interactions, you’d select numeric because your KPI is based on a numeric value. There are other instances, however, where you might select currency (ex: annual revenue), percentage (ex: conversion rate), or time (ex: days of supply).
The third step asks you to input the values you’re looking to decrease. For example, in this instance you would input a decrease from five to two.
The fourth step asks you to select a target date for your key result. The target date for your key result can be set quarterly or annually, just like your objective target date.
The target date is pre-selected based on the objective but it can be changed as needed.
Step five is for any additional context that you’d like to add to provide details and clarify your key result for yourself or managers.
In step six, you can choose to assign your key result to someone else. To assign the result, you can start typing their name in the textbox, or you can click the magnifying glass to see a list of employees, departments, and teams to choose from.
This step can be skipped if you do not want to assign your key result to anyone else.
The seventh and final step asks how often you’d like to update or check-in on your key results. You can select weekly updates, monthly updates, or daily updates.
Once you’ve finished, select “Complete” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your key result.
Control KPI
The last option, Control KPI, allows you to keep the value of a KPI within a specific range, above a certain amount, or below a certain amount. For example, maybe you’d like to keep employee training hours in between 20-40 hours a year. This is an “in between” Control KPI because you’re looking to maintain a range in between certain values. Other times, it may be beneficial to have a lower limit, like if you want at least 10,000 views on your webpage per week. The lower limit would be 10,000–this is an “at least” Control KPI. Or maybe you’re looking to enforce an upper limit. An example of an “at most” Control KPI could be a key result to “ensure that all KPIs respond within 400 milliseconds.” In this instance you do not want your KPI to exceed 400 milliseconds. Control KPI can also be tracked by a variety of measurements such as numeric value, percentage, currency, or time.
To begin creating your key result, select the “Control KPI” option from the first step in the step-by-step guide.
Step two asks you to choose your KPI, or what you’re looking to change. For example, if you choose to maintain your company training hours, you could select training hours for your KPI.
You can also create KPIs if you cannot find your KPI in the selection of templates.
Once you select a category for your KPI, you’ll need to label it with a name.
Next, select the key result type for your KPI. In this case, because you’re looking to decrease a value, you would select “Decrease KPI.”
Last, you need to choose a measurement type. In this case, if you were looking to decrease the number of ticket interactions, you’d select numeric because your KPI is based on a numeric value. There are other instances, however, where you might select currency (ex: annual revenue), percentage (ex: conversion rate), or time (ex: days of supply).
The third step asks you to set your controls. There are three subtypes of Control KPIs: In Between, At Most, and At Least. For In Between, you’re looking to maintain your KPI within a specific range; in step three, you specify the range you’re looking to maintain. For At Most KPIs, you’re looking to set an upper limit (ex: my website will take at most 400 millisecond to load). In step three, 400 milliseconds would be your upper limit. You can also have At Least KPIs (ex: maintain at least 85% employee engagement). Here, 85% would be your lower limit.
Quick Create
The Quick Create option allows you to create your key result in a single step.
Type in your key result and press “Enter” to create your new KR. For example, if your objective is to “Improve your Online Branding” and your key result might be to “Increase your Instagram Followers by 1,000.”
The Key Result will be created assuming some defaults:
It will be Percentage Tracked
The target date will be for the current quarter
Your check-in frequency options are set by your superusers.
Using form
Form is a quick and easy way to create key results in Profit and the layout is very similar to that of the Form for creating objectives.
When you choose to use Form, all sections of key result creation are displayed on a single page. On this page, you can choose the date you’d like to complete the key result by, the type of key result, what’s being tracked, who this key result may be assigned to, and how often you’d like to check in on the result’s progress.
The Key Result will be created assuming some defaults:
It will be Percentage Tracked
The timeframe will be for the current quarter
To change these defaults, select the section you’d like to change. For example, to change the target date, select what is currently set as the target date and you’ll find a drop down calendar.
From backlog
If you’re looking for a drafting space for these key results, you can use the KR Backlog. To access the backlog, click on the symbol in between the action and help centers in the top right corner of your screen.
Once you enter the backlog, you can create a key result by clicking create at the top left of the screen.
When you’ve created your KR, you label it with a name and save it to the backlog.
When you’re ready to assign your backlog KR to an objective, click on the target to the right of the name.
Once you’ve clicked “Add to objective”, you can choose to add your KR to your individual OKRs, your department’s OKRs, or your team’s OKRs. You can select the OKR you’d like to add you backlog key result to on this page.
After you’ve added your key result to an OKR, you can edit it to add more detail or customize it for your objective.
