OKR Prioritization Guide

1. Understanding OKRs

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) provide a framework for setting ambitious goals and tracking progress.

Example OKR:

Objective: Become the leading KYC platform for enterprise financial institutions

Key Results:

• Increase product adoption among top 20 banks from 3 to 10
• Achieve 35% growth in monthly active users
• Improve customer retention rate to 95%
• Generate £2M in new ARR from enterprise segment

2. Portfolio Prioritization Framework

Systematically evaluate and prioritize initiatives across your product portfolio.

Scoring Criteria (Rate 1-5 for each):

Criterion	Description	Weight
Business Impact	Revenue, cost savings, market share	×3
Customer Value	Solves critical pain point, adoption potential	×3
Strategic Alignment	Supports company vision and OKRs	×2
Effort/Complexity	Development time, resources required (inverse score)	×2
Time Sensitivity	Market opportunity, competitive pressure	×1

Priority Score = (Business Impact × 3) + (Customer Value × 3) + (Strategic Alignment × 2) + (Low Effort × 2) + (Time Sensitivity × 1)

3. Effective Prioritization Process

Step-by-Step Approach:

• Gather all potential initiatives and feature requests
• Facilitate collaborative scoring workshop with stakeholders
• Score each initiative against prioritization criteria
• Plot initiatives on effort/impact matrix
• Identify "quick wins" (high impact, low effort)
• Align top priorities with OKRs and available capacity
• Communicate decisions and rationale transparently

4. Roadmap Alignment

Connecting OKRs to your product roadmap and execution plans.

Roadmap Best Practices:

• Create theme-based roadmap aligned to OKRs
• Balance innovation, optimization, and technical debt
• Maintain flexibility for emerging opportunities
• Present quarterly roadmaps to C-level executives
• Tie each major initiative to specific Key Results
• Track progress and adjust based on learnings

Quarter	Theme	Key Initiatives	Supporting OKR
Q1	Platform Expansion	API v2 launch, New integrations	Increase adoption among top 20 banks
Q2	User Experience	Dashboard redesign, Mobile app	Achieve 35% growth in active users
Q3	Enterprise Features	Advanced analytics, Custom workflows	Generate £2M in new ARR
Q4	Optimization	Performance improvements, Tech debt	Improve retention to 95%

5. Stakeholder Management

Building alignment and buy-in across the organization.

Key Activities:

• Lead product vision workshops with C-level executives
• Present prioritization rationale with data-driven insights
• Create regular communication cadence (monthly/quarterly reviews)
• Share progress dashboards showing OKR achievement
• Solicit feedback and adjust based on business changes
• Celebrate wins and learnings from completed initiatives

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration

Effective prioritization requires input and alignment from multiple teams.

Collaboration Framework:

• Conduct Product/Tech/UX workshops to track portfolio progress
• Hold regular demo sessions sharing concepts with teams
• Enable product, engineering, and design idea presentations
• Maintain shared documentation (Confluence, Jira)
• Establish clear ownership and accountability
• Create diverse, cross-functional product teams

7. Measuring Success

Tracking OKR progress and iterating on your prioritization approach.

Success Metrics:

• OKR achievement rate (aim for 60-70% for stretch goals)
• Time from ideation to delivery
• Percentage of initiatives completed vs. planned
• Stakeholder satisfaction with prioritization process
• Business outcomes delivered (revenue, retention, adoption)