How to Score OKRs in 8 Steps in 2025

It’s 2025, teams are moving faster than ever, and OKRs are no longer just a “strategy framework.” They’ve become the rhythm of how modern organizations work. 

Setting OKRs is easy, scoring them right isn’t.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Are we really making progress?”  you’re not alone. Many teams still struggle to translate their ambitious objectives into measurable, meaningful results.

That’s where OKR scoring comes in. It’s not just about assigning numbers, it’s about understanding impact, learning from outcomes, and course-correcting in real time.

In this blog, we’ll break down how to score your OKRs in 8 simple steps, why it matters in 2025’s fast-evolving work environment, and how the right OKR software can simplify the entire process. 

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to measure what truly matters  and make every quarter a story of progress, not guesswork.

What is OKR scoring?

OKR scoring is a simple way to assess how much progress an organization has made toward objectives. With OKRs, the Objective describes what you want to accomplish, while the Key Results explain how you will measure success. 

Each key result is scored from 0 to 1, with a score of 0 explaining no progress and a score of 1 meaning you fully accomplished the intended progress. The average of all key result scores represents the overall progress of the objective. 

For example, if your goal is to increase sales and you achieve most but not all of your targets, it might be reasonable to score the OKR as a 0.7. By doing this, you can show that progress was made but you did not achieve your objective completely.

The benefits of scoring OKRs

Scoring OKRs can offer numerous benefits for a team’s performance and overall success. By implementing a robust scoring system, a product manager can effectively evaluate the progress and achievements of their team. 

One significant advantage is the ability to gain a clear and measurable understanding of how well the team is meeting its objectives. This not only helps in assessing the team’s performance but also provides a solid basis for making informed decisions and strategic adjustments. 

Furthermore, an effective scoring system can foster a culture of accountability and transparency within the team, encouraging members to take ownership of their tasks and deliverables. It also facilitates better communication and collaboration, as team members can visualize their collective progress and identify areas that require more attention.

Overall, an efficient OKR scoring system enables teams to stay focused, motivated, and aligned with the overarching goals, driving them toward higher levels of productivity and success.

How to score OKRs

Have you ever set goals that seemed great in theory but then had no clue how to know if they were actually effective?

Enter OKR scoring, it takes fuzzy goals and helps to ensure you can measure progress toward that goal. The point is that there is not one “right” way to score OKRs. The best method for your organization will depend on how your team is structured and the maturity of your organization.  

If you are on a smaller team, take the simplest route, focus on clarity of the goal and make progress easy to assess. If you are part of a larger organization, take a more structured scoring approach that captures progress and impact across teams. 

Next, let’s look at eight tangible scoring and grading mechanisms for your OKRs  from the simplest scoring and grading methods to advanced grading models that set you up to have a better understanding of performance.

Eight methods for scoring and grading OKRs

1. Google OKR scoring scale

Google uses a simple grading scale to assess OKRs. It provides teams with a sense of how well or poorly they have progressed towards a goal:

0.0 –  No progress has been made.

0.3 –  Some progress had been made, but the goal had not been fully achieved.

0.7 – Approximately 70% of the goal had been achieved.

1.0 – The objective was fully achieved, or even exceeded.

To illustrate, if a goal is to increase user engagement by 20% and one of the key results is to improve the user interface, the team would likely give themselves a grade of 0.7 when the interface improved, but they didn’t meet their engagement goal.

2. The Andy Grove Method (AKA the binary method)

The Binary Method, or Andy Grove Method, is one of the easiest methods for scoring OKRs. 

Each key result is marked as either achieved (1) or not achieved (0) – there are no in-betweens. This allows for quick scoring and removes the guesswork. 

For example, if your key result is to launch a new website by March if you launch the website on time you score a 1 if the website is not launched on time you score a 0. 

3. Year-long OKR scorecard template

The OKR Scorecard in one-year review, is a way for teams to identify and monitor their goals and overall progress towards those goals in the coming year. Generally, there are 4 columns- objective, key results, current status, and final score. The OKR scorecard format serves as an easier way to review progress made towards an objective, gaps in performance and updates on the OKR goals.

A simple scorecard may look like this:

This kind of template gives teams a clear view of where they stand and what needs more focus before the next review cycle.

4. OKR grading scorecard template

A grading scorecard for OKRs assists teams in assessing how successful they have been on each of their key results. The scorecard is usually structured in columns that track the key result, the summary of progress towards accomplishing the key result, and the final grade or score. This serves to support a deeper understanding of departmental health when it comes to prioritizing which areas are performing better and which areas are neglected. 

Here is an example: 

Utilizing a grading scorecard in this way helps teams maintain transparency in their progress and better align on priorities for the next cycle.

5. Predictive or Confidence scoring

This method assigns a score indicating how confident the team feels they are going to achieve a specific key result. It is a way to measure progress forward and predict possible success.

For example, if a team feels they are 80 percent confident they will achieve a key result, they would assign a score of .8. This allows tracking for performance and what level of confidence teams had in their plans through the OKR cycle.

6. Grading on Key Results type

A weight is assigned to each of the key results depending on its range of importance or difficulty within this approach. Greater significance of weight increases overall OKR score in a tangible way.

For example, if retaining customers is more important than increasing a base of social media followers, then retention may be assigned a weight of 60% and the increase of social media followers 40%. The weight assigned determines the difference in importance thus the overall OKR score.

7. The No-Grade approach

Several organizations are inclined to evaluate OKR progress qualitatively rather than using metrics. In this approach, teams give descriptive feedback such as “what worked, what did not work, and how can we improve” to describe progress rather than using a score.

For example, instead of demonstrating a key result as having a .8, a team may note “The new onboarding process was rolled out successfully, but employee adoption is a bit slower than we hoped.” 

This process allows for rich reflection and discussion surrounding outcomes rather than completing some numerical target.

8. Scoring Method Comparison chart

A method comparison table for scoring methods allows organizations to weigh the pros and cons of various OKR scoring methods and select the best method for their situation.

The comparison table would consist of at least the method name, a brief list of key features, benefits, disadvantages, and an indication for which team sizes or types of goals this scoring method is best suited.

For example:

This comparison makes it easier to pick a scoring system that matches your organization’s size, culture, and level of OKR maturity.

These were the eight methods of scoring and grading OKRs in 2025. Each provides a different way to measure your progress and overall performance.

Now, let’s look at some OKR scoring best practices so you can maximize your scoring effectiveness regardless of which method you choose. 

Best practices for effective OKR scoring 

A solid way to score OKRs keeps everyone focused, motivated, and aligned on the things that truly matter. Here are five simple yet powerful practices to put into place:

1. Set clear scoring parameters 

Before starting the OKR cycle, agree and articulate how each key result will be measured, and make sure all teams understand exactly what success looks like.

This will prevent any ambiguity, and gives teams the parameters to assess how they fared.

2. Be transparent with your results 

Once the OKR cycle concludes, share the results and scores with the rest of the team or organization, as applicable.

Transparency breeds accountability, fosters learning, and allows teams to celebrate a win, or understand what needs improvement.

3. Use a standard scoring template 

A scoring template containing the four components (objective, key results, associated scores) makes scoring simple and predictable for every team. 

This gives all teams a common reference point, helps with consistency and fairness, and is important that teams learn to follow a specific template.

4. Be candid and impartial

Evaluate OKRs based on fact, not feelings. Don’t exaggerate or minimize the results, but be honest and reasonable in your evaluations. Candid evaluations help build trust and give the OKR process relevance.

5. Use an OKR management tools or software

Use an OKR management tool to remove the manual labor of tracking progress, automatically updating, and visualizing scores.

This saves time, minimizes manual work, and gives everyone a visual snapshot of where you stand.

6. Align with your company values

Make sure your OKR evaluations reflect the values and culture of the organization.

Your evaluation process should both measure level of achievement but also reinforce behaviors that align with the organization’s mission or way of doing things.

Overall, applying these best practices should make OKR scoring more accountable, transparent, and a more engaged experience for everyone  taking a teams’ goals into results and becoming better afterwards.

Choose the right OKR software to score OKRs effectively

When you have the correct OKR system, then scoring becomes easier, consistent, and transparent. Rather than dealing with spreadsheets, a quality tool allows you to create, manage, and score OKRs in one platform.

Look for software that supports:

• Setting clear and measurable objectives and key results.
• Updating progress in real-time to keep everyone aligned.
• Displaying OKR scoring on dashboards or reports.
• Leverage integrations such as HRMS or project management software.
• Create an environment with the ability to comment and review and reflect on outcomes together.

The best OKR platform not only makes scoring in progress, but supports creating a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

Scoring OKRs doesn’t have to be complex – it’s simply about remaining honest, consistent, and oriented toward progress. I find it changes the conversation entirely if teams use scoring as a tool to learn versus as an act of judgment. 

In 2025, it’s not about targets, it is about what worked, what didn’t work, and how we can do better next time. That is growth.

FAQS

1. How often should OKRs be scored?

 Most teams score OKRs at the end of each quarter, but it’s helpful to review progress monthly to stay on track and make quick adjustments if needed.

2. What is a good OKR score?

 A score between 0.6 and 0.7 usually means strong progress.

3. Should everyone in the company have OKRs?

Yes, but they should be relevant to each team or role. Company-level OKRs set direction, while team and individual OKRs ensure alignment and accountability.

4. Can OKRs be scored without software?

Yes, you can use spreadsheets or templates, but OKR software makes tracking, updating, and visualizing progress much easier