Objectives (also known as OKRs) let you set and track competitive goals supported by measurable key results. This feature helps you align your team and organization around shared goals.
Note: This is a legacy feature for legacy Enterprise plans.
What Are Objectives and Key Results?
Objectives are competitive goals that you and your team aim to achieve. Each objective is supported by key results, which are metrics or measurements that outline the steps needed to achieve the goal. Together, this system of objectives and key results (OKRs) helps you track goals and progress.
In Fellow, objectives include:
An objective statement
An assignee
A due date
A status
Progress tracking
Related key results
Understanding Objective Cycles
Cycles are time periods when objectives are created and completed. Cycles can be traditional business quarters (Q1 2021, Q2 2021) or customized to fit your organization's timelines.
Create an objective cycle (administrators only)
Go to Workspace Settings → Objective cycles
Click Create cycle in the upper right corner
Add a name and time period (start date and end date)
Optionally, add a description to summarize the overall goal or focus of the cycle
Click to create the cycle
Once created, you can set a cycle as the default for your team to create objectives in, or users can manually select a cycle when creating objectives.
Manage cycles
After creating a cycle, you can edit it or archive it at any time. You cannot archive the default cycle.
Managing teams
If you're looking to assign an objective to a team versus an individual contributor, an administrator will first have to create the team. Here's how to do this:
Go to Workspace Settings → Manage teams
Click Add new team in the upper right corner
Give the team a name, a handle, and description (if applicable)
Click next to add team members
Click to create the team
Teams can be edited, archived, or deleted at any time on this same page.
Create a New Objective
Steps to create an objective
In the More menu, click Objectives
Click Create objective in the upper right corner
Give your objective a title, due date, and assignee
Optionally, add a description of the objective
Create your key results:
Add a due date
Add an owner
Specify a target (start, current, target values)
Specify the weighting (1x by default, increase to 2x or more for key results that are more important)
Select the objective cycle (the time period when this objective will be worked on)
Set the visibility (public or private) and add any contributors
Optionally, add a parent objective if one applies
Click Create Objective
Duplicate an objective
If you need to create similar objectives for multiple direct reports or repeat an objective in the next cycle, use the duplicate feature:
Click into My Objectives and select the objective you want to duplicate
Click Open
Click the three dots dropdown at the top of the objective
Select Duplicate Objective
Make any changes to the duplicate (title, cycle, assignee, etc.)
Click Create Objective
View and Filter Objectives
Visibility settings
Every objective in Fellow can be designated as:
Public: Visible to the entire workspace
Private: Visible only to contributors and assignees
Filter objectives
You can filter objectives that are visible to you by:
Teams or users: View objectives where someone is the direct assignee, a member of the assigned team, or a contributor
Status: Filter by objective status
Cycle: View objectives for specific cycles (can select multiple cycles)
View hierarchy with parent and child objectives
Parent and child objectives allow for nesting of objectives. A main objective (the parent) can be broken down into smaller components (children) to provide more detail and define key results at every level.
Use the Tree view to see the hierarchy of parent and child objectives.
Visibility rules for parent and child objectives
If the parent is public but the child is private: You cannot see the private child objective unless you're a contributor
If the parent is private but the child is public: You cannot see the parent objective unless you're a contributor
Set Up Child Objectives to Contribute to Parent Objectives
By default, child objectives are set to contribute 0x to the parent objective. If the weighting stays at 0x, the child objective will show progress but the parent will not.
How to set up contribution
Click on the parent objective
Edit the weighting of the child objective (change from 0x to 1x or higher)
Once changed, the child objective will start contributing to the parent objective's progress
The weighting determines how much the child objective contributes to the parent. For example, if a child objective is weighted at 1x and there's also a key result weighted at 1x, both contribute equally to the parent's progress.
Manage Objective Status
Statuses are manually set and indicate the progress of the objective. They do not automatically update based on the progress percentage.
Available statuses
No updates provided (no icon)
At risk: This objective may not be completed by the end of the cycle
On track: The team is making good progress on completing this objective
Achieved: This objective has been achieved
Postponed: This objective will be addressed at a later date (will not be achieved this cycle)
Behind: The team is not making the anticipated progress but it is still achievable
How to set a status
Open the objective
Click on the status indicator
Select the desired status from the dropdown
Add Comments to Objectives
Sometimes just changing or not changing a key result doesn't tell the whole story. Add comments to provide additional context about the progress, blockers, or status updates.
Add a general comment
Find and open the objective
Click Add a comment
Enter your comment (you can @mention users, include hyperlinks, or add text)
Click the checkmark to confirm
Comment on a status update
You can also add a comment directly on an update to the progress or status.
Click the three dots at the end of the comment
Select Edit description
Make your edits
Click the checkmark to confirm
Use Objectives in Meetings
Insert key results into your meeting agenda to connect what you're discussing with your team's overall key results. This helps you stay on track during meetings.