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Associate Agility Assets with Objectives and Key Results

Agility allows you to associate Objectives and Key Results (OKR) with work items including Portfolio Items, Stories, Defects, and Strategic Themes. This enables better alignment between strategic goals and execution by connecting OKRs with the real work being done in your organization.

Prerequisites​

  • Agility Pro or Premium license required to use OKR features.
  • OKR feature must be enabled in system settings.

What you can associate:

  • With Objectives: Portfolio items and strategic themes
  • With Key Results: Portfolio items, stories, and defects

You can associate work items with public OKRs (whether read-only or editable). This allows you to:

  • Align your work with manager, team, or organizational OKRs with clear traceability to higher-level goals
  • Strengthen visibility into how day-to-day work contributes to strategic outcomes
  • Support collaboration across teams by connecting individual or portfolio-level efforts with shared objectives

Associate Work Items with Objectives​

Objectives can be associated with portfolio items and strategic themes to demonstrate alignment between high-level goals and portfolio-level work.

Associate Portfolio Items with an Objective​

  1. Click the hamburger icon Hamburger icon > OKRs.
  2. From the OKR list, click on an objective to open the details drawer (Details tab opens by default).
  3. Scroll to the Portfolio Items section in the Details tab.
  4. Click + Add.
  5. In the search bar, enter the Portfolio Item ID or Title.
  6. Click the Add next to the portfolio item.

The portfolio item is now associated with the objective and appears in the Portfolio Items section.

Associated Attributes: After association, the portfolio item displays with its ID, title, and current status in the Portfolio Items section.

Associate Strategic Themes with an Objective​

  1. Click the hamburger icon Hamburger icon > OKRs.
  2. From the OKR list, click on an objective to open the details drawer (Details tab opens by default).
  3. Scroll to the Strategic Themes section in the Details tab.
  4. Click + Add.
  5. In the search bar, enter the Strategic Theme ID or Title.
  6. Click the Add next to the strategic theme.

The strategic theme is now associated with the objective, ensuring that all initiatives contribute to a common vision.

Associate Work Items with Key Results​

Key results can be associated with portfolio items, stories, and defects to connect measurable outcomes with the specific work being executed.

Associate Portfolio Items with a Key Result​

  1. Click the hamburger icon Hamburger icon > OKRs.
  2. From the OKR list, click on an objective to open the details drawer.
  3. Click the Key Results tab.
  4. Select the key result you want to associate work items with.
  5. In the portfolio items section, click + Add.
  6. In the search bar, enter the Portfolio Item ID or Title.
  7. Click the Add next to the portfolio item.....

The portfolio item is now associated with the key result.

Associate Stories with a Key Result​

  1. Click the hamburger icon Hamburger icon > OKRs.
  2. From the OKR list, click on an objective to open the details drawer.
  3. Click the Key Results tab.
  4. Select the key result you want to associate work items with.
  5. In the stories section, click + Add.
  6. In the search bar, enter the Story ID or Title.
  7. Click the Add next to the story.

The story is now associated with the key result.

Associate Defects with a Key Result​

  1. Click the hamburger icon Hamburger icon > OKRs.
  2. From the OKR list, click on an objective to open the details drawer.
  3. Click the Key Results tab.
  4. Select the key result you want to associate work items with.
  5. In the Bugs section, click + Add.
  6. In the search bar, enter the Defect ID or Title.
  7. Click the Add next to the defect.

The defect is now associated with the key result.

Associated Attributes: After association, the defect displays with its ID, title, status, owner, and priority.

View Associated Work Items​

All work items associated with an objective or key result are displayed within the objective details drawer:

  1. Click on an objective from the OKR list to open the details drawer.
  2. In the Details tab (default view), scroll through the sections to view:
    • Linked Objectives - Objectives linked for alignment
    • Cascaded To - Child objectives
    • Portfolio Items - Portfolio items associated with the objective
    • Strategic Themes - Strategic themes associated with the objective
  3. For key result associations, click the Key Results tab, select a key result, and view its associated work items in the key result details.

The Details tab provides a complete view of all work items connected to your objective.

Remove Work Item Associations​

To remove a work item association from an objective or key result:

  1. Open the objective details drawer.
  2. In the Details tab, locate the appropriate section (Epics, Strategic Themes, etc.) or navigate to the Key Results tab for key result associations.
  3. Locate the work item you want to remove.
  4. Click the Remove icon next to the work item.
  5. Confirm the removal when prompted with Are you sure you want to remove this associated work item?

The work item is removed from the objective or key result but remains in Agility.

Benefits of Associating Work Items​

Associating work items with OKRs provides:

  • Traceability: Clear connections from strategic objectives to execution-level work
  • Progress Visibility: See which work items contribute to objective and key result completion
  • Alignment: Team efforts directly support organizational goals
  • Reporting: Better insights into how work items map to strategic outcomes
  • Collaboration: Teams see how their work connects to broader objectives
Best Practices
  • Associate work items as early as possible to establish clear alignment
  • Review associations regularly to ensure work remains aligned with strategic priorities
  • Use the Details tab sections (Epics, Strategic Themes) to communicate how day-to-day work supports objectives