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Link Objectives

Linking objectives is a strategic approach that allows organizations to establish company-wide goals while enabling teams to define specific objectives that support these broader targets. By linking objectives, you can demonstrate how individual, team, and department objectives align with higher-level organizational goals. This collaborative framework creates a unified approach to achieving organizational objectives while giving teams autonomy to define their specific contributions.

You can link objectives directly from the objective details drawer, where you can search for and connect to team, department, or organization-level objectives. The linked objectives are displayed in the objective details drawer, providing visibility into how your work aligns with broader organizational priorities.

Linking vs. Parent-Child Relationships

Linked Objectives create related connections for visibility and context. You can link multiple objectives to show they're related or complementary.

Parent-Child Relationships (Cascading OKRs) create a strict hierarchy where each objective has one parent, showing direct contribution to higher-level goals. See Cascade OKRs in Agility for hierarchical alignment.

Benefits of Linking OKRs​

Linking objectives provides:

  • Agility - Teams can adapt their OKRs to respond to shifting priorities, valuable in fast-paced industries
  • Ownership - Autonomy in setting OKRs encourages team members to take ownership of their contributions
  • Alignment - Linking individual and team OKRs to company goals clarifies how work impacts organizational success

Introduction to Aligned OKRs​

Aligned OKRs extend the linking concept by emphasizing transparency and communication across all levels. With Aligned OKRs, teams set their own objectives while ensuring alignment with the overarching company goals. This creates a dynamic where each team's unique goals contribute to the company's shared vision, offering flexibility in approach but consistency in direction.

Example of Aligned OKRs: Increasing Customer Satisfaction​

Team-level Aligned OKRs:​

Customer Support Team:

Objective: Provide faster, more effective customer support.

Key Results:

  • Resolve customer inquiries within 8 hours, improving from 12 hours.
  • Increase the number of positive feedback responses by 15%.

Product Team:

Objective: Enhance user experience to reduce frustration.

Key Results:

  • Reduce reported user issues by 25%.
  • Increase positive usability feedback by 20%.

You can link objectives from within the objective details drawer to establish alignment with higher-level team, department, or organization objectives.

Follow the steps outlined here to link your objectives:

  1. Click the hamburger icon and select OKRs.
  2. From the OKR listing page, click on an objective to open the details drawer.
  3. In the objective details drawer, locate the Linked Objectives section.
  4. Click Add and use the search bar to search for objectives by name or number.
  5. Select the required objective from the search results and click Add.

The objective is linked and appears in the Linked Objectives section of the drawer. This allows you to understand how your objective aligns with higher-level organizational goals.

View Linked Objectives​

Once objectives are linked, you can view them in the objective details drawer:

  1. Click on an objective from the OKR list to open the details drawer.
  2. The Linked Objectives section displays all objectives linked to the current objective.
  3. You can see how your objective connects to team, department, or organization-level objectives.

This visibility helps you understand the broader context and alignment of your work with organizational priorities.

If you need to remove a link between objectives:

  1. Click on the objective from the OKR list to open the details drawer.
  2. In the Linked Objectives section, locate the linked objective you want to remove.
  3. Click the Remove icon next to the linked objective.
  4. Confirm the removal when prompted.

The objective is unlinked and removed from the Linked Objectives section.