Your team has goals. Real goals.
They’re ambitious, measurable, and clearly written.
But a few weeks in, you start to feel the gap.
People are working hard - but are they working on the right things?
Key results are sitting still - but no one’s quite sure why.
The team is moving - but not always in sync with the outcomes that matter most.
That’s the disconnect between strategy and execution - and it’s one of the biggest reasons OKRs fall flat.
The solution? OKR initiatives.
If objectives define where you’re going, and key results define how you’ll measure progress, initiatives are how you plan to get there. They translate big-picture goals into focused, visible action - so your team isn’t just aligned, but moving forward with purpose.
Let’s walk through how to write initiatives that actually move the needle, how to connect them to your OKRs, and how to make sure they support progress without adding overhead.
What Initiatives Are - and Why They Matter
Initiatives are the bridge between intention and action.
They’re the projects, bets, and priorities your team chooses to drive results.
They’re not more goals. They’re not success metrics.
They’re what you do to hit your KRs.
For example:
Objective: Improve product onboarding
Key Result: Increase activation rate from 30% → 50%
Initiatives:
- Launch onboarding checklist
- Add in-app tooltips during setup
- Interview 10 churned users from last quarter
Without initiatives, your OKRs become disconnected from day-to-day work. Weekly check-ins turn into vague updates (“Still working on it…”) instead of focused conversations about what’s moving - and why.
Initiatives ground your OKRs in action. They make strategy feel executable. And they create a culture where outcomes are tied to ownership, not just intention.
How to Write Strong OKR Initiatives
Strong initiatives aren’t just any task your team is working on.
They’re the deliberate, high-leverage actions you’re taking to move a key result forward. Think of them like strategic bets - clear enough to guide execution, flexible enough to adapt if they’re not working.
The biggest mistake teams make?
Confusing “activity” with “impact.”
A long list of to-dos might look productive, but if those tasks aren’t tightly connected to measurable outcomes, they won’t drive progress.
So how do you get initiatives right?
Here are four principles to guide your team:
1. Make them actionable
Use verbs.
Great initiatives sound like something you can start and finish - not just vague themes. You should be able to read the line and instantly picture what it means, who might lead it, and how you’ll know when it’s done.
Replace “optimize onboarding,” with “Redesign step 2 of onboarding to reduce drop-off.”
“Fix NPS,” is vague. Say “Survey 100 users post-onboarding to identify friction.” instead.
You want clarity that translates into next steps - especially when goals feel big or ambiguous.
2. Tie them to a specific KR
Every initiative should map to a key result.
This is what keeps them strategic. You’re not doing something because it’s “nice to have” - you’re doing it because you believe it will move a specific outcome.
That mapping also gives you a powerful diagnostic lever: when a key result is stalling, your first question becomes,
“What are we doing to move this - and is it working?”
If you can’t tie the initiative to a result, it might be a distraction.
3. Limit the list
More initiatives don’t equal more progress.
A cluttered list spreads your team too thin and weakens focus.
Keep it sharp. Enough to reflect meaningful effort, but not so many that everything becomes a shallow checkbox. If it doesn’t directly support a KR, it doesn’t need to be tracked as part of your OKRs.
This constraint forces prioritization - and helps your team get clear on what really matters.
4. Stay flexible
Initiatives are not set in stone. They’re hypotheses - bets you make at the start of a cycle.
If something’s not moving the metric, adjust.
Replace it. Improve it. You’re not graded on completion - you’re measured by results.
That’s why great OKR systems leave room for iteration. The real win isn’t checking off all your initiatives - it’s learning fast and staying committed to the outcome.
To help your team spot strong initiatives (and avoid vague ones), use this reference:
A good initiative doesn’t just describe a category of work - it gives the team a clear, actionable focus for moving the dial. It’s work in service of a result, not work for work’s sake.
Get these right, and your OKRs become more than just aligned - they become actionable.
How Initiatives Fit Into Your Workflow
You don’t need another spreadsheet or system just to track initiatives. The simplest way to keep them visible? Put them right underneath each key result - in your OKR tool, dashboard, or shared planning doc.
For each KR, you can list:
- The initiatives you’re running
- Who owns each one
- A quick status update (optional but helpful)
This structure creates built-in visibility. During your weekly check-ins, you’re not just reviewing metrics - you’re reviewing what you’re doing to move those metrics.
And if you’re not doing anything yet? That tells you something too.
How Many Initiatives Is Too Many?
There’s no perfect number - but the more initiatives you have, the less likely each one is driving real impact.
For most teams, 2–4 initiatives per key result is plenty.
Enough to reflect serious effort. And lean enough to stay focused.
If you’re mid-cycle and a key result hasn’t moved, check your initiative list:
- Are you actually doing anything that could move this?
- Have your initiatives stalled, or are they just not landing?
- Do you need to double down - or pivot?
Treat your initiative list as a working hypothesis. Revisit it, revise it, and use it as a reflection tool - not just a plan.
Putting It All Together: A Complete OKR + Initiative Example
To make all of this more concrete, here’s what a well-structured OKR - with aligned initiatives - can look like in practice.
Objective: Improve product onboarding to increase activation
Key Result: Increase new user activation from 32% to 50% by end of quarter
Owner: Product Growth Team
Initiatives:
- ✅ Redesign onboarding checklist to surface one key action
- ✅ Run 10 user interviews with customers who churned before Day 7
- ✅ Launch in-app tooltip walkthrough for first-time users
- ✅ Test a “setup complete” success screen with tracking pixel
Each of these is:
- Directly tied to a single measurable KR
- Actionable and scoped
- Easy to track and iterate on during check-ins
If that KR isn’t moving, the team knows exactly where to look: are these the right initiatives? Are they launched? Are they working? That visibility turns check-ins into real decision points, not just status updates.
Quick Checklist: Are Your Initiatives Working?
Before you launch, or if you’re midway through and something feels stuck, run your initiative list through this lens:
This quick gut check helps your team avoid the trap of checking boxes and keeps the focus on why you’re doing the work - not just what’s getting done.
Final thoughts
A lot of teams write great OKRs - and still feel stuck.
It’s not because the goals were wrong.
It’s because they never got translated into action.
Initiatives close that gap. They make the work visible. They give shape to execution. And they turn key results from fixed targets into shared missions the team can work toward, week by week.
So if your OKR meetings feel stale, or progress feels unclear, zoom in on your initiatives.
What are you actually doing to move the outcome? Is it working? If not - what’s next?
You don’t need more goals. You need sharper action.
And that starts with better initiatives.
Want to track OKRs and initiatives in one place?
OKRs Tool gives you one clear view of every objective, key result, and supporting initiative - plus weekly check-ins that turn planning into progress.
Try it for free and get your team aligned, focused, and moving.
