Before you start
You need at least 5 weeks of weekly check-in data — without that, this review is just a long status meeting. Update every KR with current numbers at least 24 hours before the review so the meeting can focus on decisions, not data entry.
The 7 steps
7 steps · sequentialSchedule the review
Build the mid-quarter review into your OKR rhythm. Put it on the calendar at the start of the cycle, or it won't happen.
- Hold it around week 6 of a 13-week cycle
- Run reviews at both company and team levels
- Keep sessions focused: 60–90 minutes is usually enough
- Treat it as a working session, not just a presentation
Collect progress data
Gather accurate, up-to-date information before the review. Walking into the meeting with stale numbers wastes everyone's time.
- Update all Key Results with the latest metrics
- Ask owners to provide a confidence rating (High / Medium / Low)
- Capture notes on blockers, dependencies, or risks
- Prepare a dashboard or slide deck for visibility
Review Key Results one by one
Assess progress and identify problem areas. Don't skip the greens — what's working tells you what to do more of.
- For each KR, review: current progress vs. target
- Confirm confidence rating
- Note risks or blockers
- Use a Red / Yellow / Green status system for clarity
- Celebrate early wins and recognize contributors
Identify blockers & root causes
Surface what's slowing progress and why. Treating symptoms instead of causes is why most mid-quarter reviews fail to change the trajectory.
- Ask each KR owner: What's preventing further progress?
- Separate internal blockers (resourcing, prioritization) from external blockers (market, customer, vendor)
- Use techniques like the "5 Whys" to dig into root causes
- Prioritize blockers that affect multiple teams
Adjust Key Results if needed
Refocus effort where it will matter most. Adjusting a KR is not failure — it's focus. The shame is leaving a clearly-impossible KR on the board for 7 more weeks.
- If a KR is clearly unattainable, decide whether to adjust or replace it
- Update targets if priorities have shifted significantly
- Add stretch goals if progress is ahead of schedule
- Document all changes transparently and communicate them company-wide
Reallocate resources
Give teams the support they need to deliver. Identifying blockers is half the work; clearing them is the other half.
- Shift resources toward high-priority, at-risk KRs
- Resolve cross-team conflicts or bottlenecks (see Cross-Team Alignment)
- Assign blocker owners responsible for clearing obstacles
- Confirm next steps and deadlines before leaving the meeting
Share outcomes & next steps
Keep everyone aligned after the review. Silence after a mid-quarter review is worse than skipping it — people fill the gap with their own guesses.
- Send a written recap with: updated OKRs, revised targets, top blockers and resolutions, key decisions
- Publish updates in your OKR tracking tool or shared workspace
- Communicate any KR changes broadly — don't quietly edit and hope nobody noticed
Outputs of this workflow
- Every KR has a current red / yellow / green status and a confidence rating
- A documented list of blockers with separated internal vs. external causes
- A decision per at-risk KR: keep, adjust target, or replace
- Resource reallocations committed to in the meeting, not after it
- A written recap shared broadly within 24 hours — no version-control confusion
Run mid-quarter reviews inside OKRs Tool.
Real-time KR data, at-risk alerts, confidence trends, and a clean record of every adjustment — so reviews focus on decisions, not data entry. Free for up to 5 users.