Forum Discussion
Closing and scoring OKRs
Hi Viva Goals community, I have a question related to closing and scoring OKRs. When I go to close an Objective (blue bullseye icon) or Key Result (purple speedometer), I am given the option ...
aarushiarora
Microsoft
MicrosoftHi Evan_Hindman, thank you for your question. The scoring option is only available for OKRs and not for initiatives, as you observed. This is because the concept of scoring is more relevant and applicable to objectives and key results, so that you can evaluate the progress made towards achieving the goals and determining whether they were accomplished. You can read more about closing and scoring OKRs here: Close OKRs Overview | Microsoft Learn
Currently, there is no plan to introduce scoring for initiatives, however, I would love to understand further on your need for scoring initiatives to dive a little deeper. Thank you!
Hi aarushiarora - thanks for this response, very helpful.
My company uses Initiatives in a similar fashion to Key Results, except instead of having a metric-based target, there is a specific milestone or deliverable that is the goal (e.g., "Launch new marketing campaign", or "gain approval from Board on [specific project]"). Key Results are not as helpful here, because there is not a metric to be tracked per se (project % could work, but this works just as well with an Initiative, and we've given the guidance to use Initiatives for goals of this nature).
In the same way as with a Key Result, if you achieve 70% of the metric, you can move the score to 0.6 or 0.8 with management's judgement, I'd like Initiative owners to be able to say "we completed 70% of this task this year, but we deserve a score of 0.8 because...".
Put another way - there actually IS scoring for Initiatives in the system already. When you Close an Initiative, the Score shows up as the last percentage complete for the Initiative. The only difference here is - you do not have the ability to adjust the final score the same way you do with Objectives or Key Results.
Thanks again for your response, hopefully my response gives useful context here!
My company uses Initiatives in a similar fashion to Key Results, except instead of having a metric-based target, there is a specific milestone or deliverable that is the goal (e.g., "Launch new marketing campaign", or "gain approval from Board on [specific project]"). Key Results are not as helpful here, because there is not a metric to be tracked per se (project % could work, but this works just as well with an Initiative, and we've given the guidance to use Initiatives for goals of this nature).
In the same way as with a Key Result, if you achieve 70% of the metric, you can move the score to 0.6 or 0.8 with management's judgement, I'd like Initiative owners to be able to say "we completed 70% of this task this year, but we deserve a score of 0.8 because...".
Put another way - there actually IS scoring for Initiatives in the system already. When you Close an Initiative, the Score shows up as the last percentage complete for the Initiative. The only difference here is - you do not have the ability to adjust the final score the same way you do with Objectives or Key Results.
Thanks again for your response, hopefully my response gives useful context here!
- aarushiaroraThis is definitely helpful, and yes - the percentage complete is also technically a score towards completion! Thank you for the context.