OKR scoring: confidence, weekly check-ins and the 0.7 rule

The OKRs are written and the quarter has started. Now come the questions nobody answered in the kickoff: how do we score these, what is a “good” number, and what are we supposed to say at the weekly check-in?

This guide covers OKR scoring from end to end: the 0.0 to 1.0 scale, why 0.7 counts as success, what confidence adds, how status is worked out during the quarter, and how to close a quarter without arguments.

How OKR scoring works

Each key result gets a score between 0.0 and 1.0. The usual starting point is progress: how far the value moved from the start toward the target.

Take “Raise weekly active users from 2,000 to 2,600”. At the end of the quarter you have 2,420.

• Distance to cover: 2,600 − 2,000 = 600
• Distance covered: 2,420 − 2,000 = 420
• Progress: 420 ÷ 600 = 0.70

For a key result that goes down, such as “Cut build time from 25 to 10 min”, the same sum works the other way. Ending at 16 minutes is 9 of 15 minutes saved, a score of 0.6.

Milestones are simpler: done is 1.0, not done is 0.0. An objective’s score is the average of its key results.

The progress figure is a starting suggestion, not a verdict. When you close the quarter, you can adjust a score if the number does not tell the whole story, for example when the metric changed definition halfway through. Write down why when you do.

Why 0.7 is a good score

Good key results stretch. If every target were safe, you would not need OKRs to reach them. So the scale reads like this:

Score	What it means
0.0 to 0.3	Missed. Something went wrong or the bet did not pay off.
0.3 to 0.7	Real progress, short of the target.
0.7 to 1.0	A strong result. For an ambitious key result, 0.7 is a good score.

If your team scores 1.0 across the board every quarter, the targets were too easy. If it lands under 0.3 every time, the targets are guesses. Either way, the next quarter’s targets should change.

What confidence adds

Progress tells you where a key result is. Confidence tells you where its owner thinks it will end up. At every check-in, the owner gives a number from 1 to 10: how sure am I this lands by the end of the quarter?

• 7 or more: on course.
• 4 to 6: possible, with something in the way.
• 3 or less: unlikely without a change.

Confidence moves before the number does. A key result can be on plan in week five and still drop from 8 to 5 because a dependency slipped. That drop is the early warning OKRs are meant to give you.

Over several quarters, compare average confidence with average final score. A confidence of 7 should end near a score of 0.7. If confidence runs well ahead of results, the team is guessing. If results keep beating confidence, people are being cautious.

The weekly check-in in five minutes

The check-in is short on purpose. For each key result, the owner does three things:

1. Update the number. The real value today, not an estimate.
2. Give a confidence from 1 to 10.
3. Write one line. What changed since last week, or what is in the way.

As a manager, you mostly need to look at two things: key results where confidence fell, and key results that have had no check-in this week. A drop from 8 to 5 deserves a conversation. A steady 7 needs nothing from you.

Planned paths: not everything grows in a straight line

To say whether a key result is behind, you need to know where it should be by now. A straight line from start to target is the default, but few key results move that way. Choose the path that matches the work:

Path	Shape	Example
Steady	Straight line	Weekly sign-ups
Fast start	Quick early gains, then taper	Fixing known support issues
Slow start	Little early, strong finish	A sales cycle that takes weeks
Ramp up	S-curve: slow, fast, settle	A feature rollout
Research first	Flat for most of the quarter, delivered at the end	A migration or a new process

The path changes the verdict. Halfway through the quarter, a steady key result should be about 50% of the way. A research-first one should only be around 12%. If both sit at 15%, the first is behind and the second is on plan.

On track, at risk, off track

During the quarter, status combines the gap to plan with the owner’s confidence. In Manager Kit the rule is:

• On track: no more than 10 points behind plan, and confidence 7 or higher.
• At risk: no more than 25 points behind plan, and confidence 4 or higher.
• Off track: anything further behind, or lower confidence.

Once the quarter ends, a key result that did not reach its target is marked Missed. OKRs measure outcomes, so that word is fine here. It describes the bet, not the person.

Closing the quarter: score, learn, carry

At the end of the quarter, take thirty minutes per team:

1. Give each key result a final score from 0.0 to 1.0.
2. Write one lesson per objective. What would you do differently?
3. Decide what carries over. An unfinished key result that still matters can move to the next quarter. If one has been carried three times, rewrite it or drop it; there is more on this in common OKR mistakes.

If the targets themselves were the problem, revisit how to write key results before setting the next ones.

How Manager Kit helps with scoring and check-ins

In Manager Kit, a check-in records the value, a confidence from 1 to 10 and a note, weekly or every two weeks as you choose. Status follows the rule above, using the planned path you picked for each key result, and Start review walks through the objectives one at a time for a team check-in. In the review you can put a key result on its owner’s next 1:1 agenda, and every review and check-in shows on the quarter’s calendar, with a filter. Close quarter suggests a score from progress, lets you change it, and carries unfinished key results forward with the same code and a carry count. Compare quarters shows average scores, the share of key results at 0.7 or more, and how well confidence matched the final scores.