Goals & OKRs
~4 min readGoal-First Tracking — OKRs and dashboardSMASHBOARD
What Are OKRs?
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results — a goal-setting framework used by businesses of all sizes to keep teams focused on what matters most.
An OKR has two parts:
- Objective — a clear, inspiring direction: "Grow monthly revenue"
- Key Result — a measurable milestone: "Reach $15,000 in net revenue by March 31"
Why OKRs Work
Without goals, looking at numbers is just looking at numbers. A dashboard that shows "$8,452 revenue" doesn't tell you whether that's good or bad. A dashboard that shows your progress toward a target, a forecast, and how much time you have left tells you exactly where you stand and what you need to do.
OKRs work because they:
- Create urgency. You can see the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
- Make progress visible. The progress bar gives instant feedback without digging through reports.
- Keep you honest. You can't claim the month is going well when the bar is at 30% on day 28.
- Focus attention. Instead of watching 20 different numbers, you track the 3–5 metrics that actually move the needle.
How dashboardSMASHBOARD Implements Goals
Every card can have a goal attached. When you set a goal, dashboardSMASHBOARD shows:
- An OKR-style statement in plain English: "Grow 10% vs last period — reach $9,297"
- A live progress bar (fills as you approach the target)
- A Gap indicator: "$3,241 more to go"
- An optional Alert — a color-coded pulse on the card border, keyed to your goal Status
Goal Types
| Goal type | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| No goal | Shows metric and vs-prior comparison only | — |
| Grow by % | Target is N% above the previous period's value | "Grow 10% vs last period" |
| Reach a target | Fixed number you want to hit | "Hit 500 orders this period" |
| Threshold | Binary pass/fail for ratio metrics — green above, red below. No progress bar. Code tab only: use the THRESHOLD clause. |
"Uptime ≥ 99.98%" |
| Compound | Two or more conditions joined by AND or OR. Shows "2 of 2 goals met" or "1 of 2 met". Code tab only. | "Revenue ≥ $15k AND orders ≥ 300" |
Hard vs. Soft Goals
When setting a goal, choose whether it's a firm commitment or an aspirational stretch target:
- Hard (default) — strict Status bands. The progress bar renders with a solid border.
- Soft — relaxed bands for stretch goals. The progress bar renders with a dashed border, and Status is evaluated with more generous thresholds.
Set this in the Simple tab's Goal commitment dropdown, or add SOFT / HARD after the goal clause in the Code tab:
GOAL grow revenue to >= 50000 this month SOFT
Direction: Higher vs. Lower is Better
By default, dashboardSMASHBOARD assumes higher is better (revenue, orders, sessions). For metrics that are better when lower — refund rate, return rate, cost per click, churn — set Direction to "Lower is better" in the Simple tab, or use DIRECTION lower in the Code tab. This inverts the attainment calculation and the Trend pill color (green = the metric decreased, which is good).
See also: Reading Your Card for how Status, Forecast, and Gap are calculated from your goal.
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