OKR cycles and committing

An OKR cycle is the period your objectives cover, such as a quarter, a half-year or a year. Before a cycle starts, its plan goes through Draft, In review and Committed. Committing is the point where the plan is locked in: from then on, every change to a key result’s target is kept on the record with the reason for it.

How a cycle moves#

A cycle has a status, and while its status is Planning it also has a planning stage:

Who can manage cycles#

Create a cycle#

1. Open OKRs and select New cycle

   The Create an OKR cycle dialog opens, filled in with the current quarter (for example “Q3 2026”, 1 July to 30 September).

2. Enter a Name

   Required. Most organizations use names like “Q1 2026” or “H2 2026”.

3. Choose a Type

   Quarterly, Half-yearly, Annual or Custom.

4. Set Starts and Ends

   The cycle must end after it starts. Cycle dates belong to the organization and are the same for everyone, wherever they are.

5. Select Create cycle

   The new cycle starts in Planning at the Draft stage. Select it in the cycle picker to start adding objectives.

Review and commit the plan#

While a cycle is in Planning, the cycle bar on the OKRs page shows the three stages (Draft, In review, Committed) with the current one highlighted, the buttons for the moves available, and a note about what the next move changes.

1. Draft the cycle

   Add objectives and key results. See Create an objective. Change targets as often as you like. Nothing is recorded yet.

2. Select Send for review

   The cycle moves to In review. If the review decides the plan isn’t ready, select Back to draft.

3. Select Commit

   The cycle moves to Committed, and UnitX records who committed it and when. From now on, changing a target asks for a reason.

4. Select Activate

   Activate appears once the cycle is committed. The cycle becomes Active, and the bar shows “Committed on date. Changes to targets in this cycle are recorded with a reason.”

• A cycle with no objectives can’t be committed, because there’s nothing to commit.
• A cycle can’t be activated until it’s committed.
• Only a cycle that’s still in Planning can be activated.

Changing a target after commit#

1. Open the objective and select Change target on the key result

2. Edit the Starting value and Target

3. Explain Why it is changing

   This field appears only once the cycle is committed, and Save stays disabled until you fill it in. For example: “Board raised the number after the Q4 close.”

4. Select Save

   The key result is re-scored against the new target. Select Done to close the editor.

Under the editor, the key result lists every recorded target change, for example “Target: 150 → 180 · 3 days ago”, with the reason given.

• Before a cycle is committed, the editor says target changes aren’t recorded, and no reason is asked for.
• Saving a target you didn’t actually change records nothing.
• Changing a target doesn’t touch the key result’s current value. To change that, use Update value, which keeps its own history.

Complete a cycle with a reflection#

1. Select Complete on an active cycle

   A field appears: Closing reflection — what actually happened, in your words.

2. Write the reflection

   For example: “Three of four objectives landed. The LP portal migration was under-scoped from the start.” A reflection is required, and a blank one won’t close the cycle.

3. Select Close cycle

   The cycle becomes Completed. Select Cancel if you opened the form by mistake.

When you pick a completed cycle in the cycle picker, its Closing reflection is shown in the cycle bar, where next quarter’s planners can read it. Nothing in the cycle is deleted.

Planning tips#

• Create next quarter’s cycle a couple of weeks before it starts, so there’s time to review.
• Commit only when owners agree with their targets. After that, a changed target is a visible decision, not a quiet edit.
• Write the reflection while the quarter is fresh. It’s the most useful input to the next cycle’s planning.

FAQ#

Related pages#

• OKRs
• Goals
• Audit trail