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If you missed a quarterly goal, record the result honestly, find out why it happened, and decide what should change next. A missed target is a reason to review the goal and the work behind it—not, by itself, proof that the goal was poorly chosen or that the team performed badly.
This process is especially well suited to OKRs. There is no single required recovery process for every kind of workplace goal, so adapt the steps to your team’s planning system.
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How to close the quarter honestly
Start with the actual outcome. Don’t change a target or score after seeing the result just to make the quarter look better. Record the final metric when it is available, then add a brief note explaining relevant circumstances. If the metric is not final at quarter end, update the close-out when the number is confirmed.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsMicrosoft’s Viva Goals guidance on closing and reflecting on OKRs recommends closing near the end of the period where possible and having the score reflect the true result, with circumstances captured in notes. The aim is a useful record, not a flattering one.
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Review what happened before choosing a fix
A score alone does not explain a miss. Hold a short reflection on the outcome and on how the team planned and worked. Review what went well, what fell short, what surprised the team, and whether priorities changed. Microsoft recommends looking at both the results and the structure of the OKRs, including whether there were too many key results or targets were appropriate. Microsoft’s close-and-reflect guidance provides this OKR-specific advice.
Then compare the quarter’s original assumptions with what actually happened. These are questions to investigate, not conclusions to assume:
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- Did a competing priority take precedence or change the plan?
- Did a dependency or blocker sit outside the team’s control?
- Were ownership and the measure clear enough to guide the work?
- Did the team have enough capacity and resources for its commitments?
- Was the target calibrated to what the team could reasonably influence?
- Did regular progress checks reveal slippage early enough to respond?
Separate a goal-design issue from an execution obstacle or an external change. A missed result does not automatically establish which of these occurred. For a useful review, discuss the outcome and the way of working as related but distinct questions. The OKR Institute’s practitioner guide recommends documenting the review; treat it as one facilitation approach, not a universal rule: OKR Review: How to Run One That Actually Improves Performance.
Decide whether to carry forward, revise, or retire the goal
Make an explicit decision for each goal, and record the reason. A missed objective does not have to be carried forward unchanged, and there is no universal score threshold that determines what to do next. Google’s OKR guidance describes quarterly meetings in which owners explain grades and adjustments for the coming quarter; Microsoft likewise recommends making adjustments in the following quarter.
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| Decision | When it may fit | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Continue | The objective still matters and the remaining work remains relevant. | What carries forward, who owns it, and the next measure or milestone. |
| Revise | The objective still matters, but the measure, scope, assumptions, or plan needs to change. | What changes and why, including any dependency or resource decision. |
| Retire | The priority has changed or the original objective no longer makes sense. | Why it is no longer being pursued and any useful learning from the work. |
Before choosing, consider whether the objective remains strategically relevant, what progress the team made, what caused the gap, whether the team can address that cause, and whether the next measure will track the intended outcome. Google’s guidance is at Set goals with OKRs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Turn the review into a small plan
Choose a few practical changes that follow from the diagnosis rather than adding a long list of corrective actions. Each action should name an owner and a next step. Depending on what the review found, that could mean reducing competing commitments, securing a dependency, clarifying a measure, or escalating a resource decision.
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Build progress checks into the next cycle while there is still time to respond to slippage. Microsoft’s OKR cadence guidance describes generally weekly check-ins during a quarterly cycle, followed by a close and reflection; use a cadence that fits your team’s work: Incorporate OKRs into your business rhythm.
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A useful review recognizes progress, names the gap directly, and discusses obstacles without blame. Keep the team’s result in context rather than treating one missed shared goal as a complete account of any individual’s performance. The OKR Institute recommends distinguishing an OKR review from an individual performance appraisal; this is practitioner guidance, not a universal employment rule.
For a broader introduction to OKRs, John Doerr’s Measure What Matters is listed by its publisher as a 320-page hardcover published on April 24, 2018: Penguin Random House book page. Teams seeking training or implementation resources can also review What Matters’ overview of its OKR resources.
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