If you’ve seen frameworks like OKRs and KPIs and thought they were irrelevant business jargon, I invite you to drop the acronyms and consider what’s most important to you about your business.
A Different Approach to Business Goals
Some Notion experts teach you what to do in Notion. Others teach you how to do things in Notion. My focus is showing you how to think about your problems in a way that Notion makes the solution simple. What matters is your business. Notion is just a tool.
Why Traditional Goal-Setting Fails
The OKR framework is highly effective for declaring a business objective and managing progress towards achieving it. However, implementing the Notion OKRs framework is fraught with problems that stem from two issues:
- A failure to distinguish between essential concepts of the model.
- Treating objectives as glorified projects disconnected from what people genuinely care about.
The Human Side of Business Metrics
Every successful business initiative starts with something we deeply care about:
- For freelancers and agency owners, it delivers transformative results for clients because it’s part of our professional identity.
- For team leaders, this means empowering their people to do their best work by demonstrating how business objectives align with professional development.
- For operations managers, it’s creating systems that make work flow effortlessly so that you can tackle more significant challenges.
Notion OKRs Framework
Here’s where Notion and Notion OKRs becomes your secret weapon. Instead of expensive enterprise software or disconnected spreadsheets, you can create a living, breathing system that connects high-level objectives to daily actions.
The Three-Layer Approach
Objectives Layer
- Keep these simple and inspiring
- Connect them directly to what your team cares about
- Don’t burden your Objectives with implementation. Leave that to your projects and tasks.
Key Results Layer
- Make these specific and measurable
- Built-in progress tracking and status updates
- Specify what you are measuring, what direction you want the numbers to go, a target value, and a due date for achievement.
Measurement Layer
- Wherever possible, you should not have to enter data manually. Instead, feed your data in from external sources that can validate that you are on the right track.
- Connects with your existing tools (Google Analytics, CRM, etc.)
- Automatic progress calculations
Making It Work in the Real World
The beauty of using Notion OKRs are their flexibility.
For agencies and freelancers, you can:
- Track multiple client objectives simultaneously
- Link objectives directly to projects
- Create transparent progress reports for stakeholders
For internal teams, the system enables:
- Clear alignment between company and team goals
- Real-time progress visibility
- Easy adjustment of targets based on new data
Beyond Just Another Management Tool
What makes this approach different is its integration with actual work. Your Notion OKRs are not in a separate system but connected to your projects, tasks, and client deliverables. This means:
- No more abandoned objectives
- Clear connections between daily tasks and bigger goals
- Easy reporting and accountability
Getting Started
Remember, these Notion OKRs aren’t about implementing another business framework – it’s about creating a system that helps you achieve what truly matters to you and your team. The setup process is straightforward:
- Start with what you care about
- Define clear, measurable objectives
- Set up your Notion workspace
- Connect your measurement sources
- Begin tracking progress
The Path Forward
The key to success isn’t perfectly implementing every aspect of Notion OKRs and KPIs—it’s using these tools to support what you genuinely care about in your business. Let’s move past the jargon and focus on creating real value.
Want to see this in action? I’ve created a template that makes implementation straightforward and painless.
Generative Notion ORKs.
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What matters most to you in your business? Reach out if you need guidance on implementing this Notion OKRs system in a way that aligns with your objectives and values.