A Key Result is how you know you have achieved your Objective. Specific, measurable, and time-bound. It does not describe what you will do, it describes what will be different when you have done it.

The most common mistake is confusing tasks with outcomes. A task is something you do, "Conduct customer interviews" tells you what someone will be doing, not what will change. An outcome is something that changes, "Customer satisfaction score increases from 68 to 80" tells you what will be measurably different.

Two valid types of Key Results:

• Value-based. Use numbers to measure change. Revenue grows from 10 to 15 crore, NPS improves from 30 to 50, response time drops from 48 hours to 12 hours. The strongest type.
• Activity-based. Use verbs to describe a completed action with a clear, verifiable end state, "Launch the new onboarding process across all five branches." Acceptable when a number isn't practical, but use sparingly.

The SMART test, every Key Result should be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Key Result examples: