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Create a Key Result

Dianmarie De Jesus
  • Updated
Create goals to publish or save as a draft to track performance

Goals help empower employees to control their performance and development with clear, measurable objectives. Goals allow you to share initiatives you are working on that align with the company's priorities. 

Note: Unlike objectives, key results will not inherit the progress of other key results unless the parent key result is measured as binary. 

Differences between objectives and key results

Creating a goal with goal differentiation means creating objectives and key results. 

  • Objectives are qualitative goals that will inherit the progress of supporting key results or child objectives. Objectives help set the direction for the entire company, department, team, or individual and are usually aspirational. When creating an objective, you will not have the option to select a measurement due to the nature of objectives. 
  • Key results are quantitative (#, $, %, binary) goals that measure progress to attainment. Key results help measure what you need to accomplish the objective and are usually metrics-driven and tangible.
  Objectives Key Results
Progress Qualitative Quantitative (#, $, %, binary)
Alignment Can have parent and supporting/child goals (either other Objectives or Key Results) Can have parent and supporting/child goals (either other Key Results or Objectives)
Best for... Clarifying the direction or outcome you're working towards Measuring milestones or progress to attainment

Learn how to create an objective in Create an Objective.

Navigation

There are two places in Lattice where you can create a key result:

  • Goal creator
  • Goal Explore page

Option 1: Goal creator

  1. Navigate to Home > Create goal > Select Key result. - OR - If you have already created an objective, click + Add key result at the bottom of the objective goal creation page.

Goal creator page. An arrow points to the What Do You Want to Accomplish? field

 

Option 2: Goal Explore page

  1. Navigate to Goals > Your goals > Create > Key result.

Goal Explore page. The Create dropdown is open. An arrow points to the Key Result option.

Option 3: Goal Explore Table

  1. Navigate to Goals > Your goals. 
  2. Click on the desired parent goal to open. 
  3. Click Insert key result.

Goal Explore page. A goal has been selected which expanded the goal's section. The section lists all supporting goals aligned to the parent. At the bottom of the section the Insert Key result button can be seen.

Create a key result

  1. Under What do you want to accomplish?, enter an Objective Title.
  2. (Optional) Write a Description.
    • You may optionally write a description to remind yourself and your teammates about some details of the goal.
  3. (If cascading goals is enabled) Add a Parent objective or key result.
    • A parent goal (or a cascading goal) is a way to align your goal with other goals within the organization. Within the Work toward another goal at the company section, click Choose goal.
    • Search for the parent goal that you want to align your goal to. You can align to both objectives and key results.
    • Note: Parent goals will only be visible if your admin has enabled cascading coals.
  4. Under How will you measure progress?, decide how you will measure the overall progress of the key result. Metrics can be:
    • Binary: A key result that is definitively complete or incomplete. i.e.: Grow international accounts
    • Number #: A key result that is measured by a numeric measurement. i.e., Hire three new sales representatives
    • Percent %: A key result measured by percentage. i.e., Increase revenue by 20%
    • Dollar $: A key result that is clearly defined by currency. i.e., Sell $200,000 more supplies this quarter
    • Jira integration: An integration that allows you to measure by story points or issues.
    • Salesforce integration: An integration that allows you to measure progress from your reports.

Note: For all quantitative goals, you will have the option to select a Start and Target amount. The Start amount is the number or percentage you are starting from before meeting your goal. The Target amount is the goal amount you wish to reach. Learn more in Update Goal Progress.

Creating the key result: Details

  1. (Optional) Select a Goal Cycle.
    • If an admin has created a goal cycle, you may be asked to select a cycle that this key result falls under. This is a time period in which your goals are being worked on.
  2. Establish a Start date.
    • Select the date the objective is expected to start. This is a required field - You can default to the date of creation by selecting Choose today.
  3. Establish a Due Date.
    • When establishing a due date for the key result, we default to the end of the current quarter or the end of the goal cycle. You may use the date-picker calendar to select another due date in the future. This due date can differ from the parent objective or key result.
  4. Select Owners.
    • Most goals created in Lattice are personal goals owned by one person. However, goals can also be owned by more than one person.
  5. Select the goal Type.
    • Key results can be for an Individual, a Group, a Department, or the Company. Keep in mind, the types of key results you see will depend upon the permissions your admin has granted you.
  6. Choose Visibility.
    • Key results can be public (visible to the entire company), private (only visible to you, your manager, their managers), or private to selected departments (only visible to goal owners and members of the departments selected).
  7. Set a goal Priority.
    • You may optionally set a priority for the objective (P1 - P10), which will be displayed next to the goal on certain pages throughout the site. Goals will also be listed in order of priority (P1 first).
  8. Select applicable Tags.
    • Tags are optional but help classify and organize goals. Tags are created by admins.
  9. (Via the Goal creator) Add Supported goals.
    • When creating an objective, add key results or metrics that impact the overall goal.If you are creating an objective via the Goal Explore Context Panel, you will be prompted to add supporting goals after publishing your objective. 
      • If cascading goals is enabled, you will also be able to add a supporting objective that aligns to your current objective.
      • If cascading goals is disabled, you will only see the option to add a key result.
  10. Publish or Save Draft.

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