How to implement goal refresh cycles on your team

At the beginning of the year, setting annual goals can feel like cracking open a fresh notebook – clean and full of possibility. By the end of the year, that same list can feel more like a yearbook from another era: recognizable, but not exactly reflective of who you are anymore.

Everyone has good intentions when they set new goals, but then, life happens. Competitors launch similar features. Company strategy changes. Customer feedback reveals a bigger opportunity. The market shifts and forces your business to do the same. Our work pivots quickly, but our goals often lag behind, still technically “active” but sitting in a stale document or slide deck…somewhere.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Atlassian’s State of Teams research shows 64% of knowledge workers feel their team is pulled in too many directions, and 70% say it would be easier to make progress if they had fewer, more specific goals.

The solution isn’t another, more focused annual planning marathon. It’s a more frequent goal refresh cycle. Here’s how to shift to a more iterative, quarterly rhythm that leads to fewer “outdated yearbooks” and more “amazing year in the books.”

Why refreshing goals matters (and why a quarterly cadence works well)

Setting annual goals is a strategic and important step, but a 12‑month cycle is painfully slow in a fast-changing environment. Without a shorter feedback loop, your team may spend months executing on priorities that have already changed.

That’s why so many teams are moving to a quarterly cadence:

• It’s long enough to make real progress. Many teams can design and ship something meaningful in 90 days.
• It’s short enough to adapt. If your assumptions were wrong, you find out in three months, not 12.
• It’s motivating. Research inside and outside of Atlassian shows that short-term goals are more tangible, less overwhelming, and more likely to get done.

Think of your company’s annual objectives and key results as the “destination.” Monthly and weekly actions are the “roadmap,” and quarterly check-ins are “rest stops” along the way – recurring reminders to pause and refresh.

By shifting to a 90‑day rhythm where your team:

1. Sets clear OKRs that align with your company’s strategic goals and deeper purpose
2. Checks in each month to reflect on status and learnings so far
3. Reviews quarterly progress to measure milestones, look back, and plan ahead
4. Refreshes goals where needed
5. Re-allocates resources and re-shares plans

…your team gains clarity about what to focus on now, permission to adapt as reality changes, and confidence in your ability to not just hit any goals, but the ones that matter most.

5 steps to implementing a quarterly goal refresh cycle

1. Set annual objectives, key results, and clear milestones

Objectives and key results clarify what is a priority and what isn’t. That way, you can focus on what matters most and understand how your work makes a meaningful difference for your team, company, and customers.

Think of your annual objective as “what success looks like at the end of the year” and your key results as “how you’ll measure success.” Objectives are typically qualitative, ambitious, and meant to inspire action. Key results are usually metrics or measurable outcomes.

Once you’ve set annual OKRs, break down each key result into quarterly and monthly milestones so you can see whether you’re ON TRACK, OFF TRACK, or AT RISK. Check out Atlassian’s OKR Play for more tips on how to create OKRs and a scoring rubric to track progress.

2. Do a quick check-in each month

Regularly monitoring goals helps identify discrepancies, obstacles, unforeseen challenges, and areas needing improvement, which increases the chances of meeting those goals.

To keep goals alive throughout the quarter, do a lightweight check each month. This doesn’t need to involve hours of analysis – just a quick reflection on how you’re tracking and what you’ve learned so far.

You can score whether your OKR is ON TRACK, OFF TRACK, or AT RISK, and include a short summary about how the metrics moved and why. That way, you can share learnings with others and look back in the future. (Atlassian’s OKR Play has more guidance about how to assess and document progress.)

And remember: It’s good to set ambitious goals, and it’s okay not to achieve a perfect score every time. In fact, our scoring philosophy at Atlassian focuses on stretch goals, even when there’s only a 50% chance of hitting them.

3. Review quarterly progress

Research shows that when an organization develops processes to sense changes in the environment, seize opportunities, and reconfigure resources and capabilities when needed, it’s more likely to sustain a competitive edge, respond faster to opportunities and threats, better allocate resources, and operate with more agility and adaptability. Consider your quarterly goal refresh a way of doing exactly that.

Start by scheduling a quarterly review and refresh. This includes reflecting honestly on qualitative and quantitative progress.

Metrics are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. Before reviewing OKRs, ask yourself and your team questions like:

• What worked this quarter? Where did we see meaningful progress or impact?
• What didn’t work? What efforts didn’t land, stalled out, or never got off the ground?
• What changed outside our control? Were there market shifts, org changes, new constraints, or opportunities we should consider?
• Where did we feel most energized? Most drained?
• Where did we actually spend our time compared to our original plans?

Next, turn to your OKRs and discuss questions like:

• Are we ON TRACK, OFF TRACK, or AT RISK – and why?
• If the goal is OFF TRACK or AT RISK, what lessons should the “future you” (or a teammate setting a similar goal) keep in mind?
• What’s our plan to address risks or gaps?
• What support or resources do we need?
• What efforts do we expect will continue driving or accelerate progress on this goal?

If you’re seeing lots of yellow and red, don’t worry! It’s better to know now before it’s too late, and this is the perfect opportunity to course-correct.

4. Refresh goals where needed

Now, it’s time to decide if each goal should remain as-is, be retired, or be refreshed.

Remain	Retire	Refresh
– If the OKR is still relevant, stay the course. – If you’re ON TRACK, reflect on what you can do to stay that way, or set a stretch goal. – If you’re OFF TRACK or AT RISK, use the cheat sheet below as a starting point for a path forward.	– If the strategy has changed or something else has happened that deems this goal no longer relevant, it’s okay to move on. – Capture the final metric or status and the reason for retiring the OKR, and consider whether a new one should be created in its place. – Celebrate progress – even on “missed” goals – if you learned something from the experience! Note key learnings for the future before moving forward.	– Adjust OKRs where needed to reflect strategic shifts, new opportunities, and lessons learned. – If you’re adding goals, try to keep the list as focused as possible. Most teams are more successful with 3–5 specific objectives than with sprawling lists that spread their time and effort thin.

Just because you’re OFF TRACK or AT RISK doesn’t mean you should necessarily retire or refresh your goal. The key is to determine when reality has changed in ways that make the original goal no longer appropriate.

Here’s a cheat sheet to use as a starting point:

1. Does this OKR still align with our company’s strategy and original thesis? If not, retire or refresh it.
2. Are we the right team to own this? If not, reassign it or partner with someone else.
3. Is the scope still right and the timeline still achievable? If not, rescope or change the time horizon.
4. Is the “key result” still the best signal of success? If not, refresh it.
5. Are we changing this because of real, external change, or just because we’re behind? If it’s just discomfort with being off track, keep the goal and adjust execution.

5. Re-allocate and re-share

Without refreshed resourcing, a refreshed goal is just a wish. Once you’ve aligned on the updated objectives, revisit the owners and contributors, staffing, budget, and other support you’ll need to hit the target.

Then, share these updated goals and plans in your shared workspace so everyone can stay aware and aligned. Atlassian’s State of Teams report shows that teams that transparently share goals and regularly document progress are 6.4x more likely to produce high-quality work, 2.2x more likely to focus on what matters most, and 4.9x more likely to meet deadlines. If you’re wondering if your goals are visible enough, ask yourself: “Can I find my team’s latest OKRs in fewer than 3 clicks?”

Set it and forget it edit

For most modern companies, project and product management has shifted from waterfall to more agile and iterative approaches. It’s time to do the same for goal setting. When we treat our OKRs as a living itinerary rather than plans set in stone, the team won’t just reach any destination, but the best one yet.