After my previous blog post on how to create a roadmap without the chaos, a product leader asked me a great question:
“Let’s say your OKR is to improve retention in self-serve onboarding. You track 90-day retention, and Product makes improvements that move the needle. But then what? Does the team shift focus, or do they stay on it? When is an OKR ‘done’?”
It’s a great question. Product teams don’t work in isolation , and OKRs often need to align with quarterly planning, company objectives, and shifting priorities. Knowing when to move is a product decision that affects the entire business.
Sustainable, long-term success
It’s tempting to treat OKRs like a checklist . You set a goal, do the work, see improvement, move on. But an OKR isn’t complete just because a metric goes up. If the results aren’t stable or scalable, the team may need to keep iterating.
For a retention-focused OKR, success means:
✅ The improvement holds over time. A temporary boost isn’t enough. The change needs to stick.
✅ We understand what worked. If we don’t know why something improved, we can’t apply those learnings elsewhere.
✅ Other teams can take ownership where needed. Retention isn’t just a Product…
