Objectives tell everyone why the increment matters. Here you'll set up objective groups, objectives and key results on the solution board, and see exactly how each percentage is worked out.
Open the module
On the solution board open More › Objectives. The module opens full screen, on top of the board. Two tabs sit at the top:
Solution Objectives is where you write and follow the objectives of this solution. Everything in this article happens here.
PI Objectives shows the objectives that were set on the linked PI boards, so you can see what each train committed to.
Close the module with the × on the right to go back to the board.
The page at a glance
Objectives are organised in groups, typically one per PI. Each group is a card with a table of its objectives:
Column | Shows |
Objective | The SOBJ key, the title and any strategic-theme chips. The chevron expands the row. |
Progress (%) | A bar and percentage: green from 70%, amber from 40%, grey below. |
Status | The objective status (On Track, At Risk, Not Started…). Click to change it. |
BV plan / BV actual | Planned and achieved business value. Edit them directly in the cell (whole numbers). |
Custom fields | Any columns you add with Columns. |
Committed objectives come first; uncommitted ones are listed under an Uncommitted heading. A Total row adds up BV plan and BV actual.
The PI 2026.4 Solution Objectives group: four objectives, completion 26%, BV achievement 35%.
The toolbar holds:
Expand All / Collapse All.
+ Add Custom Group.
A group filter (All groups, N groups): the only filter on this page.
Columns: switch Progress (%) and Status on or off and add custom fields such as Type, Objective Groups, Teams, Start Date, End Date or Responsible. BV plan and BV actual are always shown. Your choice is remembered per board in your browser.
The progress method on the right (see How progress is calculated).
The Columns picker.
The progress method list.
Objective groups
Click + Add Custom Group. Create objective group asks for a Title, a Description, the Status, a Responsible person, a Color and any custom fields; everything can be changed later.
Creating an objective group.
The group header shows its status, the number of objectives, the owner, the description and two bars:
Completion: the average progress of the group's committed objectives.
BV Achievement: total BV actual ÷ total BV plan of the committed objectives.
Drag a group by its handle to reorder (the order is saved for everyone). Click the title to open the group's details; the cog offers Edit group and Delete group and its objectives, which also deletes the objectives inside it.
Create objectives
Expand a group and click + Objective. An input row opens at the bottom of the group.
Type the Title, the BV Plan and, if known, the BV Actual.
Press Enter or the tick to save, Esc or × to cancel. The row stays open for the next objective.
New objectives are Committed, start in the workflow's first To Do status, and take over the group's strategic theme if it has one. Open the objective afterwards to set the description, type, responsible, teams and dates.
Adding a fifth objective inline with BV Plan 5.
Working with an objective row
Hover a row to get its quick actions: Create Key Result, Link Items, Edit Objective and Delete. Expand the row to see what feeds it, grouped as Key Results, Capabilities, Features, Stories, linked Objectives and other linked items, each with its own percentage and status. The × on a contributor removes it from the objective.
SOBJ-1 expanded: one key result (KR-1) and two linked capabilities (K-1, K-6).
Deleting an objective asks for confirmation and removes its links as well.
The objective popup
Click an objective's key or title (or Edit Objective). The header shows the key, title and a large Progress figure. Tabs:
Tab | Contents |
Overview | Description, Status, Type (Committed / Uncommitted), Responsible, Objective Groups, teams, start and end date, and BV Plan / BV Actual. |
Linked Items | Linked objectives and linked capabilities, with the progress criteria (below). |
Key Results (n) | The objective's key results with status and %, and Add Key Result. |
Updates | Short status updates (Add Update). |
Comments / History / Watchers | Discussion, change log and who is notified. |
SOBJ-1 overview: On Track, Committed, BV plan 10 / actual 6.
Link capabilities and other objectives
On Linked Items click Add Items. Link Backlog Items lists the capabilities of this solution board with search, Check all / Uncheck all; linked ones show a Linked chip and an Unlink button. Save to apply.
Link Backlog Items for SOBJ-1: K-1 and K-6 are linked.
Linked capabilities are listed with Key, Title, Status, Children Count, Estimate (SP), % Completion and Kendis Board. Group by regroups them and the criteria list next to it sets how they count towards the objective. Link Objectives links other objectives of the same solution board.
ⓘ Solution objectives link to capabilities only
On a solution board, Link Backlog Items lists only the capabilities of this solution board. Features, stories and items of the PI boards cannot be linked directly; they count through the capabilities they belong to. The same applies to key results. To link features or stories directly, use the objectives of the PI board itself.
Link Objectives has two tabs. Solution Objectives lists the objectives of this solution board, committed or uncommitted, from any group. Program Board Objectives lists the objectives of the PI boards in this solution. A linked PI objective counts as a contributor with the progress it has on its own PI board, and is shown with a PI tag when you expand the row. If its PI board later leaves the solution, the link is kept, still counts and is flagged Not in this solution.
The Linked Items tab: two capabilities, 60% by the selected criteria.
Key results
From the row's Create Key Result or the Add Key Result button on the Key Results tab. Create Key Result (for the objective named at the top) asks for a Title, the overview fields (description, status, responsible, teams, dates) and a Progress Criteria. Key results get their own KR key and progress and feed the objective.
Creating a key result for SOBJ-1.
The Key Results tab with KR-1.
A key result can link capabilities and other objectives, just like an objective. How its percentage is worked out depends on its Progress Criteria; see Key result progress.
How progress is calculated
Percentages are built bottom-up: capabilities feed key results and objectives, key results and linked objectives feed objectives, and committed objectives feed their group.
Objective group: Completion and BV Achievement
Figure | Calculation |
Completion | The average progress of the group's committed objectives, shown to two decimals. A group without committed objectives shows 0%. If objective weights were stored for the group in an earlier release, the average is weighted by them. |
BV Achievement | Sum of BV Actual ÷ sum of BV Plan of the committed objectives. It can go above 100% when more value was delivered than planned. |
Total row | Sums BV Plan and BV Actual of all objectives shown, committed and uncommitted. |
Uncommitted objectives are listed and counted in the Total row, but never in Completion or BV Achievement. The group's status chip is set by hand; it is not derived from progress.
Objective progress
An objective's progress is the average of its contributors:
each key result counts once;
each linked objective counts once, with its own progress (followed up to five levels deep);
all linked capabilities together count once, as one figure worked out with the criteria chosen on the Linked Items tab.
An objective with nothing linked shows 0%. Every contributor counts equally; weights cannot be set on solution objectives (weights stored before this release are still applied).
The criteria for the linked capabilities figure are saved on the objective:
Criteria | Linked capabilities figure |
By Linked Items Status | Capabilities in a Done status ÷ linked capabilities. |
By Linked Stories of Features - Status | Done stories ÷ all stories of the capabilities' features in this increment. |
By Linked Stories of Features - Estimate | Story points of done stories ÷ all story points of those stories. |
By Rollup (Status) / By Rollup (Story Points) | The same, over the lowest level under each feature (a feature without stories counts as itself). |
“Done” always means a status in the Done category, in Kendis, Jira or Azure DevOps. “In this increment” means on the linked PI boards of the solution.
ⓘ Worked example (the screenshots in this article)
SOBJ-1 has one key result, KR-1, at 0% and two linked capabilities, K-1 and K-6, measured By Linked Stories of Features - Status: 60% of their stories are done. SOBJ-1 is the average of its two contributors: (0% + 60%) ÷ 2 = 30%.
The group's committed objectives stand at 30%, 25%, 0% and 50%, so Completion is (30 + 25 + 0 + 50) ÷ 4 = 26.25%. Their BV Actual adds up to 11 and their BV Plan to 31, so BV Achievement is 11 ÷ 31 = 35%.
Key result progress
The Progress Criteria chosen when the key result is created decides how it is measured:
Progress Criteria | Key result progress |
Target | From the start, current and target values: (current − start) ÷ (target − start). Without a start value: current ÷ target. When the target is lower than the start (for example, reducing defects), the scale runs downwards. |
By Items | From the capabilities linked to the key result, over the lowest level under each feature, by status. |
By Objectives | The average of the objectives it links, plus its linked capabilities as one contributor, the same way as an objective. |
A key result can show more than 100% when the current value passes the target. Each key result counts once in its objective.
The progress method at the top right
The progress method changes only what you see on this page; it is kept in your browser and does not change any objective.
Use value set at OKR level (default): each objective as calculated above, with its own saved criteria.
By Linked Items Status, By Linked Stories of Features - Status or - Estimate: recalculates the linked capabilities figure of every objective with that criteria; key results and linked objectives stay as they are.
By Capability / Feature Completion (in-increment): shows only delivered ÷ planned features of the linked capabilities in this increment (key results are left out) and adds an x/y delivered note. Unplanned features are not counted.
Group Completion follows the method you pick, because it is built from the rows you see. The objective popup always shows the objective's own value. Percentages of objectives are shown to two decimals, in the list and in the popup.
PI Objectives view
Switch to PI Objectives to see the linked PI boards' objectives: business value achievement, progress by status, by story points and by parent (feature) status, overall and per ART. These belong to the PI boards and are read-only here. A PI objective only counts towards a solution objective when you link it there with Link Objectives.
The PI Objectives view for the three ARTs.
Permissions
Each action has its own permission in the role settings: Add/Edit Objective Group, Delete Objective Groups, Add/edit objectives, Link Unlink Items For Objectives, Delete Objectives, Add/edit Key Results, Link Unlink Items For Key Results and Delete Key Results. Without them the page is read-only.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BV Plan and BV Actual?
What is the difference between BV Plan and BV Actual?
Plan is the business value committed at PI planning; Actual is what was achieved, entered at the end of the PI. BV Achievement on the group is Actual ÷ Plan of the committed objectives.
How do I make an objective uncommitted?
How do I make an objective uncommitted?
Open it and set Type to Uncommitted on the Overview tab. It moves to the Uncommitted section and no longer counts towards the group's Completion and BV Achievement.
Why does my colleague see different percentages?
Why does my colleague see different percentages?
The progress method at the top right is a personal view setting. With Use value set at OKR level everyone sees the same figures.
Can I link features instead of capabilities?
Can I link features instead of capabilities?
No. On a solution board, objectives and key results link capabilities only. Features and stories still count, through the capability they belong to, and show up when you expand a row. To link a feature or story directly, use the objectives of its PI board.
Do PI objectives roll up into solution objectives?
Do PI objectives roll up into solution objectives?
Not on their own. Link a PI objective to a solution objective with Link Objectives › Program Board Objectives and it counts as one of its contributors, next to key results, linked solution objectives and linked capabilities.
Can I reorder objectives inside a group?
Can I reorder objectives inside a group?
Groups can be dragged into a new order; objectives keep their order within the group.