4 OKR examples for Security Awareness

What are Security Awareness OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

Writing good OKRs can be hard, especially if it's your first time doing it. You'll need to center the focus of your plans around outcomes instead of projects.

We understand that setting OKRs can be challenging, so we have prepared a set of examples tailored for Security Awareness. Take a peek at the templates below to find inspiration and kickstart your goal-setting process.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read more about the OKR meaning online.

Best practices for managing your Security Awareness OKRs

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRs

Tip #2: Commit to the weekly check-ins

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples below). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Building your own Security Awareness OKRs with AI

While we have some examples below, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. There are 2 options available to you.

Use our free OKRs generator
Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives
including a GPT-4 powered goal generator

Best way to track your Security Awareness OKRs

Your quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly in order to get all the benefits of the OKRs framework. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
It will highlight poorly set OKRs
It will surface execution risks
It improves transparency and accountability

Spreadsheets are enough to get started. Then, once you need to scale you can use a proper OKR platform to make things easier.

Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.

Security Awareness OKRs templates

We've covered most of the things that you need to know about setting good OKRs and tracking them effectively. It's now time to give you a series of templates that you can use for inspiration!

You'll find below a list of Objectives and Key Results templates for Security Awareness. We also included strategic projects for each template to make it easier to understand the difference between key results and projects.

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to enhance system security for robust protection

Enhance system security for robust protection
Achieve a 95% score in independent security audits validating system security protocols
Implement necessary updates and enhancements to address identified security gaps
Collaborate with external security experts to perform comprehensive security audits
Conduct thorough review of current security protocols and identify areas for improvement
Continuously monitor and evaluate system security measures to maintain a 95% audit score
Reduce number of security breaches by 20% through enhanced authentication measures
Train employees on best practices for recognizing and avoiding phishing attacks
Implement two-factor authentication system for all users
Enhance password requirements and enforce regular password updates
Conduct regular security audits to identify vulnerabilities and address them promptly
Improve application vulnerability by reducing critical security issues by 15%
Train developers and staff on secure coding practices and security best practices
Implement regular security audits and vulnerability assessments on the application
Update and patch software and libraries regularly to address security vulnerabilities
Implement stricter access controls and enforce strong password policies for application access
Increase employee awareness through mandatory security training with 100% completion rate
Enforce strict deadlines and reminders to ensure all employees complete the security training
Create an engaging and interactive security training program for all employees
Evaluate the effectiveness of the security training program by conducting regular assessments
Implement a digital platform for employees to easily access and complete security training

Track these OKRs

OKRs to embed security consciousness in business operations

Embed security consciousness in business operations
Reduce security breaches by 25% through rigorous employee training
Implement mandatory cybersecurity training for all employees
Schedule regular refresher courses on data protection
Update security policies and disseminate to staff
Establish a quarterly security audit to identify potential vulnerabilities
Schedule regular audits with a professional auditor
Define the scope of each quarterly security audit
Create a process to address identified vulnerabilities
Achieve 100% compliance on mandatory security awareness training by all employees
Organize regular training sessions for all personnel
Monitor and document each employee's training progress
Distribute security awareness training materials to all employees

security-awareness employee-training security-auditor employee-training-coordinator cybersecurity-team employee-training-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to enhance application security knowledge and awareness among teams

Improve application security knowledge and awareness
Increase the frequency of security checklist reviews by 50%
Conduct at least one security training session per team
Provide secure coding guidelines and best practices to each team
Implement a mandatory security certification program for all teams

application-security knowledge it-security-manager training-coordinator development-team-lead

Track these OKRs

OKRs to increase security awareness

Make security part of our culture
Roll out fleet management pilot to 30% of the company
2FA is used on all 3rd party services used by employees
100% of our employees have gone through security training

it-teams security

Track these OKRs

More Security Awareness OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

OKRs resources

Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.

To learn: Complete 2024 OKR cheat sheet
Blog posts: ODT Blog
Success metrics: KPIs examples