

The first time you try to run OKRs in your head, it feels manageable: three objectives, a few metrics, a quarterly review. By the second quarter, the spreadsheet has tabs for every team, nobody remembers which Key Result version is current, and check-ins happen only when someone shouts in Slack.A good OKR spreadsheet template in Google Sheets or Excel fixes that. It gives you a single, shared source of truth with clear fields for Objectives, Key Results, Initiatives, owners, and timelines. Team tabs mirror company goals, dashboards roll up progress, and everyone can see what matters this quarter without digging through decks. Templates from tools like Perdoo, Mooncamp, Smartsheet, or HubSpot bake in structure so you don’t have to reinvent the model; you just fill in goals and start tracking. For small teams, this is often the fastest way to get the OKR discipline running: low lift, zero extra software, and flexible enough to adapt to your cadence.Now imagine that instead of you chasing updates, an AI computer agent does the chasing for you. It logs into Google Sheets or Excel, pulls numbers from your CRM or ad platforms, updates Key Result cells, recalculates progress, and leaves concise notes for your weekly check-in. Delegating the grunt work of OKR maintenance to an agent means your sales, marketing, and leadership teams spend time deciding what to do next—not wrestling cell references and stale dashboards.
## 1. Manual ways to manage OKRs in spreadsheets### 1.1 Start from a proven template1. Pick where you’ll work: - **Google Sheets** if you need easy sharing and browser access. - **Excel** if you love desktop power features or work heavily with .xlsx files.2. Grab a template: - Perdoo’s Google Sheets template for small teams. - Generic templates from Smartsheet or HubSpot (they export to both Google Sheets and Excel).3. In Google Sheets, make a copy to your Drive (File → Make a copy). See Google’s guide: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/60002924. In Excel, download the .xlsx, open it, then immediately save it to OneDrive or SharePoint so it’s shareable. Microsoft’s guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-new-workbook-5f8e7c42-8061-4e3a-bc04-5c0b2597c1e3### 1.2 Define company, team, and personal OKRs1. In the **Company OKRs** tab, write 2–4 Objectives—short, inspiring sentences like “Double qualified pipeline in Q3.”2. For each Objective, define 2–4 Key Results with clear metrics: - “Increase SQLs from 120 to 250 per quarter.” - “Improve landing page CVR from 2.1% to 3.5%.”3. In team tabs (Sales, Marketing, CS, etc.), mirror the structure and link their Key Results to company goals.4. Add owners, baseline values, and target values for each KR.### 1.3 Set up a cadence for updates1. Add a row or column for **weekly check-ins** (Week 1–12 for a quarter).2. Every Friday, each owner updates the **Current Value** and a short comment.3. In Google Sheets, use basic formulas to calculate progress, e.g.: - `=(Current - Baseline) / (Target - Baseline)`4. In Excel, convert your KR ranges to **Tables** (Home → Format as Table) so formulas auto-fill. More on tables: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-and-format-tables-3f3fdffd-118e-4ca5-9c86-9e56264c4f53### 1.4 Build lightweight dashboards1. Create a **Dashboard** tab.2. Use `=AVERAGE()` to roll up KR completion by Objective or by team.3. Add simple charts: - Google Sheets: Insert → Chart; see https://support.google.com/docs/answer/63824 - Excel: Insert → Recommended Charts; see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-chart-from-start-to-finish-0baf399f-3d19-4c62-9a8b-ff0c6a5c96b34. Use traffic-light formatting (red/amber/green) for quick status scanning.### 1.5 Run quarterly reviews1. Duplicate the file each quarter (Q1, Q2, etc.).2. Freeze last quarter’s numbers and add a “Score” column (0.0–1.0 or 0–100%).3. Add a “Lessons Learned” column per Objective to capture what to change next cycle.Pros (manual): total control, no extra tools, great for very small teams. Cons: lots of copy-paste, risk of human error, and updates quickly become a chore.---## 2. No-code automation for OKR spreadsheets### 2.1 Auto-import metrics from your toolsLet’s say a marketing agency tracks:- Leads and deals in a CRM- Spend and conversions in Google AdsUse no-code tools like **Zapier**, **Make**, or **n8n** to push these numbers into your OKR sheet.**Example: update a “Leads This Week” KR in Google Sheets**1. In Google Sheets, name the KR range (Data → Named ranges) so it’s easy to target.2. In Zapier: - Trigger: “New lead” in your CRM. - Action 1: “Lookup row in Google Sheets” by date. - Action 2: “Update row” to increment the Leads cell.3. Test and turn the Zap on.For Excel, use **Power Automate**:1. Store the workbook in OneDrive or SharePoint.2. In Power Automate, use the **Excel Online (Business)** connector.3. Flow: Trigger from your CRM → “Update a row” in the Excel table that holds KRs.4. Microsoft docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/connection-excel ### 2.2 Automate weekly check-in reminders1. Keep a “Owner Email” column for each Objective in your sheet.2. With Zapier/Make: - Trigger: every Friday at 3pm. - Action: “Find rows” where Owner Email is set. - Action: “Send email” with a deep link to the exact range and a short summary of last week’s values.3. You can also log missed check-ins in a “Compliance” tab.### 2.3 Auto-build summary viewsUse built-in features before jumping to AI:- Google Sheets: FILTER, QUERY, and pivot tables to show “this quarter’s at-risk KRs.” Docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/7572895- Excel: PivotTables for rollups by owner, team, or Objective. Docs: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-pivottable-to-analyze-worksheet-data-a9a84538-bfe9-40a9-a8e9-f99134456576Pros (no-code): cuts down routine updating and reminders without code; great for operations teams. Cons: configuring Zaps/flows takes effort; logic lives across tools.---## 3. Scaling OKRs with AI agents (Simular)Now imagine an assistant that works directly on your desktop: it opens Google Sheets or Excel, logs into CRMs and ad accounts, and follows your playbook click by click. That’s where a computer-use AI agent like **Simular Pro** shines.### 3.1 Agent-driven OKR refresh from source systemsScenario: a B2B sales team wants Monday-morning OKR sheets updated before standup.Workflow:1. You record or describe a routine: - Open browser, log into CRM. - Export pipeline report. - Open Google Sheets OKR file. - Update “Pipeline created” and “Closed won” KRs.2. Simular Pro learns this multi-step workflow.3. On schedule, the agent: - Runs the report. - Calculates deltas vs. last week. - Updates the right cells in Google Sheets or Excel.**Pros:** end-to-end automation with no APIs, works across web apps, CRMs, and local Excel files. **Cons:** needs initial setup and careful testing so paths, logins, and sheet structures are stable.### 3.2 AI-generated weekly OKR narrativesInstead of managers typing long updates:1. Simular opens the OKR spreadsheet and reads changes in KR values over the last 7 days.2. It also opens relevant tabs (CRM dashboard, ads manager) for context.3. The agent drafts a narrative summary per Objective: - “We’re at 68% of the SQL target, up 12% week-over-week, driven mainly by LinkedIn ads.”4. It pastes those summaries into a “Check-in Notes” column or a linked Google Doc.**Pros:** leaders get story plus numbers without writing time, great for agencies reporting to clients. **Cons:** needs human review early on to ensure tone and focus match your culture.### 3.3 Multi-team scaling with reliable runsFor larger organizations or agencies with many clients:1. Give each client or team its own OKR spreadsheet (Google Sheets or Excel).2. Configure a Simular agent to: - Loop through a list of sheet URLs or file paths. - Run the same refresh and summarization routine per file. - Log outcomes and screenshots for auditability.3. Trigger it via webhook from your pipeline or on a cron-like schedule.**Pros:** production-grade reliability—thousands of steps across dozens of files, all traceable. **Cons:** you’ll want a simple governance layer (who owns which workflow, when it runs, and how errors get flagged).Used together, manual discipline, no-code automations, and AI agents give you a layered system: spreadsheets for clarity, no-code for quick wins, and AI agents for fully delegated, at-scale OKR operations.
Start with the core OKR objects: Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives. In Google Sheets or Excel, create a **Company OKRs** tab and separate **Team** tabs (Sales, Marketing, CS, etc.). In each tab, use columns like: Objective, Objective Owner, Key Result, KR Owner, Baseline, Target, Current, Progress %, Confidence, and Notes.Place Objectives in their own rows, then list Key Results directly beneath, sharing the same Objective name via merged cells or a separate lookup column. Progress % can be calculated with a formula such as `=(Current - Baseline) / (Target - Baseline)` and formatted as a percentage. For Initiatives, either add a separate table under each Objective or keep another tab called **Initiatives** linked to the Objective ID.Finally, create a **Dashboard** tab that uses `SUMIF`, `AVERAGEIF`, or pivot tables to roll up Progress % by Objective and by team. That layout mirrors best-practice templates and makes it easy for AI agents and no-code tools to work reliably.
For Google Sheets, store your OKR file in a shared Google Drive folder and click **Share** to invite teammates with Editor access. Turn on notifications for comments so discussions around targets or definitions stay inside the sheet. Google’s collaboration guidance is at https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494822For Excel, save the workbook to **OneDrive** or **SharePoint**, then enable co-authoring. In the upper-right corner of Excel, use **Share**, add your team’s emails, and ensure AutoSave is on. Microsoft’s detailed steps are here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/collaborate-on-excel-workbooks-at-the-same-time-with-co-authoring-7152aa8b-b791-414c-a3bb-3024e46fb104Add an "Owner" column for each Key Result so responsibility is clear, and keep a weekly "Check-in" column where each owner adds a short update. If you’re using an AI computer agent later, this structured setup makes it much easier to automate reminders and updates per person.
First, decide on your cadence—weekly is ideal for most sales and marketing teams. In your OKR template, add columns for **Week 1, Week 2, … Week 12** (for a quarter) or maintain a separate "Check-ins" tab keyed by date and Key Result ID.In Google Sheets, use a formula to keep a running latest value, e.g. `=LOOKUP(2,1/(CheckinRange<>""),CheckinRange)` to pull the most recent non-empty entry for a KR. In Excel, you can achieve something similar with `INDEX` and `MATCH`, or keep a pivot table that summarizes the latest entry per KR.Operationally, book a recurring 15–30 minute check-in where KR owners update their rows before the meeting. Over time, you can layer in no-code automations (Zapier, Power Automate) to email reminders with direct links, or even bring in an AI agent to pre-fill numbers from your CRM and ad platforms so humans only adjust commentary and edge cases.
There are three levels. **Level 1 (manual):** export CSVs from your CRM, marketing tools, or product analytics, then copy-paste key metrics into your Google Sheets or Excel KR columns. It’s simple but time-consuming.**Level 2 (no-code):** use tools like Zapier, Make, or Power Automate. For example, with Zapier you can trigger on "New Deal" in your CRM, then update a row in Google Sheets via the Google Sheets connector. For Excel stored in OneDrive/SharePoint, Power Automate’s **Excel Online (Business)** connector lets you add or update table rows based on events from Dynamics, HubSpot, or other systems. Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/connection-excel **Level 3 (AI agent):** with a computer-use AI agent, you don’t even need official integrations. The agent can log in to dashboards, download reports, open your OKR spreadsheet, and paste or calculate updates just like a human operator, which is powerful when sources are messy or bespoke.
Start by tightening your template: consistent tab names, stable column headers, and clear separation between data entry cells and formulas. This reduces the chance an AI agent overwrites logic. Next, onboard the agent with a detailed playbook: which Google Sheets or Excel files to open, which ranges contain Key Results, where to pull source data from (CRM URLs, analytics pages), and what sanity checks to run (e.g., "never reduce total leads by more than 20% vs. last week").Use an agent platform that offers **transparent execution**, where every step is recorded and inspectable. Begin in supervised mode: watch a few full runs while the agent updates non-critical copies of your OKR files. Compare its outputs to your manual process and refine instructions. Once it’s reliable, schedule it for off-hours runs and keep a simple alert system—email or Slack—whenever something unusual happens (missing data, login issues, or extreme value swings). With that guardrail, the AI agent becomes a dependable operations teammate rather than a risky black box.