Create a goal

Goals in Operately help you track meaningful progress toward specific outcomes. Unlike traditional project management that focuses on task completion, goals track concrete metrics that matter to your business.

Creating a goal#

There are several ways to create a goal in Operately:

From the top navigation#

1. Click the + New button in the top navigation bar
2. Select Goal from the dropdown menu
3. Fill in the minimal required information and click Add Goal

From a work map#

1. Navigate to any Work Map (Company or Space)
2. Click the + Add new item link at the bottom
3. Select Goal from the dialog
4. Fill in the details and click Add Goal

As a sub-goal#

1. Navigate to a Work Map
2. Hover over an existing goal
3. Click the Add button that appears
4. Select Goal from the dialog (the parent goal will be pre-selected)
5. Fill in the details and click Add Goal

What you need to provide#

The goal creation dialog asks for just three pieces of information:

Name — What you want to achieve. Be specific and actionable, like “Launch new mobile app by Q3” or “Increase user retention by 20%”

Space — Which team or department owns this goal. This determines who can see and contribute to the goal.

Privacy — Who can view and edit the goal. The default “Everyone in the company can edit” promotes transparency and collaboration.

Quick add features#

When creating goals from work maps, you’ll also see:

Parent goal — If you’re creating a sub-goal, the parent goal will be pre-selected and shown at the top of the dialog.

Create more — Toggle this on to keep the dialog open after creating a goal, so you can quickly create multiple goals in sequence.

Goal vs Project — You can switch between creating goals (big-picture outcomes) and projects (concrete actions) in the same dialog.

Building out your goal#

After creating the goal, you’ll land on the goal page where you can add details incrementally:

Goal Description — Click “Write” to add context about why this goal matters and what success looks like.

Targets — Click “Add” to create measurable outcomes that track progress. Good targets are specific and quantifiable.

Subgoals & Projects — Break down complex goals into manageable pieces. Add subgoals for major milestones and projects for specific initiatives.

Team & Timeline — Set the champion (who owns it), reviewer (who provides oversight), and due date in the sidebar.

This approach lets you start quickly and build complexity as needed. You can always come back to add more details later.