Goals: the complete guide

This guide collects every goal rule, default and label in one place. Each section links to the short page for that job.

Kinds of goal #

Goal

An outcome tracked from 0% to 100%. Created with New Goal or the C key. See Create a goal.

Metric

A named value (unit Percentage, Count or Currency) tracked from a starting value (default 0) to a target. Progress is the share of that distance travelled. See Create a metric.

Project

Delivery work tracked as a percentage, with an optional start and due date. See Create a project.

Terminology

Admins can rename all three, and the umbrella word, in Terminology. Labels such as Create Goal follow the type and the renamed word.

Default time period

A new goal starts in the organization's latest current period. A goal added under a parent takes the parent's period.

Expected progress #

• The pace line starts at 0% (or a Metric's starting value) and ends at 100% (or the target). Expected progress is where it sits today.
• Milestones inside the window bend the line: it passes through each milestone's value on its date.
• A Project with a due date paces from its start date (or its creation date) to its due date.
• Stay above, Stay below and Stay between metrics have no pace line. They are judged by the share of the period spent in bounds.
• Shown as Expected today on the goal page and in the check-in dialog, and in a list row's progress hover card.

Short page: Expected progress.

Status #

On Track

Progress at or above expected, or 100% and above.

Behind

Below expected by up to 25 percentage points.

At Risk

More than 25 points below expected, with progress above 0.

Not Started

Progress 0 and more than 25 points below expected.

Postponed

Only set by a person. A later roll-up or refresh can replace it.

Completed

Only set by a person, through scoring. Never derived.

When status changes on its own:

• In the check-in dialog, Brev suggests a status as you edit progress. Picking a status stops that for the rest of the dialog.
• In the dialog, reaching 100% switches the status to Completed, unless you picked one.
• A roll-up from children and an auto-track refresh each set status from progress, replacing a status you picked.
• A Stay above, Stay below or Stay between metric reads On Track while in bounds and At Risk when out. A refresh keeps its status.
• If the automatic status differs from the last human check-in, a warning icon shows by the status.

Short page: Goal status.

Tracking method #

Children

Progress rolls up from children. Offered only on a goal with children. Each child check-in adds an "Updated from children" entry.

Integration Refresh

Progress comes from auto-track. Offered only on an auto-tracked goal.

Manual Only

Progress comes from check-ins. Not offered on an auto-tracked goal.

Defaults

Auto-tracked: Integration Refresh. Goal or Project with children: Children. Everything else, including every Metric: Manual Only.

Where to change it

The selector in the goal page's Progress card, or next to Check-in in the panel. Also Roll-up type under More fields, and the roll-up pill in the dialog. Needs edit rights.

Auto-track

Connecting replaces the roll-up from children after a confirmation. Removing it returns the goal to Manual Only. See Auto-track a goal.

Short page: Choose where progress comes from.

Roll-up basis and weights #

• Time-based coverage (default): each child counts for the share of the parent's window it spans. Uncovered time counts as 0%. Overlapping children average.
• A Project child with a due date covers its delivery window, not its period.
• If no child overlaps the parent's window, the parent falls back to the plain average.
• Equal weighting: every child counts the same, or by its weight.
• The org default is set in Settings → Goals → Progress & logic. One goal overrides it with the Roll-up basis pill in its dialog, shown while the roll-up pill is Children.
• Archived children don't count.

• Weights need the Goal Weights setting, a parent on Children, and at least one child.
• Open them with the scale icon (Configure child weights) beside the tracking method selector.
• Each child starts at weight 1. Distribute Equally sets every weight to 1. The last column is each child's effective share.
• Weights count only under Equal weighting, and in the plain-average fallback. Time-based coverage ignores them.

Short pages: How parent progress rolls up and Weight sub-goals.

Alignment #

• Set a parent from More fields, then Alignment, in the ⋯ menu. The dialog's Parent pill and Align to a parent goal on the page work too.
• You need edit rights on the goal. The parent must be an organization goal, a goal of a team you're on, or a goal you can check in on. Org Admins can align under any goal.
• Add child, under Add in the ⋯ menu, opens the dialog with the parent set. It copies the parent's Scope, team, time period, tags and privacy. It shows only to people who could create a goal with the parent's Scope and teams.
• With Multiple Alignment on, the pickers take several parents, and Option-drag (Alt-drag) in a view adds one. Progress rolls into each parent.
• With Shared Team Ownership on, Scope pickers take several teams, and the goal shows in each team's view.

Short pages: Align a goal, Align to more than one parent and Share a goal between teams.

Score goals and close a period #

• Score in the check-in dialog: status Completed, or 100% progress, shows the score pill (0.0 to 1.0 in steps of 0.1).
• The pill starts at progress rounded to 0.1. The button reads Score goal, and a Score this goal? confirmation follows.
• Once scored, the status can't change. Editing the scoring check-in shows Update score.
• Dragging a list row's slider to 100% completes and scores the goal with no confirmation.
• A completed goal leaves Check in, and auto-track stops refreshing it.
• A parent's score is never calculated from its children's scores; only progress rolls up.
• There is no Closed status or section. Completed goals stay in their period's views (Status filter: Completed) and leave Check in.
• Closing a period: refresh auto-tracked values, score each goal with a closing note, clone what carries forward, then set the next period Current.

Short pages: Score a goal and Close out a time period.

Edit, archive, delete and clone #

Who can edit

By default: owners, and Org Admins and Owners. Team Admins can too when their team, or a subteam, owns the goal or has one of its owners. People shared on a goal can check in but not edit. Delete and archive are a separate permission with the same defaults.

Edit

Edit Goal opens the dialog; Update Goal saves. Name and description edit in place. Edits add no check-ins.

Bulk edit

Stage Owner, Scope, Time period, Align to, Archive or Unarchive, then Apply. Clone and Delete also live there. Status, tags and names are per goal.

Archive

Hides the goal from views, selectors, rollups, reports, digests and AI tools. Also archive sub-goals is on by default. Turned off, children move up. Needs the same right as delete.

Restore

Show archived above the list, then Unarchive Goal. Its sub-goals and archived parents come back too.

Delete

Permanent. Deletes check-ins and every descendant whose parents are all being deleted. A child with another surviving parent stays.

Clone

Copies with no check-ins and reset progress. Bulk clone applies staged changes to the copies. Include subgoals is off by default.

Short pages: Edit a goal, Edit several goals, Archive, Delete and Clone.

Tags, milestones, privacy and blockers #

Tags

Need the Tags setting. Shared with actions. Anyone except Observers and Guests can create one; Manage tags deletes one everywhere. See Tag goals.

Milestones

Need the Milestones setting. A name, value and date inside the period; they bend the pace line. See Milestones.

Private goals

Need the Private Goals setting. Visible to owners, the creator and who it's shared with. Org Admins are not included. See Make a goal private.

Project dates

A due date sets pacing and the reporting period. See Project dates.

Blockers

Blocked by and Blocking links; yellow when the blocker is Behind, red when At Risk. See Blockers.

Insights

Summary, Highlights, Blockers and Tactics, with a sparkle on list rows. See AI insights.

Actions

Add one from the goal's Actions or Action items section: title, status, meeting and assignee (you by default). No due date there; set it on Actions. The checkbox completes it, and completing one doesn't move the goal's progress. See Add an action to a goal.

Suggested goal

AI Goal Coach drafts one goal in the new goal dialog. See Use a suggested goal.