---
title: "How do I weight key results and sub-goals?"
description: "A goal's Progress driver settings let you weight each key result and sub-goal from 0.25x to 4x, so the results that matter most move the goal further."
category: goals-analytics
section: goals-and-okrs
type: Tutorial
lastUpdated: 2026-08-05
locale: en
canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/goals-analytics/weighted-objective
---

# How do I weight key results and sub-goals?


## How do I weight key results and sub-goals?
Talkspirit calculates a goal's progress from its key results, from its sub-goals, or from both. The **Progress driver** settings let you say how much each one counts: a key result set to 2x moves the goal twice as far as one set to 1x. Weights are relative, so what matters is the ratio between them. Every key result and sub-goal starts at 1x, which means they all count equally.

---

## Where do I set weights?

Weights live in the **Progress driver** settings on the goal, not on the key result. You need edit rights on the goal, so you must be one of its owners or contributors. Members who only have view access can open the goal but will not see this menu entry.

1. Open the **Goals** app and select a goal.
2. Open the three-dot **More actions** menu at the top of the goal, then choose **Progress driver**.
3. Pick the tab that matches what should drive progress: **Key result**, **Sub-goals** or **Both**.
4. Set a weight on each row with the selector on the right: **0.25x**, **0.5x**, **1x**, **2x**, **3x** or **4x**.
5. On the **Both** tab, also fill in **Key result weight** and **Sub-goals weight**. The two must add up to 100%.
6. Click **Save**.

![The Progress driver dialog on the Key result tab, with a key result's weight selector open and listing None, 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x currently selected, 2x, 3x and 4x](/images/goals-analytics/weighted-objective/02-key-result-weight-scale.png)

**Note:** The selector also offers **None**, but saving it is refused: Talkspirit accepts weights between 0.25x and 4x only. To take a key result out of the calculation altogether, use **Exclude this from contributing** instead.

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## How is weighted progress calculated?

Talkspirit works in two stages. First it combines everything inside a pool: each key result contributes its own progress multiplied by its share of the pool, and its share is its weight divided by the total of all the weights in that pool. Then, if the goal draws on both key results and sub-goals, it combines the two pools using the percentages you set.

**Example.** A goal has three key results, one of them weighted 2x:

| Key result | Weight | Progress | Contribution |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reach an NPS of 8/10 | 2x | 50% | 25% |
| Collect 240 of 300 survey responses | 1x | 80% | 20% |
| Present 2 of 5 planned improvements | 1x | 40% | 10% |

The three weights add up to 4, so the 2x key result owns half the pool and the two 1x key results own a quarter each. Goal progress is 25 + 20 + 10, which is **55%**.

Sub-goals work the same way inside their own pool, and their weight sits on the link to the parent goal. Weighting a sub-goal at 2x under one parent does not change how it counts under another.

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## How do the two pools share a goal's progress?

On the **Both** tab, **Key result weight** and **Sub-goals weight** decide how much of the goal each pool accounts for, and they must add up to 100%. Save a split that does not, and Talkspirit tells you the pool weights must sum to 100%.

![The Progress driver dialog on a goal, Both tab, showing a Weighting box with Key result weight at 100% and Sub-goals weight at 0%, then one key result and one sub-goal each carrying a 1x weight selector](/images/goals-analytics/weighted-objective/01-progress-driver-weighting.png)

A new goal starts at 100% key results and 0% sub-goals. If a goal has both key results and sub-goals and you have never changed that split, the two pools count equally at 50% each, so set the split yourself whenever the balance matters to you.

**Note:** Saving a weight recalculates that goal, then every goal above it in the hierarchy.

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## How do I keep a key result out of the calculation?

Edit the key result and tick **Exclude this from contributing**. The key result stays on the goal and keeps tracking its own progress, but neither its weight nor its progress counts towards the goal. This is the right tool for a result you follow for information rather than for scoring.

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## What's Next?

- [Adding, editing, or deleting a goal](/goals-analytics/how-to-add-edit-or-delete-a-goal)
- [Assigning responsibility for a key result](/goals-analytics/assign-members-to-key-results)
- [Visualising the Goal hierarchy](/goals-analytics/visualize-the-goals-hierarchy)