This article lists the most common problems with goals in Performance > Goals (also called objectives or OKRs), why they happen and how to fix them. Each entry is written as symptom → cause → fix and quotes the exact message you see in the product where there is one.

 Before you start

• Note the exact message on screen, the goal's name and its Goal period.
• Many problems depend on permissions. See Get started with goals.

Step by step

Check a goal's settings quickly

1. Go to Performance > Goals.
2. Set the date navigator to the goal's year and search for the goal.
3. Open the goal. The header shows Assigned to, Period and Frequency.
4. Check the Sub-goals and Incentive plans tabs. A parent based on sub-goals, a weight or an active incentive plan explain most locked fields.

Rules and behavior

• If a goal is used by an active incentive plan, then it can't be deleted and its period and frequency can't change.
• If a goal has a weight, then its period and frequency can't change.
• If a goal is a sub-goal of a goal measured Based on sub-goals, or is itself Based on sub-goals with sub-goals, then its period and frequency can't change.
• If a goal is measured Based on sub-goals, then its progress can't be updated manually.

Troubleshooting

Finding goals

• Symptom: “I can't find a goal.”
  Cause: The date navigator shows the current year, or it is set to a quarter, month or range that doesn't contain the whole goal, or a filter is active. 
  Fix: Set the date navigator to the goal's Year, clear filters and search by name.

Creating goals

• Symptom: "The New Goal button is missing."
  Cause: You don't have Create key results, or its scope doesn't reach any active employee.
  Fix: Ask an admin for Create key results.
   
• Symptom: "Assign to only offers Employees."
  Cause: Team, Legal entity, Role and Whole company need Create key results – For the whole company.
  Fix: Pick the employees, or ask an admin.
   
• Symptom: "I can't select more teams."
  Cause: You can select up to 10 teams, legal entities or roles. The message reads "You can select up to 10".
  Fix: Split the goal or assign it to Whole company or a legal entity.
   
• Symptom: "Adjust the period targets so they add up to the total."
  Cause: The per-period targets don't add up to the Target value.
  Fix: Click Distribute equally or correct the values until the message reads "The total target is correctly distributed".
   
• Symptom: "The description can be at most 1000 characters."
  Cause: The Description is too long.
  Fix: Shorten it or link to a document.
   
• Symptom: "Create an individual goal for each person is missing."
  Cause: The option isn't offered when editing, when creating a sub-goal, or when creating a goal from an action plan.
  Fix: Create the goal from Performance > Goals > New Goal.
   
• Symptom: "Your bulk goal creation failed." email.
  Cause: The audience had no members left, or the creation hit an error. Nothing was saved.
  Fix: Check Assign to and create the goal again.
   

Sub-goals and parent goals

Cascading goals (parent goals and sub-goals) are available on the Enterprise plan.

• Symptom: "A sub-goal must have the same period as its parent goal" or "…the same frequency as its parent goal".
  Cause: The parent is measured Based on sub-goals.
  Fix: Give the sub-goal the parent's Goal period and Target frequency.
   
• Symptom: "Goals can only be nested up to 5 levels deep".
  Cause: The tree would be deeper than 5 levels.
  Fix: Attach the goal higher in the tree.
   
• Symptom: "A goal cannot be added as a child of one of its own sub-goals".
  Cause: You tried to make a goal its own descendant's sub-goal.
  Fix: Choose a different parent goal.
   
• Symptom: "Add existing goals doesn't list my goal."
  Cause: Only goals without a parent, and with the same period and frequency when the parent is Based on sub-goals, are listed.
  Fix: Unlink the goal from its current parent or align its period and frequency.
   
• Symptom: "Add sub-goal is missing."
  Cause: You need Create key results and Manage key results on the parent, and the tree must have room for another level.
  Fix: Ask the goal's creator or an admin.
   

Editing and deleting

• Symptom: "Period and frequency can't be changed — Remove this goal from the incentive plan to change the period and frequency".
  Cause: An active incentive plan uses the goal.
  Fix: Remove the goal from the plan, or wait until the plan is archived.
   
• Symptom: "Period and frequency can't be changed — Remove this goal's weight in Edit weights to change the period and frequency".
  Cause: The goal has a weight.
  Fix: Ask someone who can edit that employee's weights to open Edit weights and set the goal's weight to 0%.
   
• Symptom: "The period and frequency are locked while the goal takes part in sub-goal tracking".
  Cause: The goal is, or belongs to, a goal measured Based on sub-goals.
  Fix: Unlink it from its parent first, or change the whole tree.
   
• Symptom: "Type of metric is stuck on Based on sub-goals."
  Cause: The goal still has sub-goals.
  Fix: Unlink its sub-goals first.
   
• Symptom: "This goal can't be deleted — Remove this goal from the incentive plan to delete it."
  Cause: An active incentive plan uses the goal.
  Fix: Remove it from the plan in Incentive plans, or archive the plan.
   
• Symptom: "Edit goal or Delete goal is missing."
  Cause: You didn't create the goal and your Manage key results scope doesn't cover everyone in its audience, or you are in the audience.
  Fix: Ask the creator or an admin.

Progress and status

• Symptom: "Update progress is missing."
  Cause: The goal is Based on sub-goals, or your Update key results' progress scope doesn't cover everyone in the audience.
  Fix: Update the sub-goals, or ask the creator or an admin.
   
• Symptom: "The progress of this goal is derived from its sub-goals and cannot be updated manually".
  Cause: Same as above.
  Fix: Update the sub-goals.
   
• Symptom: "My goal shows Missed but we're still working on it."
  Cause: The goal's (or the current period's) end date has passed with progress under 100%.
  Fix: Edit the Goal period if the deadline moved, then update progress.
   
• Symptom: "My goal shows 0% even though I made progress."
  Cause: Progress is measured from the Start value. A value equal to or below the start counts as 0%.
  Fix: Check Start value and Target value in Edit goal.
   
• Symptom: "A parent goal's progress looks wrong."
  Cause: Parents add up sub-goals only when they share type, unit and direction; otherwise they average the sub-goals' percentages. Sub-goals that are themselves empty parents are skipped.
  Fix: See Track goal progress.
   

Weights

• Symptom: "Save is disabled in Edit weights."
  Cause: The weights don't add up to 100%.
  Fix: Adjust them until the message reads "Weights add up to 100%." or click Distribute weights equally.
   
• Symptom: "The list of goals changed since this form was opened. Reload and try again."
  Cause: Someone added or removed a goal in that period while you edited.
  Fix: Close the dialog, reopen it and save again.
   
• Symptom: "I want to take a goal out of an employee's weighting."
  Cause: Once a group is weighted, every goal in it has a weight.
  Fix: In Edit weights, set the goal's weight to 0% and spread the 100% across the other goals. A goal with a 0% weight can be deleted.
   
• Symptom: "No goals to weight".
  Cause: The employee has no individual goals in that period and frequency.
  Fix: Weights only apply to goals assigned to that person alone. Collective goals can't be weighted.

FAQ

1. Who should I contact if none of these fixes work?
Contact your Factorial admin first; most issues are permissions. If the admin can't solve it, contact Factorial support with the goal's name, its period and the exact message.

2. Can support recover a deleted goal?
No. Deleting a goal is permanent.

3. Why do I see the same goal twice?
After the change to the new goals experience, a goal can appear once as a parent and again inside another parent only if it was duplicated. Check for goals with the same name created by Duplicate goal.