Model customization: alignment, contribution and terminology
Last updated: September 4, 2026
Model customization is where a Rhythms Admin decides how objectives, key results, and initiatives may be connected in the workspace, what they are called, and how their statuses are labelled. It lives in Settings › OKRs › Model customization and applies to the whole workspace: every team works under the same alignment rules and sees the same terms. This article is the reference for every control on that page. For help deciding which settings suit your organization, read Designing Your Organization's OKR Model first.
Who can use Model customization
Only Rhythms Admins see Settings and the Model customization page. Members and Guests work within the rules the page defines. If you need a rule changed and do not see Settings at the bottom of the left sidebar, ask a Rhythms Admin. Role definitions are in Rhythms OKR Roles and Permissions.
How the page is organized
The Model customization page has five parts, top to bottom:
- Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives: one card per goal type with its alignment switches, its default contribution rule, and its multiple-parents switch. The Initiatives card also has the Enable Initiatives switch.
- Terminology: rename OKR, Objective, Key Result, and Initiative, and set the short-ID prefix for each type.
- Status Labels: rename the nine OKR statuses. Covered in Rename OKR status labels.
Every switch and field saves as soon as you change it; there is no Save button. A Reset to defaults button at the top right restores the alignment and contribution rules (see below).
How alignment rules take effect
Alignment rules control which parents a goal can be given from now on. Turning a rule off does not break alignments that already exist; those goals keep their parents and keep rolling up. Turning a rule on makes the extra parent type appear in the alignment picker when people create or edit goals. Because people notice when options appear or disappear, change rules between cycles and tell OKR owners first.
Objectives
The Objectives card controls where an objective can sit in the hierarchy.
| Control | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Can be aligned to other Objectives | On | Lets an objective be the child of another objective: the company → team → sub-team cascade. Leave this on; turning it off stops teams aligning to company objectives. |
| Contribution rule (under the Objectives switch) | New alignments do not contribute to the parent's progress | Sets whether a child objective's progress counts towards its parent objective by default. See "Contribution rules" below. |
| Can be aligned to Key Results | Off | Lets an objective be the child of a key result. Turning it on shows the warning that aligning objectives to key results "can blur the distinction between goals and outcomes… and is generally not recommended". |
| Can be aligned to Initiatives | Off | Lets an objective be the child of an initiative. Turning it on shows the warning that this "inverts the typical OKR hierarchy where outcomes sit above activities". Rarely appropriate. |
| Allow alignment to multiple parents | Off | Lets one objective have several parent goals at once, so it appears under each of them in tree views. Used by matrix organizations where a goal serves more than one strategic dimension. |
Key Results
The Key Results card controls how key results connect to the goals they measure.
| Control | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Can be aligned to Objectives | On | The core OKR relationship: a key result measures its parent objective. Do not turn this off. |
| Contribution rule | New alignments contribute to the parent's progress | Key results roll up into their objective's progress by default. Changing this breaks automatic rollup for new key results; almost never appropriate. |
| Can be aligned to other Key Results | Off | Lets a key result have child key results (sub-KRs). Shows the "blur the distinction between goals and outcomes" warning when on. Useful only for genuinely composed metrics, such as a company total made up of regional totals. |
| Can be aligned to Initiatives | Off | Lets a key result be the child of an initiative. Shows the "inverts the typical OKR hierarchy" warning when on. |
| Allow alignment to multiple parents | Off | Lets one key result count towards several parents, for example a team metric that is also a sub-KR of a company metric. |
Initiatives
The Initiatives card controls whether initiatives exist in your workspace and where they attach.
| Control | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Initiatives | On | Makes Initiative available as a goal type. When off, nobody can create initiatives and the type disappears from creation menus. |
| Can be aligned to Objectives | On | Lets an initiative sit under an objective, the standard placement. |
| Contribution rule | New alignments do not contribute to the parent's progress | Sets whether initiative completion counts towards the parent's progress by default. Turning contribution on shows the note that "objective progress should be measured by Key Results, not by the progress of activities". |
| Can be aligned to Key Results | Off | Lets an initiative sit under the specific key result it is meant to move. Turn on when teams routinely tie work to one metric. |
| Can be aligned to other Initiatives | Off | Lets an initiative have child initiatives, for example an annual program with quarterly phases. Shows the "blur the distinction" warning when on. This switch is independent of Can be aligned to Key Results: turning one on does not turn the other on. |
| Allow alignment to multiple parents | Off | Lets one initiative support several objectives or key results, for cross-functional work. |
Contribution rules
Under each goal type's Can be aligned to Objectives switch is a line of text: "New alignments contribute to the parent's progress by default" or "New alignments do not contribute to the parent's progress by default". Click the pencil icon next to it to reveal the switch Default contribution for new alignments: contribute to the parent's progress? and turn it on or off.
This rule only sets the starting value when someone creates a new alignment. The contribution chosen on an individual alignment always wins: an OKR owner can still toggle Contribute to parent on any child, whatever the default. Changing the rule does not change existing alignments. How contributing children combine into a parent's progress is explained in Understanding OKR Automatic Rollup and How parent OKR progress and status roll up.
Terminology
The Terminology section renames the four OKR objects everywhere in Rhythms: navigation, buttons, dialogs, filters, reports, and notifications in Slack and Teams. The table has one row per object, with columns Objects (a description), Default Terms, Custom Terms, and Short Prefix.
| Object | Default term | Default short prefix |
|---|---|---|
| A collection of measurable goals and their success metrics | OKR | — |
| A single measurable goal that is ideally inspiring | Objective | OBJ |
| A measurable outcome that tracks the progress of an Objective | Key Result | KR |
| An action or project that is undertaken to progress towards an Objective | Initiative | INIT |
Rename an object
- In Settings › OKRs › Model customization, scroll to Terminology.
- Click the Custom Terms field on the row you want to change and type the singular form, for example Goal for Objective or Success Metric for Key Result.
- Click outside the field. The term saves and the interface updates; the plural is generated automatically ("Goals", "Success Metrics").
To go back to the standard term, clear the Custom Terms field and click outside it. Renaming changes labels only. Your data, the API field names, and this help centre keep the standard names, so "objective" in an article means whatever you have called it.
Change a short-ID prefix
Every goal has a short ID such as OBJ-12 or KR-40 that people use in chat, search, and links. The Short Prefix column sets the prefix for each type. A prefix is 2 to 6 letters, is stored in capitals, and must be different for each type; the OKR row has no prefix because OKRs are not individual goals. Type the new prefix and click outside the field. Existing goals are re-labelled in the background, so INIT-7 becomes PROJ-7 if you change the Initiative prefix to PROJ.
Status Labels
The Status Labels section at the bottom of the page renames the nine OKR statuses (Draft, Pending Approval, Not Started, In Progress, On Track, Behind, At Risk, Closed, Postponed) without changing how they behave. Type in the Custom Label field and click outside it to save. See Rename OKR status labels.
Reset to defaults
Click Reset to defaults at the top right of the page and confirm. Every alignment switch, contribution rule, and multiple-parents switch on the three goal-type cards returns to the defaults listed in the tables above, and Initiatives are re-enabled. Reset does not change custom terminology, short prefixes, or status labels; clear those fields individually if you want the standard values back.
As the confirmation says, resetting does not affect existing OKRs or their alignments; it only changes what can be created from now on.
Common configurations
- Standard (the defaults). Objectives under objectives, key results under objectives, initiatives under objectives, only key results contributing. Right for most organizations starting with OKRs.
- Initiative flexibility. Defaults plus Initiatives › Can be aligned to Key Results and, if you run multi-quarter programs, Initiatives › Can be aligned to other Initiatives. Turn each on separately.
- Matrix organization. Defaults plus Allow alignment to multiple parents on all three cards, so shared goals and metrics can appear under every dimension they serve.
- Project-driven. Defaults plus initiative contribution set to contribute by default and multiple parents for initiatives, for organizations that measure delivery alongside outcomes.
Which configuration fits which organizational model is worked through in Designing Your Organization's OKR Model; examples of the resulting hierarchies are in OKR Alignment and Time Horizons.
Test a change before announcing it
- Create a test objective with one key result.
- Create the child you have just allowed (an initiative under the key result, a goal with two parents, a contributing initiative) and confirm the alignment picker offers the new option.
- If you changed a contribution rule, give the children different progress and check the parent's rollup.
- If you renamed terms or prefixes, walk through the OKRs page, a goal dialog, a report, and a Slack or Teams notification to confirm the new words appear.
- Ask a Member (not an admin) to repeat step 2, then move the test goals to Trash.
Frequently asked questions
Can different teams have different alignment rules? No. Model customization is workspace-wide by design, so goals connect consistently across the organization. If teams need different structures, revisit the workspace model rather than looking for a team override.
What happens to existing goals when I change a rule? Nothing. Existing alignments and contributions stay as they are, even if they could not be created under the new rules. Only new alignments follow the new rules.
Does turning on "Can be aligned to Key Results" for initiatives also turn on "Can be aligned to other Initiatives"? No. Each alignment switch is independent. Turn on both if you need both.
Can I let initiatives contribute but keep objectives non-contributing? Yes. Each goal type has its own contribution rule, and each individual alignment can override the default.
If I allow multiple parents, must people use them? No. Goals can still have a single parent; the option is simply available.
Does renaming Objective to Goal change the OKRs page name? Renaming the OKR row changes the OKRs page and anything labelled "OKRs"; renaming Objective changes buttons such as "New Objective" and the type name on goals. Rename both if you want "Goals" everywhere.
Do custom terms and prefixes apply in Slack and Teams? Yes. Slack and Teams notifications use your custom terms and status labels, and goals are referred to by their re-labelled short IDs.
Can I change settings mid-quarter? You can, and nothing breaks, but options appearing or disappearing mid-cycle confuses people. Prefer the start of a planning cycle.
Where do I see the current configuration? On this page: an on switch is purple, an off switch is grey, contribution rules are shown as text, and custom terms and labels are shown in their fields.