How to Use ClickUp as a Microsoft Viva Goals Alternative

ClickUp can fully replace Microsoft Viva Goals when you know how to set up goals, OKRs, and progress tracking the right way. This step-by-step guide walks you through building a complete goal management system using ClickUp features.

Following these instructions, you will structure work from high-level objectives down to actionable tasks, so every team member can see exactly how daily work impacts business results.

Why Choose ClickUp for Goal Management

Before you configure anything, it helps to understand why ClickUp works well as a Microsoft Viva Goals alternative. The platform centralizes strategy, execution, and reporting in one workspace.

• Keep goals, projects, and tasks under the same roof
• Replace multiple tools for objectives, task tracking, and reporting
• Give teams clear visibility from company OKRs down to daily to-dos
• Customize views and workflows without complex configuration

The source article on Microsoft Viva Goals alternatives highlights how ClickUp brings OKRs, dashboards, and automations into one configurable solution. You can review that overview here: Microsoft Viva Goals alternatives.

Step 1: Plan Your Goal Hierarchy in ClickUp

Before creating anything in the platform, outline how your objectives will cascade through ClickUp spaces, folders, and lists.

Define the Goal Structure

Use this simple hierarchy:

• Workspace level: Company-wide vision and annual objectives
• Spaces: Departments or business units (Sales, Product, Marketing)
• Folders: Strategic pillars or major initiatives within each department
• Lists: Specific programs, projects, or OKR cycles
• Tasks and subtasks: Executable work tied to measurable key results

Write down this structure before configuring ClickUp to avoid confusion later and to keep goals consistently organized.

Choose Your OKR Cadence

Decide how frequently your team sets objectives and key results:

• Annual company goals
• Quarterly department OKRs
• Monthly or sprint-level initiatives

This cadence will drive how you name spaces, folders, and lists inside ClickUp and how often you refresh your goal dashboards.

Step 2: Create a Goal Space in ClickUp

Next, create a dedicated space to manage high-level objectives and track progress.

1. In the left sidebar, create a new Space called something like “Company Goals” or “OKR Hub”.

2. Set privacy settings to include leaders and collaborators who need to see cross-functional progress.

3. Add folders for each year or strategic theme, such as “2025 Strategy” or “Customer Growth”.

Inside this space, you will centralize your top-level objectives that align the rest of your workspace.

Build Lists for Each OKR Cycle

Under each folder, create lists that represent specific OKR periods:

• “Q1 OKRs”
• “Q2 OKRs”
• “H1 Objectives”

These lists will hold objective-level tasks and related key results so you can see each quarter at a glance inside ClickUp.

Step 3: Set Up Objectives and Key Results in ClickUp

Now it is time to translate strategic objectives into measurable outcomes in ClickUp.

Create Objective Tasks

1. In your OKR list, click New Task and name it with a clear objective, such as “Increase enterprise customer retention”.

2. Add a detailed task description explaining why the objective matters and how success will be evaluated.

3. Assign an owner responsible for the outcome, even if multiple teams contribute.

4. Set start and due dates that align with your OKR cycle.

Add Key Results as Subtasks or Custom Fields

You can track key results in two main ways inside ClickUp:

• Subtasks as key results: Each subtask represents a measurable result.
• Custom fields as metrics: Numeric fields track progress directly on the objective.

For subtasks, use this workflow:

1. Add subtasks named after each key result, e.g., “Improve net retention rate from 100% to 110%”.

2. Use custom fields like Current Value, Target, and Progress % to quantify each subtask.

3. Update these fields weekly during your team check-ins.

This configuration allows you to view progress across multiple objectives in a single ClickUp list or dashboard.

Step 4: Connect Team Work to ClickUp Objectives

Your objectives only drive impact when everyday work is linked to them. The platform makes it simple to connect tasks to strategic goals.

Create Project Lists That Roll Up to Goals

Within each department space, create folders for major initiatives and lists for projects that support OKRs.

• Sales space: “Pipeline Expansion” folder
• Product space: “New Feature Launches” folder
• Marketing space: “Demand Generation” folder

Each list holds tasks that contribute to one or more objectives defined in your goal hub space in ClickUp.

Use Relationships to Link Tasks and Objectives

1. Open a project task that supports a key result.

2. Use Task Relationships to link it to the objective task or key result subtask.

3. Mark the relationship type (e.g., “relates to” or “dependency”) to clarify how the work affects the result.

This method lets you trace any task back to the objective it supports, which is essential for status reviews and stakeholder updates.

Step 5: Build ClickUp Dashboards for Goal Tracking

Dashboards give leaders and teams a visual snapshot of progress across objectives, key results, and projects.

Create a Goal Dashboard

1. In the sidebar, open the Dashboards area and create a new dashboard named “Company Goals Overview”.

2. Add widgets that pull data from your goal lists and department spaces.

3. Share the dashboard with executives and team leads who need high-level visibility.

Essential Widgets for ClickUp Goal Dashboards

Include a mix of widgets to track both outcomes and work progress:

• Tasks by Status: Show how many objectives or key results are on track, at risk, or off track.
• Battery Chart: Visualize completion percentage of OKR tasks.
• Number Widgets: Surface custom field values such as revenue, churn, or active users.
• Time Period Filtering: Focus on current quarter or month.

These visualizations help teams quickly see where to focus attention inside ClickUp during check-ins.

Step 6: Use Templates and Automations in ClickUp

To scale your goal process across teams, standardize how you create objectives and OKRs.

Save an OKR Template

1. Configure one model objective with subtasks, custom fields, and relationships.

2. Save it as a task template named “Standard OKR Objective”.

3. Ask teams to use this template whenever they create new objectives in ClickUp.

Set Up Automations

Automations reduce manual work and keep your goal system current.

• Send notifications to owners when due dates approach.
• Update status to “At Risk” when progress fields fall below a threshold.
• Create recurring tasks for weekly key result reviews.

Configure these rules at the list or space level so that your entire goal hub in ClickUp runs consistently.

Step 7: Run Recurring Goal Review Meetings with ClickUp

Your system becomes powerful when you embed it into your meeting rhythm.

Weekly or Biweekly Reviews

1. Open your main goal dashboard at the start of each meeting.

2. Review each objective and key result, updating custom fields on the spot.

3. Drill into related project tasks whenever progress stalls.

4. Capture decisions and follow-up items directly as tasks in ClickUp.

This keeps objectives alive instead of locked away in static slides or spreadsheets.

Get Expert Help Implementing ClickUp

If you want a guided setup of this type of goal system, you can work with a specialized consultancy. The team at Consultevo offers implementation, workflow design, and training services for modern work management platforms.

Using the framework above, you can confidently adopt ClickUp as a strong Microsoft Viva Goals alternative, unifying strategic planning, everyday execution, and reporting inside a single, flexible workspace.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

Get Help

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