Introduction
For product teams, keeping track of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is critical to aligning efforts and measuring progress. Traditionally, updating product OKRs on dashboards involves manual data entry, which is time-consuming, error-prone, and delays visibility for stakeholders. Automating the push of product OKRs from source documents or tools into dashboard platforms ensures real-time updates, improved accuracy, and better team transparency.
In this article, we will build a detailed, step-by-step automation workflow using n8n — an open-source, low-code automation platform — to automatically transform and push product OKRs into a dashboard, such as Google Data Studio or Tableau via Google Sheets. This workflow is suited for product managers, automation engineers, and operations specialists aiming to streamline product OKR management.
Use Case Overview
Problem Solved:
Product OKRs are usually managed in spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel) or project management tools (like Airtable or Monday.com). Manually transferring these OKRs into visualization dashboards is laborious, causing delays and errors.
Who Benefits:
– Product teams ensuring updated OKR insights
– Executives monitoring progress in real time
– Operations and automation engineers maintaining seamless data flow
Tools and Services Integrated:
– n8n (automation platform)
– Google Sheets (OKRs source repository)
– Slack (optional for notifications)
– Google Data Studio (dashboard consuming data from Google Sheets)
Workflow Overview
The automation triggers on a schedule (e.g., daily or weekly), fetches the latest OKRs from a Google Sheet, formats and transforms the data as needed, updates the target Google Sheet feeding the dashboard, and optionally sends notifications on Slack if updates succeed or fail.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Prerequisites:
– Access to an n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
– Google account with Sheets where OKRs are stored and destination sheet for dashboard
– Slack workspace with webhook URL (optional)
1. Set Up Google Credentials in n8n
– In n8n, configure Google OAuth2 credentials with Sheets API enabled.
– Ensure permission scopes include reading and writing Google Sheets.
2. Create a New Workflow in n8n
– Open n8n editor.
– Create a new workflow named “Push Product OKRs to Dashboard”.
3. Add a Cron Node (Trigger)
– Add a Cron node to trigger the workflow.
– Configure execution frequency (e.g., every Monday at 9 AM).
4. Add Google Sheets ‘Read Rows’ Node (Source Data)
– Add Google Sheets node, set operation to “Read Rows”.
– Select the spreadsheet containing your product OKRs.
– Choose the specific worksheet and specify the range (e.g., A1:D100).
– This node fetches the latest OKR data.
5. Add a Function Node to Transform Data
– Add a Function node after reading rows.
– Use JavaScript to:
– Parse the rows into structured JSON.
– Filter or map records to fit the dashboard data schema (aggregate key results, calculate progress percentages, etc.).
– Example snippet:
“`javascript
return items.map(item => {
const data = item.json;
return {
json: {
objective: data.Objective,
key_result: data.KeyResult,
progress: parseFloat(data.Progress),
owner: data.Owner
}
};
});
“`
6. Add Google Sheets ‘Clear’ Node for Target Sheet
– Add a Google Sheets node set to ‘Clear’ operation.
– Choose the dashboard data sheet where OKRs are pushed.
– Clear existing data to avoid duplicates.
7. Add Google Sheets ‘Append’ Node to Push Data
– Add another Google Sheets node with operation ‘Append’.
– Select the same target sheet.
– Map the transformed data from the Function node.
– This updates the sheet feeding your dashboard with fresh OKRs.
8. Add Slack Node for Notifications (Optional)
– Add Slack node configured with your workspace.
– Send a message on successful update or in case of errors.
9. Add Error Handling
– Use ‘Error Trigger’ node to catch failures.
– Send failure notifications via Slack or email.
10. Test the Workflow
– Execute manually to verify data flows through each node correctly.
– Check the dashboard updates accordingly.
Common Errors and Tips
– OAuth Scopes: Ensure Google credentials have the correct permissions for both reading and writing.
– Data Range: Verify that the sheet range covers all your OKR entries.
– Data Formatting: Be mindful of data types (numbers, dates) during transformation.
– Rate Limits: Google API quota limits may throttle requests; schedule runs accordingly.
– Network Latency: Add retries or timeouts in the Google Sheets nodes for robustness.
Scaling the Workflow
– Add filters to handle multiple product lines or teams by branching nodes.
– Integrate additional data sources (e.g., Airtable, Notion) to consolidate OKRs.
– Modularize transformations using external scripts or multiple Function nodes.
– Publish data to multiple dashboards or notify various stakeholder groups.
Summary
Automating product OKRs push into dashboards with n8n cuts down manual effort, improves data accuracy, and accelerates decision-making. By connecting Google Sheets as both source and sink, your team can maintain a single source of truth that’s automatically reflected in their dashboard tools. Leveraging Slack notifications and error handling makes the workflow reliable and transparent.
Bonus Tip
Consider integrating your OKR input tool (e.g., Jira, Airtable) directly into this workflow for end-to-end automation—from OKR update creation to dashboard visualization—maximizing efficiency and ensuring real-time insights at all times.