Quarterly Planning Meeting Agenda

What is Quarterly Planning?

Quarterly planning is the strategic planning of short-term goals (90 days) to help achieve the organization’s long-term goals in the business year. 

Meeting once every three months, you’ll reflect on the previous quarter, set goals, and decide on action plans for the coming quarter.

This planning session aims to achieve your annual goals in short increments and drive the long-term strategy forward. So, if you want to facilitate better thinking and ensure that your team achieves its goals timely, then quarterly planning is the way to go.

Why’s Quarterly Planning so Important? 

Having a plan for the next 90 days keeps the team motivated and makes the annual goals more manageable. Here is how quarterly planning benefits your team and the organization:

Gives updated industry insights

As leaders review the performance of each department over the course of several quarters, they get detailed insights into how the business is evolving. You also get an accurate picture of where the organization is standing with respect to its competitors. These insights play an essential role in making changes in order to stay ahead in the market and also to make informed decisions regarding future investments.

Provides more clarity

During quarterly planning, the long-term goals are broken down into smaller chunks that are more approachable. When the employees get an in-depth knowledge of the goals and deadlines, they are empowered to work in the right direction and focus on the tasks at hand.

Moreover, all the team members feel a sense of accomplishment as their progress toward the organization’s goals is tracked more frequently.

Helps track blockers

Quarterly planning helps to identify and track the hurdles that come in the way of achieving goals.  For instance, you want to delegate the workload in order to accomplish quarterly goals, but you don’t have anyone on the team. So, the accomplishment of quarterly goals is dependent on the addition of a new member to the team.

It is always good to keep a tab on the blockers every quarter to complete the deliverables on time without any hurdles. 

Quarterly Planning VS. Annual Planning

Both quarterly and annual planning focus on goal-setting initiatives and provide strategic guidance to the leaders and their teams. So, you might be thinking about how these two planning strategies are different and which works best for your organization. 

• Annual planning is a roadmap that entails specific goals and objectives for the year ahead. So, goal-setting initiatives are undertaken for the coming 12 months. 

• On the other hand, quarterly planning connects the long-term vision with the mid-term focus. It focuses on setting goals for a three-month period and is done four times in a fiscal year. Quarterly planning is more specific and brings a sense of urgency as the short-term goals have to be accomplished in a limited time frame. 

Quarterly and annual planning strategies complement each other, and both play a significant role in the accomplishment of the organization’s goals.

What Topics to Include in a Quarterly Planning Meeting Agenda?

The quarterly planning meeting agenda template helps you identify shortcomings of the previous quarter and set new goals for the present quarter. Here are the essential points this template covers.

Review last quarter

As you start analyzing the last quarter, it is essential to review your goals and metrics in the previous quarter, which help you celebrate wins and identify the learnings. 

• Ask yourself what worked well and the areas that need improvement. 

• Also, check if the team has accomplished all the goals of the last quarter, and if not, what’s the reason? 

• If there are any unaccomplished goals from the last quarter, they can be incorporated into the next one. 

Reviewing the last quarter will also give you a chance to highlight team members' accomplishments who have consistently contributed to achieving the targets.

Determine quarterly goals

For a successful quarterly planning process, you need to establish the most critical focus areas for this quarter and then decide on the quarterly goals that contribute to the company’s annual goals. 

Like the “Objectives” in an OKR planning project, the outlined goals should be achievable and kept under five to avoid spreading yourself too thin.

Quarterly execution plan

Brainstorm and develop specific actions required to achieve the goals for the next 90 days. You must discuss budgets, timelines, and project phases with your team to devise a successful execution plan.

Also, research possible resources that help you achieve the goals, such as online courses and mentors, which will give you insight into various approaches for completing the allocated tasks.

Obstacles and considerations

Often we discuss the opportunities and the projected positive trends for the coming quarter but fail to consider the obstacles that may hinder progress. For instance, vacations, absences, and other unexpected organizational changes are some of the factors that might come in the way of accomplishing goals. So, taking all these into account and creating a buffer time and space ensures that you are prepared to tackle the roadblocks.

Quarterly Planning Meeting Best Practices 

It is crucial to ensure that all your materials are ready and you have ample discussion time before your next quarterly planning meeting. Here are a few pointers to help you make the most of this meeting.

1. Include all team members

Quarterly planning is a participatory process requiring all team member's presence. This way, everyone gets an opportunity to share their opinion and ideas. Moreover, it helps get all the team members on the same page regarding the targets for the next quarter.

2. Share the agenda in advance

Create your quarterly planning agenda based on what you want to achieve during the meeting. Share it with your team at least a week in advance so that they can add their inputs and prepare for the meeting. 

Pro Tip: Airgram enables you to customize the quarterly planning meeting agenda and share it with your team.

3. Block sufficient time

The time taken for the meeting varies according to the size and complexity of your organization. 

Depending on your agenda, the meeting can take a few hours to one day. You can block the time accordingly and leave enough time to review the previous quarter, plan long-term strategy, and address any potential blockers.

4. Choose a facilitator

Selecting the right person to lead the meeting is essential. The facilitator will use the agenda template to guide the discussion and keep things on track. Moreover, it is the facilitator’s job to ensure that everyone is focused and actively engaged in framing the goals, identifying the hurdles, and participating in other crucial steps in planning.

5. Create a culture of learning and celebration

Celebrating the success of the employees during the course of the meeting helps in maintaining motivation levels. Moreover, it also sets a positive tone for the session. 

It is good to include personal recognition in the quarterly planning agenda items. According to research, 69% of employees revealed that they would work harder if their achievements were recognized.

Also, leaders should constantly recommend books, online courses, and other learning resources in the quarterly planning meeting. Not only will it make the employees feel valued, but it will also keep them engaged and helps them grow. After all, the success of the team members contributes to the success of the team.