Quarterly Planning Meeting Template

“Proper planning and preparation prevent poor performance.”– Stephen Keague

Quarterly planning meetings are a critical part of sustaining a successful business. These occur every three months, and team members discuss what happened in the previous quarter while also planning for the next. The people involved discuss the 90-day plan and the tasks that must be completed within that time frame. They also discuss what company growth opportunities are available while assessing the growth rate at the end of each quarter.

Holding quarterly planning meetings is essential as it helps keep the employees motivated, mainly because their targets are quite manageable. It’s easier to work on quarterly goals that contribute to the business’s vast growth than on one big goal that is not broken down into sizeable chunks. The teams know what to do at the end of each quarter, and the meetings are a great way of evaluating progress and making changes where necessary.

For a quarterly planning meeting to be effective, you should first establish the primary purpose for that quarter. This will help you plan for the upcoming 90 days with ease. The plan should contain:

• Specific tasks or work areas that your company needs for that quarter.
• What you’d consider success in the specific tasks.
• The approaches required to attain that level of success.

Like any other business activity, the meetings aren’t done by one individual, and several people will need to be present. All team members, including employees, management and the executives, should sit in the quarterly planning meeting. That way, everyone is on the same page about the company’s targets for the next quarter.

How to Run an Effective Quarterly Planning Meeting

“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert H. Schuller

A quarterly planning meeting helps the team understand what is expected of them in the next quarter. It’s an opportunity for everyone to compare notes, raise concerns and give suggestions as they plan for the next 90 days. A successful quarterly meeting agenda includes:

• Annual goal review. Before the quarterly planning meeting, you should review the long-term goals so everyone understands the main objective.
• Sub-division of the goals. Break down the objectives into tasks that can be completed within three months or less.
• Budget review. It’s important to always review the business budget at the start of each quarter. Establish whether you overspent or underspent the last quarter and whether you’ll need to rethink this quarter’s budget allocation. Make the team members aware of the budget limits to avoid project lags in the future.
• Action steps. Brainstorm what actions you’ll collectively take to achieve the intended quarterly goals.
• Task delegation. Every team member should be involved in achieving the quarterly goals, and as such, all of them should have some responsibilities. Delegate the tasks appropriately.
• Set timelines. This is important to ensure that the tasks in every focus area are completed correctly and efficiently.
• Establish the standard of success. Every focus area for the upcoming quarter will have different definitions of success, and this should be made clear to the teams involved.

Before heading to the meeting, prepare yourself properly and, if possible, consult with all heads of departments at least a month prior.

What’s inside this Quarterly Planning Meeting Template:

Quarterly planning meetings are a great opportunity for teams to come together to discuss what went well in the previous quarter and what to focus on in the upcoming months.

In order to have a productive conversation, ask your team members to review and populate each section of this meeting template prior to the quarterly planning meeting. You’ll be more likely to have a productive conversation if everyone prepares in advance!

With templates, you can ensure that your quarterly planning meeting will run smoothly without any hitches. Templates help you plan and execute meetings where there is a lot of information to deal with. Our meeting proposal sample has the following components:

1 Previous Quarter

Knowing how much of the previous quarter’s goals you achieved will help you strategize for the upcoming three months. Reviewing the last quarter involves carefully looking at:

Metrics and results. This is an analysis of how the company performed in the previous quarter. Did you achieve all you had to do in the specific focus areas? Did the teams work efficiently to complete the set objectives?

Highlights. What stood out during the previous quarter? What’s the overall feeling among the employees about the last quarter?

Insights and learnings. What did you learn from the previous quarter?  Is there anything that needs changing to achieve the goals you will set?

2 Upcoming Quarter

This is where you outline plans for the upcoming three months. After reviewing the previous quarter, you will discuss the following:

Company goals. Outline the main company objectives and break them down into focus areas to be handled within three months.

Team priorities. Set out what is required from each team and the specific timelines.

Key activities and responsible individuals. Assign each team member specific responsibilities and identify the key activities they will all engage in.