The Quarterly Strategic Planning Meeting

We’re already almost a quar­ter of the way through 2022 and I hope every­thing is going well for you.

This blog relates to hav­ing an effec­tive quar­ter­ly strate­gic plan­ning meet­ing with your team – to review your 90-day progress and to set your goals for the next 90 days. These meet­ings are a crit­i­cal discipline:

• To eval­u­ate and be account­able for what you’ve done in the last 90 days.
• To reset and realign around your annu­al plan because things change, learn some­thing new; mar­ket con­di­tions inter­nal fac­tors change.
• To learn and improve to stay ahead of the curve and devel­op the team.

Prepa­ra­tion is Key

Orga­niz­ing and run­ning quar­ter­ly strate­gic plan­ning meet­ings is a project that takes prepa­ra­tion and skill, to make good and effec­tive use of your valu­able time. The pur­pose is to mine and eval­u­ate what Jim Collins calls the Bru­tal Facts — to deter­mine how you are real­ly per­form­ing, what’s work­ing, and chal­lenges and opportunities.

Ide­al­ly, you meet off site – or vir­tu­al­ly — away from dai­ly distractions.

The quar­ter­ly strate­gic plan­ning Agenda

1. Review the last 90 days.

• Finan­cials and goals.
• Tal­ent:
  • How did team mem­bers per­form and what needs adjusting?
  • How are you going to strength­en the team?
• Cul­ture:
  • Are you lead­ing teams well or cre­at­ing problems?
  • Review a mini pulse sur­vey, two or three lay­ers, deep to see what’s going on, and how peo­ple are think­ing and feel­ing now.
• Core val­ues:
  • Keep breath­ing life into your cul­ture and core ideologies.
  • What actions can you take for more peo­ple to live and under­stand your val­ues, pur­pose and BHAG more deeply?

2. Review, test and ideate the annu­al strategy.

• How are you per­form­ing in context?
• How are you going to evolve? Per­haps dig into the Five Forces, your fly­wheel or anoth­er con­cept or tool.

3. Debate and resolve big issues to align and move forward.

• e.g.: A new pol­i­cy, acqui­si­tion, strate­gic part­ner­ship or customer
• Ask a team mem­ber to do a 10-minute pre­sen­ta­tion on the issue, then debate to get the best ideas.
• Align and make a decision.

4. Refresh or learn new skills.

• Ahead of the meet­ing, ask the team to read a book, rel­e­vant to what you want or need to do to win, this year.
• Dis­cuss what you’ve learned and how to apply it in your organization.
• Choose a new title to dis­cuss at the next quar­ter­ly meeting.

5. Set the next 90-day exe­cu­tion plan.

• Iden­ti­fy and align on pri­or­i­ties and goals.
• Three-to-five smart pri­or­i­ties for the com­pa­ny, the depart­ments and individuals.

The Chal­lenge

• What enhance­ments do you need to do to make your quar­ter­ly meet­ing more impactful?

If you need help to pre­pare for and run an effec­tive quar­ter­ly or annu­al meet­ing, our expe­ri­enced advi­sors are ready to help.

For more about quar­ter­ly plan­ning exe­cu­tion meet­ings, lis­ten to Episode 91 of The Growth Whis­per­ers.

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.