We find ourselves wasting the first two hours of our quarterly planning sessions just trying to get aligned on past performance and basic data. What specific pre-work must our leadership team complete before our quarterly session to ensure we spend our time on strategic planning rather than data collection?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Wasting the first few hours of a quarterly planning session on data alignment is a common execution error. Your quarterly session is a high-leverage strategic event, not a data-cleanup meeting. To ensure you hit the ground running, your leadership team must complete specific pre-work before arriving.

First, every leadership team member must review the previous quarter's V/TO® and Scorecard. They must come prepared with a clear, objective analysis of their metrics and why any of their individual Rocks were missed. This analysis should be documented in advance, not figured out in the room.

Second, each team member must submit their top three to five proposed corporate Rocks for the upcoming quarter at least forty-eight hours before the session. This forces everyone to think strategically about priorities ahead of time, preventing on-the-spot brainstorming that leads to low-quality Rocks.

Third, clean up your Issues List. The Integrator must review the weekly Issues List and combine or delete minor items, leaving only the most critical, strategic issues for the quarterly session.

By completing this pre-work, your team enters the quarterly session with high energy, aligned data, and a clear focus, allowing you to spend your time solving major issues and setting high-impact Rocks.