Our quarterly planning sessions feel rushed because we arrive unprepared, and we waste the first two hours trying to collect our personal thoughts on our previous Rocks and the company's progress. What is the exact weekly routine or pre-work we need to implement to ensure our leadership team walks into the quarterly session fully prepared?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A great quarterly planning session starts a week before the actual meeting. If your leaders are trying to figure out their Rock updates and issue list items on the morning of the session, you are wasting valuable strategic time on administrative catch-up.

To fix this, implement a simple pre-work routine. One week before the session, the Integrator must send out a prep email. Each leader is required to do three things. First, finalize their personal Rock projections. They must know exactly which of their Rocks are done and which are not. Second, review the weekly Scorecard to identify any quarterly trends or numbers that consistently missed their targets. Third, review their personal issues list and identify the top three systemic issues they believe the company must solve in the upcoming quarter.

Additionally, have each leader review the current V/TO® to re-familiarize themselves with the one-year plan and the three-year picture. This ensures everyone is looking at the big picture before they walk into the room.

This pre-work should take no more than one hour per leader, but it completely changes the dynamic of the quarterly session. Instead of starting with confusion and slow updates, your team walks in aligned, focused, and ready to work. You can jump straight into the reviews, celebrate your wins, and spend the vast majority of your day on IDS® and setting the next set of high-impact Rocks. Preparation is the key to maintaining a tight, high-value planning rhythm.