Quarterly planning
“Every team plans its own quarter, and the plans don’t add up.”
Sound familiar?
“We don’t plan, we’re Agile.”
Then the quarter fills up with surprises that derail the team.
“Our plan is 20 pages long, and nobody reads it.”
It never changes, and the person who wrote it takes every comment as an attack.
“We find out about the dependency in week eight.”
Another team was counting on you, and nobody said so.
What we do
Your teams plan the quarter on one page each, starting from the company’s goals. We review them together so the plans fit and the trade-offs are made before the quarter starts.
What it looks like when it works
When a surprise shows up, you fix it in days, because the plan is easy to change.
Each team has a written plan that fits on a page, and it gets used.
Dependencies show up in planning, not in week eight.
How it runs
Before
I walk the team leaders through how to write a One Page Plan, and then each team drafts a plan to meet the company’s OKRs.
During
The teams bring their plans together, find where they clash or depend on each other, and make the trade-offs live.
After
I support each team in adjusting their plans, and then we have a final review together.
You leave with
One plan for the quarter that every team can explain, and the trade-offs already made.
Typical format
How long: from two hours to a full day, with short online sessions before and after
Where: online, in your office, or at an offsite
Preparation and support: by email and video call, as much or as little as you need
Team workshops: extra sessions for individual teams, if needed
Case studies
From the founders' circle to one leadership team
A Series C B2B SaaS scale-up got its leadership team deciding together, and one OKR session cut a six-month project for 20 people to two months for three.
Read more
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OKRs that worked after a failed first attempt
A Series D SaaS startup whose own OKRs had failed got them working, then used them to break the bottleneck stopping it scaling.
Read more
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A strategy reset that broke a risky dependency
A seed-stage SaaS startup of about 30 people reset its strategy in a one-day offsite, broke its dependence on a single platform, and pivoted fast when that platform changed.
Read more
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Try it yourself first
Execution
The One Page Plan: your team’s quarter on one page
How to write a short plan for your quarter, review it with the people it affects, and keep it alive until the work is done.
Read →
OKRs
How to set OKRs with your team in a week
A day-by-day process for setting OKRs with your team: strategy on Monday, final OKRs on Friday.
Read →
Who you’ll be working with
I run every session myself.
I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation. Since then, I’ve worked with over 200 leaders and 16 startup leadership teams as a facilitator and coach.
If I’m not the right person to help, I’ll introduce you to someone who could be.
What usually comes next: Quarterly kick-off · Mid-quarter review
Know someone this would help?
Here’s a line you can send them:
Richard runs quarterly planning where the teams plan together, so the plans add up and the trade-offs are made up front.
Next steps
Start with a free, 20-minute Clarity Call. Confidential, and no preparation needed.