How to Turn Every Quarter into a Win —

The Complete Training Guide

Look Back, Learn, and Plan Forward: Your Simple 90-Day Success System

Welcome to Quarterly Planning

What You'll Get Done

After this process, you'll know exactly how your last quarter went, what you learned, and what you're going to focus on for the next 90 days.

Time Needed

Quarterly Debrief: 0.5 to 2 days (depending on your team)
Quarterly Planning: 0.5 to 1 day (depending on your team)

Who Should Join

  • Must Have: CEO/Owner and department heads
  • Should Have: Key project leaders
  • Team Size: 4-8 people max

Why This Matters

Companies that plan every quarter do way better than those that don't:
  • Get 58% more of their goals done
  • Fix problems 3x faster
  • Make much better decisions about money and time
Without quarterly planning, businesses:
  • Lose focus on their big goals
  • Waste time on stuff that doesn't matter
  • Don't learn from mistakes
  • Have teams working against each other

🛠️ Get Ready First (Do This Before You Meet)

Gather Your Numbers (1 hour)

Money Stuff:
  • How much money did we make each month?
  • Did we hit our quarterly money goal?
  • Where did our money come from?
Project Stuff:
  • Which projects got finished?
  • Which projects are still going?
  • Which projects got stuck or cancelled?
Customer Stuff:
  • Are customers happy?
  • Did we get new customers?
  • Did we lose any customers?

Everyone Does This Before Meeting (30 minutes each person)

Think About Your Work:
  • What went really well for you this quarter?
  • What was harder than expected?
  • What would you do differently?

📊 Part 1: Look Back at Last Quarter (0.5 to 2 days)

🔽 Notion Toggle: Basic Debrief Process

Step 1: Clean Up Your Projects (30 minutes)

What to Do:
Finish projects that are almost done
Put low-priority projects on hold
Decide which projects continue next quarter
Archive or kill projects that aren't working
Questions to Ask:
  • Which projects should we definitely finish?
  • Which projects can wait?
  • Which projects should we keep going?
  • Which projects should we stop completely?

Step 2: Check Your Money Goals (15 minutes)

Simple Questions:
  • Did we hit our money target this quarter?
  • Which months were good/bad?
  • Where did our money come from?
  • What outside stuff affected our money?
📚 What This Means:
  • Hit Target: We did what we planned
  • Missed Target: We need to understand why
  • Beat Target: We did better than expected

Step 3: What Went Well and What Didn't (20 minutes)

Wins This Quarter:
Everyone shares their biggest wins (5 minutes each person)
Challenges This Quarter:
Everyone shares their biggest challenges (5 minutes each person)
Keep vs. Stop:
  • Keep Doing: What worked really well?
  • Stop Doing: What didn't work and wasted time?

Step 4: What Did We Learn? (15 minutes)

Pick Your Top 3 Lessons:
  • What's the most important thing we learned?
  • What surprised us?
  • What will we do differently next time?
📚 Good Lessons Sound Like:
  • "Our customers really want X feature"
  • "Marketing Channel Y doesn't work for us"
  • "We need more time for big projects"

🔍 Deeper Dive: Advanced Project Analysis

For experienced teams or those with extra time:
Project Performance Deep Dive:
  • Which projects gave us the best return on time invested?
  • What made our successful projects work so well?
  • What patterns do we see in our failed projects?
  • How accurate were our original time estimates?
Resource Efficiency Analysis:
  • Where did we over-staff or under-staff projects?
  • What skills were missing that slowed us down?
  • Which tools or processes helped us most?
  • What outside help do we need more of?
Customer Impact Assessment:
  • Which projects made customers happiest?
  • What projects improved our competitive position?
  • How did our work this quarter set us up for future quarters?

🎯 Part 2: Plan Your Next Quarter (0.5 to 1 day)

Step 1: Check Your Big Picture (15 minutes)

Look at Your Year:
  • Are we on track for our yearly goals?
  • What's most important to focus on next quarter?
  • What's working that we should do more of?

Step 2: What's Happening Right Now? (20 minutes)

Market Opportunities:
  • What good opportunities do we see right now?
  • What are our customers asking for?
  • What are our competitors doing wrong?
Current Challenges:
  • What are our biggest 3 problems right now?
  • What could hurt us if we don't fix it?
  • What do we need help with?

Step 3: Set Your Goals (30 minutes)

Pick 4-6 Goals for Next Quarter:
📚 Good Goals Follow SMART Rules:
  • Specific: Exactly what will happen
  • Measurable: You can count it or measure it
  • Achievable: Possible with hard work
  • Relevant: Helps your big picture
  • Time-bound: Done by end of quarter
Goal Examples:
  • "Increase monthly revenue to $50K by end of quarter"
  • "Launch new product feature and get 100 users"
  • "Hire 2 new salespeople and train them"

Step 4: Pick Your Projects (25 minutes)

For Each Goal, Pick 1-2 Big Projects:
  • What big thing needs to happen to reach this goal?
  • Who's going to be in charge?
  • When does it need to be done?
  • What help do they need?
Project Checklist:
Clear outcome
One person responsible
Realistic timeline
Needed resources available

Step 5: Try Something New (15 minutes)

Pick 1-2 Experiments:
Test something new this quarter that might help you grow
Good Experiments:
  • New way to get customers
  • New product feature
  • New process to save time
  • New partnership
📚 Experiment Rules:
  • Won't hurt your business if it fails
  • You'll learn something useful either way
  • Easy to measure if it works
  • Doesn't take too many resources
🔽 Notion Toggle: Advanced Planning Techniques

🔍 Deeper Dive: Strategic Analysis

For experienced teams or those with extra time:
Competitive Intelligence Review:
  • What major moves did competitors make last quarter?
  • Where are they vulnerable that we could attack?
  • What new competitors entered our market?
  • How has our market position changed?
Advanced Risk Assessment:
  • High Impact/High Probability: Fix these immediately
  • High Impact/Low Probability: Make backup plans
  • Medium Impact: Watch these closely
  • Low Impact: Just keep an eye on them
Resource Allocation Strategy:
  • 60% Core Business: Keep current operations running
  • 25% Growth: Invest in quarterly goals
  • 10% Experiments: Test new things
  • 5% Backup: Save for unexpected opportunities
Market Trend Analysis:
  • What industry changes will affect us next quarter?
  • How are customer needs evolving?
  • What technology changes create opportunities?
  • What economic factors might impact our business?

📋 Simple Templates You Can Use

Goal Template

Goal: [What you want to accomplish]
Why it matters: [How it helps your business]
How you'll measure: [Specific numbers or results]
Who's responsible: [One person's name]
When it's done: [Specific date]
What could go wrong: [Biggest risks]

Project Template

Project: [What you're building/doing]
Goal it supports: [Which quarterly goal]
Who's in charge: [One person responsible]
Team members: [2-4 people helping]
Must be done by: [Date]
What success looks like: [Specific outcome]

🔄 Keep It Going (What to Do Every Month)

Monthly Check-In (1 hour)

Simple Questions:
  • Are we on track for our quarterly goals?
  • What's blocking us?
  • Do we need to change anything?
  • What help do people need?
Traffic Light System:
  • 🟢 Green: On track, no problems
  • 🟡 Yellow: Some concerns, needs attention
  • 🔴 Red: Behind schedule, needs immediate help

Mid-Quarter Review (2 hours at 6 weeks)

Quick Assessment:
  • Will we hit our quarterly goals?
  • Should we adjust anything?
  • What are we learning from our experiments?
  • Do we need to move resources around?

🎓 Tips for Success

If You're Just Starting Out

Keep It Simple:
  • Pick only 3-4 goals max
  • Focus on goals you're confident about
  • Don't try every advanced technique at once
  • Celebrate small wins
Get Better Over Time:
  • Quarter 1-2: Just get the basic rhythm going
  • Quarter 3-4: Add more detailed analysis
  • Quarter 5+: Use advanced techniques

If You've Been Doing This Awhile

Level Up Your Game:
  • Use the deeper dive sections
  • Add more sophisticated metrics
  • Include competitive analysis
  • Plan for multiple scenarios

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Too Many Goals: Pick fewer goals and do them well
  • Vague Goals: Be specific about what success looks like
  • No Owner: Every goal needs one person responsible
  • Forget to Review: Check progress every month
  • Perfect Planning: Good enough planning beats perfect planning that never gets done

📊 How to Know If It's Working

After Your First Quarter

You Should See:
  • Clearer focus on what matters most
  • Better teamwork and less confusion
  • More projects actually getting finished
  • Faster problem-solving when things go wrong

After 3-4 Quarters

You Should Have:
  • Predictable rhythm of planning and execution
  • Much better at estimating time and resources
  • Learning faster from both successes and mistakes
  • Stronger competitive position in your market

Simple Success Metrics

  • Goal Achievement: What percentage of goals did we complete?
  • Project Delivery: How many projects finished on time?
  • Team Satisfaction: Do people feel good about progress?
  • Business Results: Are we moving toward our big picture goals?

🚀 Start Your Next Quarter Strong

Do This Right Now

  1. Schedule your meetings - Block time in next 2 weeks
  1. Gather your numbers - Get last quarter's performance data
  1. Tell your team - Explain what you're doing and why
  1. Keep it simple - Don't try to be perfect the first time

Your First Quarter Will Feel

  • A little chaotic - That's normal
  • Somewhat overwhelming - You'll get better at this
  • Pretty rewarding - You'll see quick improvements
  • Much clearer - Your team will thank you

Remember This

The goal isn't perfect planning. The goal is getting better every quarter at knowing where you're going and how you'll get there.
Most businesses drift from day to day. Quarterly planning helps you steer toward your destination on purpose.
Ready to take control of your next 90 days? Let's start planning.
This simple process has helped hundreds of companies turn quarterly chaos into focused progress. Start basic, get consistent, then add more advanced techniques as you get comfortable.