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How To Lead A Quarterly Meeting That Accelerates Clarity and Consistency

AdVance Leadership » How To Lead A Quarterly Meeting That Accelerates Clarity and Consistency

Welcome to Friday 411, issue #119. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll transform into a Meeting Master. 

 

1 Insight 

Quarterly meetings aren’t just check-ins—they’re strategic reset buttons that help your team think more clearly and execute consistently. 

 

We need to warn you. I (Garland) am about to share a strong opinion — one that most people disagree with. Here it is:  

I LOVE meetings.  

Well, not all meetings. We have all been through plenty of the pulling-hair-out, struggling-to-stay-awake, we-will-never-get-this-time-back type of meetings.  

But a well-led meeting creates clarity and energizes the team.  

In fact, teams need four types of meetings to drive execution: Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly, and Daily. Each meeting serves a different purpose:  

    • Quarterly: Your team reviews the past 90 days and plans your highest priorities for the next 90.  
    • Monthly: Your team reports progress, addresses potential obstacles, and collaborates on challenges.  
    • Weekly: Your team aligns on priorities and solves small issues before they become big.  
    • Daily: Your team shares yesterday’s accomplishments, today’s priorities, and areas where they need help.  

We’ve been teaching this rhythm to a lot of teams recently, and we consistently hear the same response: “I’d like to implement this meeting rhythm, but I don’t know what to do during these meetings.”  

If you’re in the same boat, it’s time to change that. In today’s post, we’ll explain what to do during a quarterly meeting. But, first, let’s talk about why they matter. 

 

Why Quarterly Meetings Matter  

There are several reasons quarterly meetings help your team.   

  1. They create a sense of urgency.

Nearly every team we know does some kind of annual planning, but annual plans rarely create enough urgency to get the team moving. Many people are wired to procrastinate until the last possible moment to start moving on a deadline. If you create a goal to finish something by December 15, it’ll be Q4 before you start working on it.  

Quarterly meetings create just enough space to step out of the weeds and get back into the strategy. They’re the ideal cadence for reflection and recalibration. A year feels too long, and a month can fly by in a blink. A quarter is long enough to make real progress and short enough to course-correct quickly.  

That’s why Brian Moran’s book The 12 Week Year has been such a game-changer for us. He recommends treating each Quarter as its own year. He writes, “The great thing about having a 12 Week Year is that the deadline is always near enough that you never lose sight of it. It provides a time horizon that is long enough to get things done, yet short enough to create a sense of urgency and a bias for action.”  

  1. They give your team time to learn.

In the course of 90 days, teams can accomplish and lot and make a lot of mistakes. Mistakes and accomplishments can help your team learn how to work together and execute better. Most teams don’t slow down enough to name the lessons they need to learn. A lesson that has not been identified is not yet a lesson.  

Quarterly meetings create space for your team to translate what you’ve learned into lessons.   

  1. They keep your team focused on what’s most important.

In the midst of the daily chaos, it’s easy for teams to lose sight of their most important objectives. One of the major objectives of the quarterly meeting is to keep your team focused on your Biggest Goal, Strategic Bets, and Projects. Meeting quarterly gives your team time to ensure their actions are driving toward what’s most important.  

Now that we’ve talked about why the quarterly meeting is important, let’s talk about how to lead it. 

Preliminary Details  

As you plan your next quarterly meeting, here are a few suggestions:  

Length of Time: Plan for the meeting to be a day and a half or two days to give your team enough time to have deep discussions.  

Location: This meeting works best if it is in-person and off-site. If you must have it virtually, make sure everyone is fully engaged. 

 

The Outcomes  

A successful quarterly meeting will result in seven outcomes. Your team will:  

  1. Reflect on the last 90 days.  
  2. Bond as a team.  
  3. Establish projects and outcomes for the next 90 days.  
  4. Identify owners for all projects and outcomes.  
  5. Plan critical actions for the next 90 days.  
  6. Capture those critical actions in a shared location.  
  7. Review who is best suited for executing next steps. 

The Agenda  

This agenda will help you accomplish all seven of these objectives.  

Day 1 (Half Day): Reflect and Reconnect  

  1. Celebration

Give your team space to share wins, learning moments, and personal growth over the last 90 days. This isn’t fluff. Celebrating progress boosts morale and reinforces what’s working. Ask questions like:  

        • What did we accomplish?  
        • What went well?  
        • How did we grow?  
        • What are we thankful for?  
        • What did we learn?  
  1. Disappointments and Frustrations

Talk honestly about what didn’t happen—and more importantly, why. But keep it blame-free. The goal is to extract insight, not excuses.  

Try asking:  

        • What did we fail to accomplish?  
        • Where did we make less progress than we expected?  
        • What unwanted situations surprised us?  
        • What went poorly?  
        • What did we learn?  
        • How did we grow?  
        • What will we do differently next quarter (or year) because of what we learned?  
  1. Create Closure

Your team needs to feel like the last quarter is finished, and they are starting a new quarter. If they don’t have that closure, it feels like a hamster wheel whirling with no progression.  

Create this closure with a ritual that ends the last quarter and starts the new one.   

To get your creative juices flowing, here’s one suggestion of what a closure ritual might look like: Bring a bottle of sparkling wine or cider and toast the previous quarter. Shatter the glasses to show that the quarter is complete. Then ask each person to write a word that describes the upcoming quarter on a post-it note. Display these at the office.   

  1. Build Connection

Your team works hard. Give them the chance to have a little fun. It builds trust and establishes deeper community. Go to dinner. Visit an escape room. Ask questions that get your team laughing and learning more about each other. People work better together when they know each other.  

  

Day 2 (Full Day): Align and Advance  

Now you’re looking ahead. Day 2 is all about planning and ownership.  

  1. Revisit the Big Picture

Spend part of the morning talking about your BHAG and strategic bets. Are they still the right ones? Don’t assume. Confirm.  

  1. Identify Key Projects

David Allen defines a project as “anything that requires two or more steps to accomplish.” Projects may only take a few weeks or months to complete, but they help you gain momentum on your Strategic Bets. Your team can work on multiple projects simultaneously. They must understand that all projects connect to one single BHAG. This format creates clarity by having one goal but works toward that goal in multiple ways.  

        • Brainstorm the projects that need to take place in the next 90 days.  
        • Select the projects that your team is committing to in the next 90 days.  
        • Rank these projects in order of priority. This forced ranking helps you pre-decide where you need to give the most resources.  
        • For each project answer:   
        • What outcome will we accomplish in the next 90 days?  
        • Who owns this project?  
        • What are the first 3–5 steps with deadlines?  
  1. Give Time to Plan

Once you know the projects, give people time to plan. Planning may require breaking them up into micro-teams or individually. If you give them time to plan now, they’re more likely to take action when they get back to the office.  

  1. Share the Plans

For each project, the project owner addresses the goals and obstacles with the larger group. This gives everyone visibility, catches conflicts early, and builds shared accountability. It also creates an opportunity for your team to strategize together if necessary.  

  1. Review Your Talent

Before you wrap, take time to talk about all the people your team leads. This conversation helps discern if roles are adequately filled, identify development needs, and discover if any of your people are struggling.  

        • Evaluate each person on their Performance and Potential.  
        • What development does this person need?  
        • Are they in the right role?  
        • What support or stretch assignment would help them grow?  

Then leave the room with clear next steps for developing your team leads—not just managing tasks.  

 

 

Building Competence, Clarity and Consistency  

At AdVance Leadership, we believe leaders flourish when they consistently develop seven traits: Character, Competence, Capacity, Clarity, Community, Culture, and Consistency.  

When leaders regularly run quarterly meetings like this, something amazing happens:  

      • You become more Competent at leading strategically, not just reactively.  
      • Your team gains Clarity as they see what needs to be accomplished.  
      • Your team becomes more Consistent in execution, communication, and follow-through.  

Want a more focused, energized, high-performing team? Don’t skip your quarterly. 

 

1 Action 

Set the date for your next quarterly meeting today. Then use this guide to turn it into the best meeting your team has had all year. 

 

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