Jira team and resource management

Quarterly planning for business success: A beginner’s guide

Quarterly planning takes high-level, long-term plans and turns them into practical, manageable steps. These plans ensure all team members are on the same page and headed in the right direction. 

Not all quarterly plans are created equal. But with clear objectives and communication, your business can make steady progress toward its long-term goals. 

What is quarterly planning?

Quarterly planning divides your annual business initiatives into four stages, with each stage spanning three months. It's a process of determining which short-term goals put you on track to achieve broader organizational objectives. 

For most companies, quarters begin in January.  

Comparing quarterly and annual goal-setting strategies

While annual planning focuses on the big picture, breaks down those objectives into actionable, 90-day targets. It’s not about choosing one or the other, as quarterly and annual planning are complementary. They define and drive short- and long-term success. 

Compared to annual plans, quarterly plans are:

• Flexible: Quarterly planning enables teams to be adaptable. As broader objectives or market conditions change, it facilitates faster course corrections.

• Easily trackable: Trackable objectives and key results (OKRs) are the foundation of quarterly planning. This includes setting OKRs for the upcoming quarter and examining outcomes from the previous ones. 

• Granular: Quarterly goals focus on specific, detail-oriented tasks that feed into larger annual objectives. Annual plans, in contrast, tend to be high-level. 

Benefits of quarterly planning for teams and projects

Quarterly planning offers businesses the four As: agility, accountability, alignment, and acuity.

Agility

Effective quarterly plans don’t rely on fixed to-do lists. Instead, they’re iterative and dynamic. Quarterly planning helps teams swiftly adapt to shifting conditions – whether internal, technological, market-driven, or regulatory – while maintaining forward momentum. 

Accountability

Because quarterly plans define clear OKRs for teams and individuals, everyone knows exactly what they need to achieve, by when, and how. The clearer the objectives and tracking methods, the more effective the quarterly plan becomes.

Alignment

Quarterly plans unify team initiatives, ensuring no teams or departments work in silos. An effective quarterly plan garners strong cross-functional buy-in, where each team understands its role in contributing to overarching organizational goals.

Acuity

Quarterly plans are granular, clear, and actionable. They aim to remove ambiguity and guesswork by providing focused, measurable objectives that teams can realistically achieve within the quarter. 

Essential elements to include in a quarterly plan

Aim to hold planning meetings within the first week of the quarter, involving all key stakeholders. In the meeting, create a quarterly planning template or roadmap by talking through the following topics: 

• Outcomes from the previous quarter: Analyze the previous quarter’s results to guide next quarter’s strategies. Identify what succeeded, what didn’t, and the reasons behind both outcomes.

• Primary outcomes for the next quarter: Define business-critical outcomes for the coming quarter. Limit each team to three primary outcomes to avoid spreading efforts too thin.

• Focus areas: Break each primary projected outcome into actionable focus areas. Create as many focus areas as necessary, as long as team members can realistically achieve them within 90 days. 

• OKRs: Clearly define success by assigning specific OKRs to each task.

• Metrics and tracking mechanisms: Determine how you will measure and monitor progress on these OKRs.

• Risk assessment: Identify potential barriers, such as limited resources, regulatory constraints, technological issues, or . If necessary, develop contingency plans to address these risks.

2 key methods for successful quarterly planning

There are two main quarterly plan examples: standard and agile. Let’s consider both. 

1. Standard quarterly planning

A standard quarterly plan provides a general structure for achieving short-term objectives, suitable for businesses of all sizes. First, establish quarterly (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). Next, translate each goal into actionable steps, define OKRs, assign responsibilities, and set firm deadlines. Finally, track the performance of each OKR and make adjustments if necessary. 

2. Agile quarterly planning

While all quarterly plans are flexible, agile quarterly plans place a greater emphasis on iteration and responsiveness. They’re beneficial for businesses experiencing rapid condition changes that can influence planning outcomes. 

The main difference between standard and agile planning is that agile relies on short, time-boxed cycles and frequent feedback loops. These cycles allow teams to re-prioritize tasks and refine deliverables throughout the quarter, rather than relying on a single fixed plan from the outset.

Best practices for the quarterly planning process

Every business's objectives are different. However, all businesses can benefit from adopting the following quarterly planning best practices. 

1. Allocate tasks based on strengths 

Delegating tasks based on individual strengths optimizes , reduces potential bottlenecks, and increases engagement. 

Once you have defined the primary outcomes and focus areas for the upcoming quarter, conduct a thorough skills assessment of your team(s). Then, assign responsibilities that align with each team member’s expertise. This is a balancing act: ensure no single team or individual member becomes overloaded while others remain underutilized.

2. Define key outcomes, and work backward

Effective quarterly plans limit each team to no more than three primary outcomes. This restriction prevents teams from diluting their efforts across too many objectives.

First, identify the three primary outcomes your team needs to deliver this quarter. Then, determine the steps you need to take to get there. Schedule these tasks in reverse chronological order so that each action directly supports the final objective. Don’t forget to record dependencies between steps to facilitate accurate resource planning. 

3. Remove siloes 

A core goal of quarterly planning is to align all teams toward a shared direction. To achieve this:

1. Involve all key stakeholders in quarterly planning meetings: Early in the quarter, include representatives from each department or team in planning sessions. Use these meetings to establish collaborative initiatives, align priorities, and address cross-functional dependencies upfront. Maintain cross-functional collaboration throughout the quarter.

2. Promote open communication: Create intentional opportunities for key stakeholders to share updates, challenges, and insights openly. This helps break down information silos and promotes unity across teams.

3. Clarify responsibilities: Clearly define each team’s responsibilities to ensure accountability and prevent overlap. Tools like a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) or similar frameworks can help clarify roles and ownership.

Siloes exist in . These siloes have a net-negative effect and position businesses further away from their long-term goals. Removing silos requires a values-based organizational commitment to intentional, transparent cross-functional communication. 

4. Adopt an agile approach

Quarterly plans should remain adaptable to changing conditions. This doesn’t mean sacrificing clarity by making action items ambiguous and subject to change. Instead, it means incorporating regular checkpoints to review and adjust priorities as needed.

Quarterly planning with Tempo Capacity Planner

With , you can streamline quarterly planning. It's a resource planning and capacity reporting tool that delivers real-time, data-driven insights across teams and projects. It also enables informed decision-making grounded in dynamic operational needs, rather than static schedules.

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