Run quarterly planning
From 'everything is important' to three objectives with numbers attached.
Half a day, ideally with the whole team Team leads and founders planning the next quarter
Quarterly planning fails in two ways: the list of priorities is really a list of everything, or the priorities are real but nothing on anyone's calendar changes. This sequence attacks both — it forces selection, then converts the selection into numbers and calendar time.
Run it as a workshop. Steps one and two are discussion; steps three and four are commitment.
- 1
Take stock with a fast SWOT
Thirty minutes, whole team, honest. What worked last quarter is your strengths column; what kept hurting is weaknesses; what changed around you fills the external half. The pairings tell you where this quarter's leverage is.
Carry forward
The two or three pairings with the most energy in the room — they are your candidate objectives.
- 2
Balance the candidates across four perspectives
Teams default to shipping goals and starve the enabling work. The scorecard forces the question: if we pursue these objectives, what must be true for customers, for our processes, and for our people? Anything revealed here becomes a candidate objective too.
Carry forward
A balanced shortlist where at least one objective is an enabler (process or people), not just an outcome.
- 3
Commit to three OKRs
Now cut to three objectives, each with three to five measurable key results carrying a baseline and a target. The discipline is subtraction: write down what you are explicitly NOT doing this quarter — that list is half the value.
Carry forward
The OKR sheet, exported and pinned wherever the team looks weekly. Score it at quarter end; 60–70% on stretch goals is healthy.
- 4
Protect the time with an Eisenhower pass
OKRs die by calendar, not by intent. Each person sorts their recurring work: what serves the OKRs goes in Schedule with an actual calendar slot; what does not gets delegated or deleted. This is the step that makes Monday different.
Carry forward
Calendar blocks for quadrant-two work, a delegation list with names attached, and a deletion list you actually announce.
What you walk away with
Three OKRs with baselines, an explicit not-doing list, and calendar changes that survive contact with week two.
Start with step one
The SWOT Analysis editor opens with guided prompts on every block — 20-30 minutes to a first draft.
Begin: SWOT Analysis