How to Prepare for Your Quarterly Meetings with Ninety

This article digs into specific tips and actions an individual can take to prepare for a quarterly company meeting, using Ninety to support a productive and effective discussion.

Weekly meetings require a fair amount of thought ahead of time. We find that the most seasoned users spend a few minutes looking through their Scorecard data and measurables to capture their Issues throughout the week. They may also review their Rocks, Milestones, and To-Dos to confirm everything is in order.

Quarterly meetings, on the other hand, deserve some additional dedicated prep work. There are some things to do beforehand to ensure that you're getting the best return on your time, such as spending a few minutes reflecting personally on where the company is and where it needs to go and making sure that the Issues lists are in top form and ready to discuss. 

Look through the Issues lists 

In a perfect world, a team would clean out its Short-Term Issues list before the quarterly meeting. Not even we here at Ninety are perfect about this, so we wouldn't expect you to be either. 

Start with the Short-Term Issues list. If your team cannot get through it in weekly meetings, consider moving them into the Long-Term Issues list. You're primarily looking for what can be kept, what's already been done, and what merits being pushed to the Long-Term Issues list. 

The team should populate the Long-Term Issues list with Issues during your regular weekly meetings. Once you've gone through both lists, spend a few extra minutes organizing the Long-Term Issues list. Add any info (in the title and details window) so the complete thought is captured, then give it a preliminary ranking (see how we rank below). Getting this done beforehand is helpful for streamlining the quarterly. 

Our recommended rankings of Long-Term Issues for a quarterly 

5 - Department Rock candidate 

4 - Personal Rock candidate 

3 - Discussion Point for the meeting

2 - Can be pushed to the next quarterly, deprioritized for now 

1 - I can't remember what this is to discuss and decide how to handle

Where are you now? Where are you headed?

Capture a snapshot of where your company is now by simply looking at the Org Chart. Consider the current structure and whom you have in place for where you need to be in the next 90 days as it relates to your goals. For any concerns, create an Issue so the whole team can discuss and decide on any adjustments, such as additional resources that may be required to support potential initiatives. 

To familiarize yourself with where you're going, we recommend taking a few moments to review the Vision. If something feels off or you believe the goals need adjusting, create an Issue so the team can discuss it. Generally, changes to the Org Chart and Vision would occur during an annual meeting. Still, if something stands in the way of your company's goals, it must be addressed sooner rather than later. 

Reflect on your personal and professional bests

Spend a few quiet moments preparing for the segue. What's working, what needs work? Often, we don't put enough thought into this for weekly meetings. For quarterlies, you want to provide a thoughtful answer instead of flying by the seat of your pants. 

Quarterly meetings serve as a review of the last quarter to better identify the next quarter's needs. Spending time prepping will put you in a better position to identify and reach your goals.

Sign up for a free trial with access to all of Ninety's functions, features, and support. We guarantee that you'll love it.