Quarterly Rock Setting Meeting Agenda

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The Quarterly Rock Setting Meeting Agenda is a process template to help you complete the quarterly meeting, as defined by the book Traction®. It covers organising the 90 day meeting, how to review the previous quarter, setting new rocks and how to process issues.

This template can be used in beSlick alongside the Level 10 and 7 day action templates.

For more information about the quarterly meeting, take a look at: https://www.eosworldwide.com/clarity-break/are-your-quarterly-planning-sessions-rock-solid-and-highly-productive

Need to systemize and get a grip on process?
Need to systemize and get a grip on process?

1Agree date for Quarterly Rocks and record here

Due: 45 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

You should set aside the whole day.

Date of meeting:

2Organise venue/room and add location here

Due: 40 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Venue:

3Agree segue topic

Due: 35 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

According to the Traction book each attendee presents the best news of the last 90 days, but you can opt to do something of a team building nature. Some options are:
– Understanding individual or team motivations (fullpotentialgroup.com/motivational-maps)
– Understanding behavioural contributions of your team: belbin.com/belbin-for-teams/individuals-within-organisations
– Understanding personality types (Bolton and Bolton Colours)

A personality quiz card game called Sussed is also a quick, lighthearted segue option (sussedthegame.co.uk)

Segue topic: *

4Organise segue if necessary

Due: 21 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

5Items to take

Importance: Optional

e.g. Traction book, post it notes, pens and whiteboard paper.

6Agenda

Importance: Optional

The below steps form the agenda for the quarterly rock setting meeting.

6.1Segue (3 things)

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

1. See topic agreed in step 3.

2. What is and isn’t working within the organisation.

3. Expectations for the meeting.

6.2Previous quarter review

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Essential

Leadership teams review financial numbers (including quarterly revenue, profit and gross margin) and the Rocks from the previous quarter to see which ones were achieved.

If you didn’t complete at least 80% of Rocks, discuss why. Incomplete Rocks can be carried over to the next quarter, the last portion of the Rock can be turned into an action item for the To-Do list, or it can be reassigned to someone else.

6.3Review V/TO

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Essential

Next, teams review the V/TO to refresh their memory about the vision and to ensure that everyone is on the same page. If there are any concerns, questions or confusion, this is the time for individuals to speak up.

6.4Establish next quarter’s rocks

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Essential

See steps below for the individual stages in establishing new rocks. First you decide the company Rocks, then individual Rocks.

List all the items that must get done this quarter to help achieve the 1 and 3 year goals. Decide to keep, kill or combine everything on the list to get down to the top 3-7 Rocks for the company. Then assign ownership to each item.

6.4.1List

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

List everything that needs to be accomplished in next 90 days (ideally 10-20 items). Refer back to the 1 year goals to ensure you’re covering all elements.

6.4.2Kill/keep/combine

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Next you debate the priorities. You can do this so that everyone gets a vote of the top 3-4 items that they feel are the priorities. Count up the votes and discuss.

These are company Rocks, and should be limited to 3-7.

6.4.3Make SMART

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

The Rocks now need to be made Specific, Measurable, Assigned, Realistic and Timed. eosworldwide.com/blog/tips-writing-smart-rocks

The Timed part is usually already done, as they should be due by the end of the quarter at the latest.

6.4.4Individual rocks for leadership team

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

To create individual rocks:
– Carry forward any company Rocks they have been assigned
– Carry forward any incomplete Rocks from the last quarter
– Add any remaining non-company Rocks from the kill/keep/combine exercise

An individual should have no more than 3-7. Any left over Rocks can be carried forward to the next quarter by putting them on the issues list.

6.4.5Ensure we have what we need for rock sheet

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Company Rocks and individual Rocks. This will be written up after the quarterly meeting.

6.5Tackle key issues

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Using the Issues List, remove all issues that have been resolved and add new items as needed.

The issues are resolved using the Identify, Discuss and Solve (IDS) Issues Solving Track™, in which teams identify the root cause, openly discuss possible solutions and then conclude by defining actions steps that will be completed to resolve the issue. eosworldwide.com/blog/95975-traction-thoughts-solving-big-stuff-issues-solving-track

Those that aren’t ready to be resolved are carried forward.

6.6Next steps

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Everyone discusses the next steps in terms of who is in charge of what and whether there are any messages that need to be communicated to the organization based on any decisions made in the meeting.

6.7Conclude

Due: 7 days before task is due

Importance: Optional

Finally, team members share three things to end the meeting, including their feedback on whether their expectations were met or not, and their rating on the meeting from 1 to 10. To be the most effective, you want to aim for the average rating to be at least an 8.

7Create list of rocks for sharing with the whole company

Importance: Optional

For example in a PDF or hosted on your internal intranet.

8Team reviews and approves rocks

Importance: Optional

9Communicate rocks

Due: 1 day before task is due

Importance: Essential

The rocks should be communicated to the rest of the organisation. This can be part of a larger ‘state of the company’ meeting where you also share successes, progress and the V/TO.

10Add rocks to the Traction information that’s reviewed weekly

Due: 1 day before task is due

Importance: Essential

A spreadsheet is a good system for this. This list will be the one that is reviewed weekly to assess whether they’re on target or not.

Add a link to the spreadsheet/where the rocks are kept here.

11Departments set their own Rocks

Importance: Optional

If appropriate, each department should set their own Rocks following the same process as above. In the end, each employee will have their own quarterly Rocks, although they should be limited to 1-3.

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