Best cadence for business reviews | Weekly, monthly, quarterly

Question

What’s the best cadence for business reviews?

Direct Answer

Use a four-tier cadence: Weekly Operating Review (WOR) to clear defects and SLA misses; Monthly Business Review (MBR) to analyze trends and set next-month priorities; Quarterly Review (QR/QBR) to reset strategy, investments, and targets; and Annual Planning to lock budgets and goals. Keep shared scorecards, predefined agendas, and a visible decisions log across all tiers.

Principles That Make Reviews Work

  • One scorecard; consistent definitions
  • Agenda templates and time boxes
  • Decisions log with owners and dates
  • Pre-read packets; no status in the meeting
  • Changelog after every review

Recommended Cadence

Tier Purpose Inputs Outputs Owner Duration
Weekly Operating Review Fix defects; hit SLAs Live KPIs, SLA breaches, defect log Action list, owners, due dates Ops leaders 30–45 min
Monthly Business Review Understand trends; plan next month Scorecard by segment, experiments, finances Priorities, resourcing, risks GTM leadership + RevOps 60–90 min
Quarterly Strategic/Board Review Reset bets and targets Quarter results, cohort/retention, pipeline Strategy shifts, roadmap, OKRs Executive team 2–3 hours
Annual Planning Lock budgets and goals Forecasts, benchmarks, capacity plans Targets, budget, hiring plan Exec + Finance 1–2 days

Agenda Templates

Review Sections Time Box Notes
WOR Top alerts, SLA breaches, blocker removal 10 / 20 / 10 Assign owners in-meeting
MBR KPI trends, funnel defects, experiments, plan 15 / 25 / 20 / 15 Pre-read replaces status updates
QR/QBR Strategy, portfolio, budget, risks 30 / 45 / 30 / 15 Decisions captured to OKRs
Annual Targets, capacity, investments, roadmap Varies Scenario and sensitivity analysis

Scorecard KPIs to Inspect

MetricFormulaTarget/RangeStageNotes
Pipeline coverageOpen pipeline ÷ quota3–4× next quarterPlanBy segment
Stage conversionAdvances ÷ entriesTarget by stageFunnelWith exit criteria
SLA adherenceOn-time touches ÷ total≥ 90%RunBy channel
Cycle timeClose − openTrending downRunBy size
Retention/expansionNet revenue retention≥ planPost-saleCohort view

Expanded Explanation

The cadence works when each tier has a clear purpose and artifacts. WOR clears operational fires using live dashboards and SLA alerts—no slides. MBR looks across segments and experiments to prioritize the next month. Quarterly reviews revisit strategy, investments, and capacity, then translate decisions into OKRs and roadmap updates. Annual planning aligns targets and budgets with the operating model.

Keep data trust high with locked metric definitions, stage exit criteria, and lineage notes in your dictionary. Publish a changelog after each review so teams see what changed and why. TPG POV: We build a single scorecard and drumbeat in your CRM/BI stack so leaders spend less time debating numbers and more time making decisions that move revenue.

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FAQ

How do we prepare pre-reads?

Auto-generate from BI the day before; owners add one-page insights and proposals—not screenshots.

Who attends each review?

WOR: ops leads; MBR: functional heads + RevOps; QR: exec team/board; Annual: exec + finance.

What if metrics are disputed?

Pause for a data-quality review outside the meeting; fix definitions once and record in the dictionary.

How do we keep meetings short?

Use time boxes, decision-first agendas, and a parking lot for debates that need deeper work.

Can we add customer panels?

Yes—invite key customers to quarterly reviews for qualitative insight tied to adoption and retention.