Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment
Walk into the quarterly planning session with the team already aligned on what matters.
For coaches and facilitators who run quarterly planning sessions with leadership teams, the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment from Verne Harnish and the Scaling Up methodology turns a cold start into a running start. Before the session, each leader weighs in on how the last quarter went, where the business stands, and what should top the priority list next. Deployed through Esperto, you walk into the room with the team's collective thinking already on the table, so the session is spent deciding, not warming up. You stay the strategist, using the prep to focus the day on the decisions that matter.
Coaches and facilitators running quarterly planning sessions with leadership teams
Team preparation for the quarter: last-quarter review, current state, proposed priorities, critical number and obstacles
About 10 minutes per leader, 16 questions. Report ready the moment the last person finishes
Pre-session preparation report aggregating the team's input + gap view + coach-led debrief
English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian
Not required - deploy directly through Esperto
What the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment measures
In the Scaling Up rhythm, the quarterly planning session is where a leadership team resets priorities and picks the one number that defines the next ninety days. Too often that session starts cold, with the first hour spent surfacing context everyone already carries in their head. This assessment moves that work to before the room. Each leader reviews the last quarter, rates where the business stands, and proposes what should top the priority list next. Esperto aggregates it into a preparation report so you arrive with the team's collective thinking already mapped, and the session can go straight to deciding.
What it captures before the session
Last quarter review
How the team rates progress against the priorities and the critical number they set last quarter.
Current state of the business
A quick read across People, Strategy, Execution and Cash heading into the session.
Market & competitive shifts
What has changed outside the business that the session needs to account for.
Proposed priorities
Each leader's view of the one or two things that should matter most next quarter.
The critical number
Where the team lands on the single metric that would define a successful quarter.
Obstacles & opportunities
The constraints holding the business back and the openings the team wants to seize.
Typical use cases for coaches and facilitators
- Set up a quarterly planning session so it starts from the team's collective input instead of a blank flip chart.
- Surface disagreement on next quarter's number one priority before the room, not during it.
- Give a leadership team a structured review of the last quarter without burning session time on it.
- Run tighter, shorter sessions because the warm-up already happened in advance.
- Build a quarter-over-quarter record of how the team's thinking and priorities evolve.
How it works
From kickoff to a preparation report the moment your last leader finishes, in time for the planning session. No subscriptions, no platform commitments, no surprise costs along the way.
You schedule it ahead of the session
You stay the strategist; you send the prep assessment to the leadership team through Esperto a week or two before the quarterly planning day.
The team completes the prep
Each leader reviews the last quarter, rates the current state and proposes priorities online, in about 10 minutes across 16 questions.
Esperto delivers the preparation report, you run the session
You walk in with the team's thinking already mapped, agreement and disagreement visible, and spend the day deciding rather than warming up.
See how it works in a few minutes
A quick walkthrough of the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment: what you send your client's leadership team, what they answer, and what lands in the report you take into the session.
Inside the preparation report
A single, pre-session report that pulls the leadership team's thinking together before the planning day, so you can see where they agree and where they will need to work it out. Six pages from a sample report, with names replaced by roles.
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Verne Harnish
Verne Harnish is one of the most influential voices in the world of business growth. He is the founder of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and the founder and CEO of Scaling Up, the methodology and global coaching network that has helped tens of thousands of companies grow. He is the author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, both standard works for leadership teams serious about growth. The Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment puts his quarterly planning rhythm into a structured prep tool you can run with your own clients.
Author - Scaling Up and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
Founder - Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)
Founder and CEO - Scaling Up
Creator of the Four Decisions framework taught in CEO bootcamps worldwide
Trusted by facilitators who run sharper quarterly sessions
A few words from the coaches and leaders who use the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment in their work.
“
I used to spend the first ninety minutes of a quarterly session getting everyone's head into the same room. Now that conversation has already happened on paper. We open with the disagreements instead of stumbling into them after lunch.
“
Reading what my own leadership team wrote before the session was uncomfortable in the best way. Three of them named the same constraint I had been quietly worrying about, and none of us had said it out loud yet.
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I started using it because one client kept arriving with four different versions of what mattered most. Seeing their priorities side by side before the day starts saves me half a session of facilitation, every quarter.
Built so you can run the prep inside your own practice and earn your margin.
The Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment is priced on a pay-as-you-go basis. You pay a partner rate per session prep you deploy. No subscriptions, no minimums, no annual platform fees, and no certification required. Your margin lives in the difference between the partner rate and what you charge your client for facilitating the quarterly planning session around it.
Partner rate
Contact us / per session prep
Pay-as-you-go. No subscriptions, no minimums. Final number depends on leadership-team size and how often you run sessions, confirmed on a discovery call.
- Pre-session preparation report aggregating the whole team's input
- Gap view: where the team agrees and where the session will need to work
- Proposed priorities and critical number, side by side
- Available in English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian
- Coach view of the results, with a draft agenda to run the day
Volume. Running quarterly sessions for several teams across the year? Ask about a partner volume rate.
Enterprise and in-house. Advisory firms or in-house teams running sessions across multiple companies or business units, contact us for a tailored package.
No certification required. You can deploy the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment with your clients directly through Esperto. No certification or onboarding gate to clear first.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment for?
Coaches and facilitators who run quarterly or annual planning sessions with leadership teams, and the companies they serve. It is built for anyone who wants the planning day to start from the team's collective thinking rather than a blank page.
How long does the engagement take?
Each leader spends about 10 minutes on the 16 questions. You typically send it a week or two before the session; the preparation report is generated the moment the last person finishes, so it is ready as soon as the team is.
In which languages is it available?
The Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment is available in English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian. If you need a language not listed, ask. Additions can usually be arranged.
What does my client receive as a deliverable?
A pre-session preparation report that aggregates the leadership team's input: their review of the last quarter, current state across the four decisions, proposed priorities, the critical number, and the obstacles and opportunities they see. You receive a coach view with a gap analysis and a draft agenda, ready to run the session.
How is privacy handled?
Responses are collected and hosted under Esperto's data protections. Answers appear under each leader's own name in the report rather than anonymized, so let the team know their input is attributed. Hosting, GDPR basis and retention are set out in full in our privacy policy.
Do I need to be certified to deploy this with my clients?
No. You can deploy the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment with your clients directly through Esperto, with no certification or onboarding gate to clear first. A short platform walkthrough is all you need to get started.
How does pricing work, and what is my margin?
You buy at a partner rate per session prep and set your own rate with your client, so the margin is yours. Pay-as-you-go, with no subscriptions, no minimums and no platform fees. Volume pricing is available if you run sessions regularly across your client base. Contact us for the current rate card.
Can I combine this with other Esperto assessments?
Yes. It is part of the Scaling Up suite and works hand in hand with the Scaling Up Assessment (the four decisions), the Leadership Vision Alignment Assessment (shared vision) and the Rockefeller Habits Checklist (operating discipline). Many facilitators run the deeper diagnostics annually and the session prep every quarter.
How do I prepare a leadership team for a quarterly planning session?
Have each leader complete the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment in advance. Every leader weighs in on how the last quarter went, where the business stands and what should top the priority list, so the session itself is spent deciding instead of warming up.
Let's talk about how the Quarterly Session Preparation Assessment fits your practice.
A short discovery call is the fastest way to know whether this prep tool belongs in your practice. We'll ask how you run quarterly sessions with leadership teams and where pre-session input would sharpen the day. Then we'll be honest about whether this is the right match, or whether another tool in the Esperto toolkit fits better.