Quarterly reviews for chiefs of staff who close quarters cleanly.
A quarterly review session covers OKR grades, key lessons, and the priorities for next quarter — all of which belong on a whiteboard where the leadership team can see and debate them. BoardSnap turns the session output into a structured quarterly document before the planning cycle for Q+1 begins.
Why chief of staff love this workflow
The quarterly review is the most consequential recurring meeting a chief of staff facilitates. It grades the quarter's performance honestly, extracts the lessons, and uses them to sharpen the next quarter's plan. But the whiteboard where this happens — with honest OKR grades, the reasons behind them, and the lessons that should change the next plan — rarely gets documented well.
BoardSnap reads the quarterly review whiteboard, the OKR grades with rationale, the key lessons, and the initial priorities for next quarter and produces a structured quarterly review document. The quarter closes cleanly. The next quarter starts with shared context.
The exact flow
- Grade each OKR honestly
Write each objective and key result with a grade: 0.0–1.0 or a simple pass/partial/miss. Write the reason for each grade — not just the number.
- Identify key lessons
What did we learn this quarter that we didn't know entering it? Write the two or three most important lessons.
- Surface what should change
Based on the lessons, what should be different next quarter? Process changes, resource reallocation, strategic pivots — write the specific changes.
- Draft initial next-quarter priorities
What are the two or three things that must happen next quarter? Write them at the bottom of the board as the bridge to Q+1 planning.
- Snap the quarterly review board
Open BoardSnap and capture. The full Q review — grades, lessons, changes, and initial priorities — is documented in one shot.
What you'll get out of it
- OKR grades are documented with rationale — honest grades build trust
- Lessons are captured before they get softened in the retelling
- Strategic changes driven by the review are documented as decisions
- The quarterly review document seeds the next quarter's planning session
- Review history tracks whether the lessons from previous quarters actually changed behavior
Frequently asked
Can BoardSnap read OKR grades written with decimal scores?
Yes. Decimal scores like '0.7' or letter grades like 'B+' are captured as written and associated with the key result they grade.
How does the quarterly review board differ from a standard retro?
The quarterly review is wider in scope — it looks at business outcomes, OKR performance, and strategic learnings, not just team process. The whiteboard reflects that broader scope and BoardSnap organizes the output accordingly.
Can I share the quarterly review document with investors?
Yes — with appropriate context. The BoardSnap summary is honest and structured. Use it as the draft for an investor update, adding narrative context and forward-looking information as appropriate.
What happens to the lessons if we don't document them?
They get repeated next quarter. The quarterly review document is the institutional memory that prevents the same mistakes from appearing in the next quarter's OKR grades.
Chief of Staff: try this on your next quarterly review.
Three taps. Action items in your hand before the room clears.