Worksheet · Strategy Health Check
Separate the strategy review from the operating review
When strategy shares an agenda with the monthly numbers, the numbers win. This sheet sets up a quarterly session with its own date, papers and questions. It builds the Competent step of the check:
A regular rhythm reviews strategic progress separately from monthly operations.
Step 1. Split the calendar
| Meeting | How often | Length | Who attends | The question it answers | Papers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating review | Monthly | Are we on plan and budget? | Management accounts | ||
| Strategy review | Quarterly | Half a day | Are the choices still right, and is the work moving? | The pack below | |
| e.g. Strategy review | Quarterly | Half a day | Leadership team; chair for one session a year | Are the choices still right? | Pack sent five days ahead |
Step 2. The standing agenda for the strategy review
- Actions from the last review: done, late or dropped.
- Watched assumptions and uncertainties: has any indicator moved or any trigger fired?
- Strategic measures, beside the financials.
- One choice tested in depth. Rotate through the choices across the year.
- Decisions: resources, initiatives and, when the evidence says so, the strategy itself.
Keep budget variances off this agenda. They belong to the operating review.
Step 3. Keep a decisions log
| Review date | Decision | Kind (resources, initiative, strategy) | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A business under 50 people: once a quarter, give the owners and senior people one hour on strategy alone. Ask whether the choices are still right. Keep this month's numbers for another meeting.
Done when: the strategy review has met twice on its own date, with its own agenda, and its minutes record decisions.
Adapted from our own frameworks overview (PJP, 2015).
From the Strategy Health Check. Your report links the sheet for each of its moves.