Use when performing quarterly planning template — provides a structured framework for engineering quarterly planning, covering goal setting, capacity allocation, dependency mapping, risk assessment, and milestone definition. This template helps engineering teams align their quarterly work with organizational objectives while maintaining realistic commitments and appropriate investment in tech debt and innovation.
Gather inputs needed for planning.
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| Team size (engineers) | |
| Working days in quarter | |
| Planned PTO / holidays (days) | |
| On-call tax (% of capacity) | |
| Available engineering weeks |
Investment Allocation (target %):
| Category | Target % | Weeks |
|---|
| Feature work | ||
| Tech debt / reliability | ||
| Innovation / exploration | ||
| On-call / operational | ||
| Total | 100% |
Define 3-5 quarterly goals aligned with organizational objectives.
| # | Goal | Org Objective Alignment | Success Criteria | Confidence (H/M/L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 |
Break goals into monthly milestones.
Month 1:
| Milestone | Goal # | Owner | Dependencies | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Month 2:
| Milestone | Goal # | Owner | Dependencies | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Month 3:
| Milestone | Goal # | Owner | Dependencies | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cross-team dependencies:
| Dependency | Owning Team | Needed By | Status | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmed / Pending | H/M/L |
Risks:
| Risk | Likelihood (H/M/L) | Impact (H/M/L) | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |