How often does your team sit down and really debate what YOUR priorities should be?
If you’re like most leaders I chat with, the answer is probably… not enough.
Here’s something interesting: Larry Page, Google’s co-founder, used to spend two days every quarter reviewing the objectives of every member of his team. Even as Google grew, he kept this practice alive, fiercely debating priorities with leaders and managers.
Why? Because clarity and alignment are the secret sauce to a high-performing team.
In this video, I want to share why having a quarterly team priority meeting matters and three easy ways to make it work.
I was recently working with a group of leaders who described their team as being stuck on a hamster wheel—constantly bombarded with emails, drowning in meetings, and juggling endless urgent requests. They knew they had priorities, but they rarely took the time to discuss or review them. The day-to-day always seemed to take over.
Sound familiar?
That’s exactly why I believe quarterly priority setting isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. Taking time every quarter to have what I call fierce debates about everyone’s priorities helps break that cycle. It shifts you from reactive chaos to proactive focus.
Here are my 3 Easy Tips for Running Effective Quarterly Priority Meetings with Your Team.
Think Quarterly, Not Yearly
Yearly planning feels like you’ve got all the time in the world. But a year is too long to stay focused. Quarterly check-ins keep priorities fresh, relevant, and actionable.
Think Together
Don’t set priorities in a vacuum. Gather your team, challenge each other’s ideas, and have honest (sometimes fierce) discussions. Eight brains are always better than one.
Think Big
Priorities should be bold and aspirational—not safe and small. When you aim high, your team gets energised and motivated to achieve more.
When you make this a habit, something amazing happens: you build momentum. Your team knows what matters, who’s responsible for what, and everyone moves in the same direction.
So, my question to you is: Are you carving out time every quarter to have these fierce priority debates, or are you stuck in the “yearly plan that no one looks at after January” trap?
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip.
Hope you have a lovely day!
A bientôt,
Cyril
