The QBR Deck That Actually Drives Action

The QBR Problem

Every quarter, teams spend hundreds of hours preparing business reviews.

The result? Meetings where everyone presents, no one decides, and the same issues appear next quarter.

QBRs become rituals, not tools. Here's how to fix that.

What QBRs Should Do

A QBR has three jobs:

1. Align on reality: Where are we actually vs. plan?
2. Surface decisions: What needs executive input?
3. Drive accountability: Who owns what by when?

If your QBR doesn't do all three, it's an expensive status update.

The Structure That Works

Part 1: The Headline (1 slide)

One slide. Three things:

• Performance: On track / behind / ahead
• Key insight: The one thing leadership must understand
• Ask: What you need from this meeting

Everything else supports this slide.

Part 2: The Scorecard (1-2 slides)

Metrics against targets. No narrative. Just numbers with color coding: green for above target, yellow for close, red for below.

Part 3: What Happened (2-3 slides)

Not everything. The 2-3 things that matter most. For each: What happened, why it happened, and what it means for the business.

Part 4: What's Next (2-3 slides)

Forward-looking. Not just plans—committed actions with owners, dates, and success metrics.

Part 5: Decisions Needed (1 slide)

Explicitly state what you need from leadership. Each decision should be a yes/no. No ambiguity.

Time Allocation for a 60-Minute QBR

• Headline: 2 minutes
• Scorecard: 5 minutes
• What Happened: 15 minutes
• What's Next: 10 minutes
• Decisions: 10 minutes
• Discussion: 18 minutes

Note: 30% of time is discussion. If you're presenting for 55 minutes, you're running a lecture, not a review.

Common QBR Failures

The Data Dump: 40 slides of metrics with no analysis. Fix: For every metric, answer "so what?"

The Spin Room: Everything positioned positively. Bad news buried. Fix: Lead with the problem.

The History Lesson: 20 slides backward, 2 slides forward. Fix: 40% past, 60% future.

The Missing Ask: Great analysis, no decision requested. Fix: Every QBR ends with specific asks.

Appendix Avoidance: Everything in main deck. Fix: Core deck 10-12 slides, appendix for deep dives.

The Follow-Up

The meeting isn't the end. It's the middle.

Within 24 hours: Circulate decisions, confirm owners and dates.

Weekly: Check progress, surface blockers early.

Pre-Next QBR: Review what was committed vs. delivered.

A QBR without follow-up is just a meeting. A QBR with follow-up is a management system.