QBR
Where outcome evidence becomes next quarter's investment decisions.
01What it's for
Every quarter the loop closes: what the ARTs delivered becomes the evidence that decides what they are funded to do next. The QBR runs in three stages: Inspect realised outcomes against last quarter's hypotheses, Align on persevere, pivot or stop for every running Epic, and Allocate capacity by ranking Features and resetting the guardrails.
What goes in: outcome evidence per Epic, competing demand, the pre-ranked Features from the ARTs, flow and capacity. What comes out: a funded, capacity-checked Feature backlog for PI Planning, explicit stop decisions that release capacity, and for every continuing Epic an owner, a leading indicator and a review date.
02What it turns into on the old system
The QBR becomes the steering committee in a quarterly rhythm. Each Epic gets a red-amber-green status, the discussion is about budget burn, and capacity is redistributed by negotiation.
Decisions follow the effort already spent, not the evidence. Nothing is stopped, so everything gets a little less.
03How you notice
- The day is filled with status slides instead of decisions.
- No Epic is stopped. The answer to every trade-off is “more of everything”.
- The room discusses Feature detail that the ARTs should decide.
- Business Owners are not in the room, and decisions are reopened in the corridor afterwards.
04How to make it work
The pre-read carries the detail; the day itself is for alignment and decisions. Every block of the day owes the room an output.
Decide per Epic on evidence: persevere, pivot or stop. A stop is a result: it releases capacity instead of letting it linger.
Set the guardrails (investment mix, WIP limits, Lean Budgets) and the ranking. Leave the how and the Feature detail to Product Management and the ARTs. Decide at the portfolio only what cannot be decided lower down.