Quarter Transition

How to close out a quarter and start the next one -- reviewing rocks, carrying forward incomplete work, updating cadence, and capturing retrospective notes.

When to Transition#

Coppermind detects when all sprint end dates for the current quarter have passed. When you check pacing or sprint status near the quarter boundary, it suggests:

"Q1 2026 is complete. Ready to transition to Q2?"

You can also trigger the transition manually:

/cmo-quarter-transition

Or simply say:

"Let's transition Acme from Q1 to Q2"

The Transition Flow#

Step 1: Quarter Review#

Coppermind runs quarterly_pacing for the ending quarter and summarizes:

Q1 2026 Summary — Acme Corp
  3 rocks: 2 complete, 1 at 65% (behind pace)
  Sprint plan: 18 deliverables, 14 complete, 3 in progress, 1 blocked
  Open commitments: 4

This gives you a clear picture of how the quarter went before deciding what carries forward.

Step 2: Rock Disposition#

For each incomplete rock, you decide:

"Launch partner portal (65% complete) -- carry forward, mark dropped, or mark complete?"

• Carry forward -- creates a new rock row in the new quarter with the same title and progress preserved. The old quarter's row stays as-is for historical reference.
• Mark dropped -- sets the rock's status to dropped in the old quarter. Useful when priorities shifted and the rock is no longer relevant.
• Mark complete -- if the rock is actually done but wasn't formally closed out.

If no rocks were set up for the quarter, Coppermind skips this step entirely.

Step 3: New Quarter Setup#

After rock disposition:

1. Cadence is updated via mind to the new quarter and sprint 1
2. Carried rocks and any new rocks are created via eos
3. If you have a sprint plan ready, import it immediately

"Start Q2 2026 for Acme with rocks: Partner Portal (carried), Content Engine, Brand Refresh"

Then import the sprint plan:

"Import this sprint plan for Q2..." (paste CSV)

Step 4: Retrospective#

Coppermind prompts for lessons learned:

"Any lessons from Q1 to carry into Q2?"

Your response is stored as a memory (type decision or fact) for future reference. These retrospective notes surface in future quarterly reviews and meeting briefs.

Practical Example#

You: "Let's transition Acme to Q2"

Coppermind: Q1 2026 Summary — Acme Corp
  Rocks:
    Website Redesign — complete (100%)
    Content Engine — on track (85%, complete)
    Partner Portal — behind pace (65%)

  Partner Portal is 65% complete. Carry forward, drop, or mark complete?

You: "Carry forward"

Coppermind: Got it. Updating cadence to Q2 2026, Sprint 1.
  Carried forward: Partner Portal (65%)

  Any new rocks for Q2?

You: "Add Brand Refresh, owned by the marketing team"

Coppermind: Q2 2026 started with 2 rocks:
  - Partner Portal (carried, 65%)
  - Brand Refresh (new, 0%)

  Any lessons from Q1 to carry into Q2?

You: "Content Engine shipped faster than expected because we batched the writing.
      Do that again for Q2."

Coppermind: Stored. Any sprint plan to import?

You: (paste CSV)

Coppermind: Imported 24 deliverables for Q2 2026.

Multiple Clients Transitioning#

When several clients hit the quarter boundary at the same time, the morning briefing (/cmo-brief) surfaces this:

3 clients ready for quarter transition: Acme Corp, Bluebell, Cedar Health

Each client transitions independently. Switch to each one and run the transition flow.

Edge Cases#

Tools Used#

The quarter transition workflow orchestrates these existing tools:

Key Details#

• Quarter transitions require confirmation. Coppermind never auto-transitions. You control when each client moves to the next quarter.
• Carried rocks create new rows. The old quarter's rock data is preserved intact for historical review.
• Cadence update is separate from rock creation. eos creates rocks; mind sets the active quarter. Both are needed.
• Non-EOS clients are unaffected. If a client has no cadence configured, quarter transition tools are simply not available.