Coaching Cadence Planner
A short worksheet that turns your team size, tenure mix, and available manager hours into a specific, defensible cadence for 1:1s and call reviews — not a generic "meet weekly" rule that ignores your calendar.
What's inside
- The four tenure-tier classification (New Hire / Ramping / On-Target / Below-Target)
- The base cadence lookup table — 1:1 frequency, length, and call reviews per tier
- The monthly-hours-needed formula
- The manager-available-hours formula
- The capacity-check formula and utilization bands
- Decision rules for when you're over capacity, in priority order
- A fully worked 7-person-team calculation
- A blank worksheet to run your own numbers
- Quarterly re-run triggers
Purpose
A short worksheet that converts your team size, tenure mix, and manager's real available hours into a specific 1:1 and call-review cadence — instead of defaulting to "weekly 1:1s for everyone" regardless of whether the calendar supports it.
Step 1: Classify Every Rep Into a Tenure Tier
| Tier | Definition |
|---|---|
| A — New Hire | 0-3 months tenure |
| B — Ramping | 3-9 months tenure |
| C — Established, On Target | 9+ months, meeting or exceeding quota over the trailing 2 quarters |
| D — Established, Below Target | 9+ months, below quota over the trailing 2 quarters (treat like Tier B for cadence purposes regardless of tenure) |
Step 2: Base Cadence Table
This is your lookup table — the recommended cadence and duration per tier.
| Tier | 1:1 Cadence | 1:1 Length | Call Reviews / Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — New Hire | Weekly | 45-60 min | 8 (2/week) |
| B — Ramping | Weekly | 30-45 min | 4 (1/week) |
| C — Established, On Target | Biweekly | 30 min | 2 |
| D — Established, Below Target | Weekly | 30-45 min | 4 |
Step 3: Compute Monthly Hours Needed
For each rep, using their tier: `` Rep Monthly Hours = (1:1s/month x 1:1 length) + (Call reviews/month x 20 min review time) `` (1:1s/month: weekly ≈ 4.33/month, biweekly ≈ 2.17/month)
Sum across the whole team → Total Monthly Coaching Hours Needed
Step 4: Determine Manager's Available Coaching Hours
Ask directly: "How many hours per week can you realistically ring-fence, calendar-blocked, for 1:1s and call reviews — accounting for your own admin, forecasting, and leadership-facing work?"
`` Available Monthly Coaching Hours = Available Weekly Hours x 4.33 ``
Step 5: Capacity Check
`` Utilization % = Total Monthly Hours Needed / Available Monthly Coaching Hours x 100 ``
| Utilization | Read |
|---|---|
| Under 80% | Sustainable — consider deepening call-review quality rather than adding volume |
| 80-100% | Tight but workable — protect the calendar blocks, don't let other meetings encroach |
| Over 100% | Over capacity — apply the Decision Rules below before cutting cadence for the reps who need it most |
Decision Rules When Over Capacity (apply in this order)
- Shorten Tier C 1:1s to 20 min or move Tier C to a 3-week cadence first — protect Tiers A, B, and D before touching your most independent reps.
- Batch call reviews — review two shorter call clips in one session instead of cutting review frequency.
- Introduce peer-coaching pods for Tier C reps (peer-paired review sessions) to free manager hours for A/B/D.
- If still over capacity after 1-3: this is a span-of-control problem, not a scheduling problem. A working manager can sustain this cadence for roughly 6-8 direct reports; beyond that, quality erodes regardless of how the math is arranged.
Worked Example — 7-Person Team
Composition: 2 New Hire (A), 2 Ramping (B), 2 Established-On-Target (C), 1 Established-Below-Target (D)
| Tier | Reps | Monthly Hours/Rep | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | 4.33x50min + 8x20min = 376 min (6.27 hrs) | 12.5 hrs |
| B | 2 | 4.33x37min + 4x20min = 240 min (4.0 hrs) | 8.0 hrs |
| C | 2 | 2.17x30min + 2x20min = 105 min (1.75 hrs) | 3.5 hrs |
| D | 1 | 4.33x37min + 4x20min = 240 min (4.0 hrs) | 4.0 hrs |
| Total Needed | 28.0 hrs/month |
Manager commits 8 hrs/week to coaching → Available = 8 x 4.33 = 34.6 hrs/month
`` Utilization = 28.0 / 34.6 = 81% `` Read: tight but workable — this manager should protect their calendar blocks and not take on a second team without revisiting the plan.
Your Blank Worksheet
| Tier | # Reps | Monthly Hrs/Rep | Subtotal Hrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — New Hire | |||
| B — Ramping | |||
| C — On Target | |||
| D — Below Target | |||
| Total Needed |
Available Monthly Coaching Hours: ___________
Utilization %: ___________ → Read: ___________
Quarterly Re-Run Triggers
Re-run this planner whenever:
- Team size changes (hire, departure, reassignment)
- A rep moves tenure tier (especially A→B or C→D)
- Quota-attainment banding shifts (an established rep drops below target for 2 consecutive quarters, or an underperformer crosses back above target)
- Manager's admin load changes materially (e.g., picks up a second team, new reporting responsibilities)
How to use it
Classify your team into the four tiers, run the formula in Steps 3-5 with your own numbers, and apply the Decision Rules in order if you land over 100% utilization — re-run whenever team composition changes.