# Fifteen-Minute Pipeline Review

- **Version:** 1.0
- **Updated:** July 24, 2026
- **License:** Personal use
- **Format:** Markdown worksheet

Use this review when genuine inquiries are sitting in an inbox, form export, spreadsheet, or customer-owned system and the next decisions need to become visible.

Work from one real source of truth. The fifteen-minute boundary is a repeatable operating limit, not a claim that every pipeline can or should be reviewed in that time. If the list cannot be made clear, record why and improve the process before adding automation.

This worksheet is not a sales methodology, CRM implementation, legal or privacy advice, or a guarantee of responses, sales, revenue, or other outcomes.

## Set up

- Review date:
- Reviewer:
- Source of truth:
- Inquiry sources included:
- Timer start:
- Number of open records at start:

Do not add people who did not make a genuine inquiry merely to make the pipeline look larger.

## 0–3 minutes — collect the open truth

- [ ] New records are visible.
- [ ] Waiting records still requiring a decision are visible.
- [ ] Due and overdue review dates are visible.
- [ ] Duplicate or clearly finished records are identified.
- [ ] Open commitments from private notes or inboxes are moved into the approved source of truth when appropriate.

Notes:


## 3–7 minutes — assign one owner and one next action

For every open record:

- [ ] One person is named as the owner.
- [ ] “Team,” “inbox,” “automation,” or a software name is not used as the owner.
- [ ] Reassignment is understood by the receiving person.
- [ ] A request nobody can responsibly handle is declined or escalated rather than ignored.

Records needing ownership:

| Inquiry ID | Current state | Owner needed | Decision |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |

### Write one observable next action

Replace “follow up” with an observable action.

| Inquiry ID | Specific next action | Owner | Review date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |

Return sensitive, unusual, high-impact, or unclear work to a person. AI or automation may assist with a draft or reminder, but it must not invent facts, promises, prices, scope, consent, or approval.

## 7–12 minutes — check dates and promises

- [ ] Follow-up dates are treated as review dates, not permission for indefinite contact.
- [ ] Every waiting record names what is awaited.
- [ ] Published prices or pricing logic still match any message prepared.
- [ ] Timing and availability statements are verified.
- [ ] No automatic message accepts work or makes a consequential commitment.
- [ ] The person responsible can correct a promise that is no longer true.

Promises or dates needing correction:


## 12–15 minutes — close or escalate

Close only when the evidence supports a factual outcome:

- completed
- declined
- withdrawn
- duplicate
- no longer active

Escalate when the record needs:

- scope or price judgment
- access approval
- privacy or security review
- legal or professional review
- an exception to the normal workflow
- a consequential decision

| Inquiry ID | Close / escalate | Factual outcome or reason | Responsible person | Next review |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |

## Finish

- Working definition of clear: every open item has one owner, one next action, and one review date.
- Number of open records at finish:
- Open records without an owner:
- Open records without a next action:
- Open records without a review date:
- Most important repeated source of friction:
- Smallest repair:
- Owner of the repair:
- Date of the next review:

## If the timer ends before the list is clear

Mark the reason:

- [ ] Several sources must be reconciled.
- [ ] Required fields are missing.
- [ ] Ownership is unclear.
- [ ] Status meanings are inconsistent.
- [ ] Exceptions dominate the normal workflow.
- [ ] The current tool cannot carry the real access or retention requirements.
- [ ] Other:

Do not hide the finding by extending the meeting indefinitely. A person remains responsible for the records, permission, access, messages, promises, follow-up decisions, retention, and closure. Choose a more capable system only when the real workflow proves it needs one.

## Privacy and responsible use

Use the minimum information needed to manage a legitimate inquiry. Restrict access to people who need it, remove obsolete copies, and follow the legal, contractual, professional, and privacy requirements that apply to the real work. Do not convert inquiry details into an unsolicited outreach list.

A human remains accountable for permission, claims, promises, timing, exceptions, closing decisions, and the content of every message. A tool can remind or organize; it does not own the relationship.

## Limitations

This worksheet is general operational guidance. It does not submit a form, send a message, synchronize records, establish consent, determine lawful retention, certify accessibility, or guarantee a reply, sale, ranking, or other result. It is not legal, privacy, security, financial, or compliance advice.

The fifteen-minute boundary is a review discipline, not a promise that every underlying problem can be resolved in fifteen minutes. Complex, sensitive, regulated, or high-consequence inquiries may require specialist review and a different process.

## Version and updates

Version 1.0 is the first published edition. Material corrections or changes to the review sequence receive a new visible version and dated history entry on MethodCo.org. Downloaded copies do not update themselves; check the current Method Digital record before reusing an older copy.

Personal-use license: you may adapt this worksheet for your own work. Do not resell, redistribute, or present it as professional certification or MethodCo approval of a workflow.