A Blueprint for Strategic Planning

Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.

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Dear Readers,

As we close out another holiday season and 2022, it’s time to think about how to gracefully end one segment and plan thoughtfully for another. In teaching my graduate class on leading teams, when we examine Bruce Tuckman’s model of team evolution, I’m always struck but how he added the last stage – adjourning. In our culture, we are always focused on “what is next?” and very little on the endings – the mourning of a closing chapter and the reflection on successes and learnings.

In preparation for the new year, let’s look at the importance of celebrating what’s been done and learning from mistakes made.

Let’s review 2022. The holidays coincide with the end of a 12-month effort of teams, firms and companies working together. It’s a busy time professionally and personally as businesses close their books, while planning family time and celebrations. It can be easy for the necessity of closure to get lost. Here are some ideas to celebrate and reflect on what has happened:

  • The holiday party is not the best place to do it, so hold a “year in review” meeting right after the first of the year. Do this on January 3 or 4, assuming your team has returned to work. Ask everyone to bring three considerations: Two “wins” for the year (things they are proud of and want to celebrate) and one “I wish we’d” (where if they had the magic wand. they would have done something differently).
  • Have each person present their views on these three items. Take time for each person to share, entertain questions and have an open dialogue about their views. Depending on the size of your team, this could be an hour-long effort or a one-day offsite structure. Allow for consideration and reflection. We go forward most effectively by clearly seeing where we’ve been and what we need to learn.
  • Wrap up the discussion by collecting a “we need to” list of things the team agrees should be areas of focus. This provides a good starting list for your next meeting to plan for 2023.
  • Have each team member acknowledge a colleague for something they appreciate about them. During virtual work, I had one of my client firms do this online. We randomly assigned a colleague to each person. Everyone was to come to the meeting with one reflection on what they appreciated about working with that person, what the person did exceptionally well or why they were pleased to work with this person. It had to be specific; it couldn’t just be “you are a great team member.” It was a very uplifting and validating experience for the team. Doing this in person is a nice way to wrap up your year in a positive way.