The annual planning meeting is the one time each year your leadership team steps all the way back from the work to decide what the business should become next. It’s also the meeting most likely to produce a beautiful plan that dies in February.
The difference is structure. Here’s the two-day agenda I use.
Before the meeting
- The year’s numbers: revenue, margin, cash and the scoreboard trends — in whatever level of detail the team understands.
- Quarterly goal results for all four quarters.
- The current one-page plan.
- A clean issues list.
- Each leader’s reflection: biggest wins, biggest disappointments, biggest opportunity for next year.
- Customer and team feedback gathered during the year.
Hold it off-site if you can. A change of scenery helps people think about the business instead of in it.
Day one: look back and look up
1. Check-in. Each person’s biggest win of the year and what they need from these two days.
2. Review the year. Results against the plan, goals completed, what worked and what didn’t. Be specific and blameless.
3. Team health. How well is the leadership team working together? Where’s trust strong, where is it thin? An honest conversation here prevents a year of friction.
4. Revisit the Blueprint. Read the one-page plan line by line:
- Are our core values still right?
- Is our focus still right?
- Is the long-range target still the target?
- Is our target customer and message still right?
- Does the picture of the business a few years out still hold?
Update what’s changed. See strategic planning for small business and how to write a vision statement.
5. Open discussion of the big issues. The strategic questions that don’t fit in a weekly meeting — a new market, a new offer, a major hire, a capacity constraint.
Day two: decide and commit
6. Set the one-year plan. A few annual targets (revenue, profit or other measures that matter) and three to seven annual goals that move the business toward its long-range target.
7. Update the Ownership Chart. What seats does next year’s plan require? Who’s in them? What hires are needed? See small business org chart.
8. Set the first quarter’s goals. Three to seven company goals with owners, plus each leader’s goals. See quarterly business goals.
9. Update the scoreboard. Do the weekly numbers still measure what matters for the new plan? See business scorecard.
10. Solve issues. Use remaining time for the most important issues.
11. Conclude. Recap decisions, plan the company kickoff, rate the two days.
Common annual planning mistakes
- Too many goals. Annual goals should fit on a sticky note.
- No connection to the quarter. If the first quarter’s goals don’t obviously move the annual plan, the annual plan will be forgotten.
- Skipping team health. Strategy fails when leaders don’t trust each other.
- The owner presents, the team nods. Real planning requires real debate.
- No follow-through rhythm. Without weekly and quarterly reviews, the plan fades. See the weekly leadership meeting agenda.
The company kickoff
Within a week or two, share the plan with the whole company: the year in review, the direction, the year’s goals and how each team contributes. Keep it short, visual and repeated often throughout the year.
A smaller version for very small teams
A two- or three-person leadership team can do this in one long day. Keep the same order: look back, update the plan, set the year, set the first quarter, update the scoreboard.
Personal planning alongside business planning
I always encourage owners to spend time on their own plan before the business plan: what do you want your year to look like for your family, health, faith and growth? A business plan that ignores the owner’s life produces a business that consumes it. That’s the heart of work on your business, not in it.
How annual planning connects to everything else
The annual meeting sets direction; the quarterly planning meeting breaks it into ninety-day goals; the weekly meeting keeps those goals moving. Each layer depends on the one above. In the BOSS framework, annual planning updates the Blueprint, the quarterly session sets Strategy, and the weekly meeting runs on Score.
Next steps
If you’d like an outside facilitator for your annual session — someone who will push the team past comfortable answers — request a strategy call.
Questions people ask
What is an annual planning meeting?
A leadership team session, usually one or two days, to review the past year, update the long-range plan, set the coming year’s targets and priorities, and choose the first quarter’s goals.
When should a small business do annual planning?
In the last few weeks of the year or the first weeks of the new one, ideally after the year’s numbers are mostly known and before the first quarter is far along.