It’s that time of the year again. The calendars still have that “new calendar” scent and hope is fresh in the office since receiving CPR after the office Christmas party. That means it is time for the dreaded annual planning meeting.

The Fantasy

I don’t know who first conceived the annual planning meeting, but I am betting they had good intentions. And why shouldn’t they have? The idea of the annual meeting holds great potential. Bringing teams, service group managers, or even entire companies together to chart the path a company will take over the next 12 months is a powerful concept.

The work put into this sort of meeting could lay the foundation on which productivity, growth, and profit are built. When the meeting is over everyone should know where the company is headed and the steps, they will take to get there. More importantly, each person should fully understand the part they will play.

At least, that is how it should be.

The Dirty Reality

The dream of the annual planning meeting is a lofty one, but it just doesn’t work out that way very often. Or, you know, at all.

In reality, the meeting usually goes painfully slow. The “brainstorming” and ideation is more akin to pulling teeth from a pumpkin. Participation is low and most items are just the same old to-do placeholders that show up every year.

Even if there was some sort of original and enthusiastic participation, execution is not normally what was envisioned in the meeting. Goals first become muddled, the forgotten. All the planning and detail that went into most of the items produced by the planning meeting are for naught.

Everyone had the best intentions, but life gets in the way.

The 1-2-6-3 Solution

So, is all annual planning a waste of time? Of course not. The act of planning is not the issue. The problem is the scope of the planning. Not all planning is equal, nor should it be.

What does that mean? It means that you should absolutely perform the annual planning meeting, with some constraints. Essentially the idea is that we will approach the annual plan on a deescalating scale. The most effort and detail will be put into the beginning of the plan. As the plan progresses into the future, less and less effort and detail will be invested.

So, let’s look at the model:

The image pretty much lays out the entire approach, however, let’s go over the idea.

The 1

The first part of your plan will be the project your team plans to execute in January. There is no need to “figure this out.” This project is THE most pressing thing on your agenda, and it has the greatest time-related need. It is simply the thing that must happen now. And that is why it gets the most attention.

This part of your plan should have the most detail. It should have team requirements, budgets, timetables, and very very concrete goals. This isn’t an “plan,” it is a set of execution tactics.

The 2

The second portion of the plan will cover February and March, or as we all know it: “The remainder of Q1.” This part of the plan will contain items that are also of high importance. These projects also have timelines that are near, but not immediate.

Planning for projects in this part of the plan is like the planning for your “1.” However, the level of detail will not be as deep. Think of the approach to these items as a “tactical direction.” You are laying a direction that your team will be traveling in the near future. The level of detail you create should be deep enough that you can return to it in weeks and pick up where you have left off, but not so deep that you lose momentum.

The 6

The bulk of your ideas will exist in Q2 and Q3, or months 4 to 9, of your year. This is not only because it represents 6 months of your year, it is because you are arranging ideas of things that “should” be completed. These are the “we really ought to” items of the day to day operations. Take the time to have your team put every idea on the table. Encourage free minded thinking!

Then, and this part is fun, sift through the pile of ideas. Select the ideas that represent an obvious return on investment that your team requires. Items in this portion of the plan will have very generalized timelines (“It should take … about this long”). Also, earmark any large investment or budget items that must be approved far in advance to clear that hurdle before the projects begin.

The 3

The final portion of the annual plan is the loosest and most “Blue Sky” of the entire process. It should also represent the least time and effort invested throughout this entire process. In fact, if you take the left-over ideas from your previous brainstorming efforts, you may already have your work done.

These ideas are very grand aspirations. They should be just beyond your reach, even if you started today, and they should require time, skill, or other resources that you do not yet have. This portion of the plan is pure strategy and direction!

How Much of What?

So, the question that people often ask is “Ok, fine. But how many to-do items is enough? What do the numbers look like?” Pft, like I am not going to say “Well that depends on your situation.” Because I am.

The good news is, in my opinion, there is a nice general rule of proportion here. And it is in the name of the method: 1:2:6:3.

If you have one project in January, then March and February should list two projects. Then there should be 6 projects in Q2 and Q3. Finally, you should have 3 big, grand ideas for Q4. If you start with 2 projects in January, scale accordingly.

Is This Definite?

Are the numbers concrete? Are the timetables definite? Of course not. But all of this does come together to form a framework you can refer to for guidance. And besides, if you take nothing else from this just remember: “Put the most effort into the first project and a whole lot less in the last idea.” Connect those two dots and you are going to produce an annual plan better than your company has ever seen.

And I mean, if you look at your previous annual plans, how hard can that be …

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Jan 5 Annual Planning That Makes Sense ...

The Fantasy

The Dirty Reality