When holding your annual planning meeting, it is critical to conduct the event in a location that provides few distractions. You want attendees focusing on the important details of planning your business and not having their attention divided by their normal, day-to-day routine of checking text messages, sending “quick” responses and other similar activities that may be critical to getting things done, but are not conducive to the future-planning process.
So when it comes to planning the fine details for your annual meeting, you should exert the same focus you expect of attendees. Leaving the details of planning the meeting to the last minute can result in an unfocused event that doesn’t tap into the high-level participation you require.
Below we’ve prepared a checklist for your annual planning meeting, but also a few strategies to consider when organizing the meeting’s finer details.
How to Approach Your Annual Planning Meeting
Real-Time Situational Awareness: Your annual meeting is a collaborative affair, calling upon your CEO, your leadership team and a strategic coach to show up, be present and be at the top of their respective games. With all the changes and uncertainty in the world today, your leadership team is a critical link between your business and its customers, so be ready to provide them with the correct tools that will lead to strategic thinking and execution planning–and have them do the same.
Repeatable Growth Process: Preparing your team for a high-success meeting can also lay the groundwork for future meetings. High-growth companies can either create a lot of politics or build a repeatable growth process. We strongly recommend focusing on the latter.
Fun Process: Despite the critical importance of your annual planning meeting, it shouldn’t be a high-stress affair. It should be a fun event that allows your team to relax and showcase their best selves, without being on the defensive. Allow your team the breathing room to provide critical insights that can lead to future growth. A fun meeting also allows you to better see your leadership team’s “true selves.” which can provide key insights into which leaders are in the right roles for the next level of the company’s growth. This is an important insight, both for your team’s future happiness and also for the success of the company.
Planning Checklist
Timeline:
Two months (or more) before the meeting.
Tasks: Select your annual planning location and finalize your dates.
Find a location that is inspiring, fits your culture and will allow you team to focus on the PLANNING of your business and not on the day-to-day details of working on the business
Related content: Why we recommend planning your annual off-sites a year in advance.
One month prior
Tasks: Select your growth coach.
Ensure there’s a good cultural and personal fit between your growth coach and your CEO.
Related content: Learn more about PFD Group’s coaching strategies | Why do I Need a Strategic Coach?
Five weeks prior
Tasks: Finalize and distribute a preparation survey to your leadership team.
Give your team one week to complete the survey. The survey should be mandatory for participants and also require input from their direct reports.
Three weeks prior
Tasks: Based on survey input, finalize a high-level offsite agenda and team activities.
Plan a general flow of exercises focused on three areas: Trust and culture; understanding changing customer needs to refine your unique and valuable strategy; and build a clear team and individual execution plan for the coming quarter and year.
Two weeks prior
Tasks: Confirm catering, finalize the event schedule and book any remaining travel that needs to be confirmed.
For the best value, book air travel no earlier than 45 days prior to travel and no later than three weeks before departure. After that, the airline recognizes the “urgency” of your travel needs and fares go up accordingly.
Related content: What goes into planning an event with purpose?
One week prior
Task: Send out final preparation questions and aggregated survey results to all participants.
Survey answers should be fully shared, but in a way that preserves the anonymity of respondents. Transparency helps drive trust and anonymity encourages more honest feedback. Both support the team in focusing their offsite time on the questions that will create the greatest value.
One day prior
Task: Coaching team arrives to complete the set up.
Night before
Task: Welcome dinner.
A welcome dinner, if possible, is highly recommended. Here you can celebrate the wins of the previous quarter and recognize your core value award winners, while also kicking off your strategy meeting on a celebratory note.
Related content: Who Should Attend Your Annual Strategic Planning Meeting?
Annual Planning - Day 1
Focus: Culture, strategy and team bonding activity.
The first day is key. It needs to clarify and reinforce your team culture, trust, unique and valuable strategic direction along with time for the team to connect outside of the meeting room.
Related content: Vision Boarding: Creating Your Future and Your Personal Why
Annual Planning - Day 2
Execution.
Your meeting agenda should establish clear team and individual priorities and guide the meeting to capture key communication takeaways for the entire company. You should also finalize the quarterly offsite dates for the next four quarters. Remind your full leadership team that these meetings require mandatory attendance while also providing them with enough time to set these dates in stone.
Related content: Creating Quarterly Themes to Strengthen Team Morale
The next weekly leadership team meeting
Tasks: Share the key takeaways from the meeting; follow up by sending these takeaways to the entire team. Ensure all individual priorities are included in the software you use to run your business.
We recommend Metronome Growth Systems. Metronome software is optimized so you can work ON your business, and not spend time working on customizing off-the-shelf project management tools to meet your business needs.
Related content: Who Should Attend Your Annual Strategic Planning Meeting?