A repeated pattern we encounter in our work with a variety of clients is how in Q4 the ‘end-of-year rituals’ dominate organisations.
We push for the last-minute sales boost to ensure we reach volume targets, we pressure our teams to finish projects, we run from one end-of-year appraisal to another and negotiate with suppliers to push this year’s cost up or down, depending on what we need to meet budget (or create a buffer for next year’s).
Amid what feels like a very busy period, we find many people in ‘closing’ mode. The dominating energy is focused on getting ourselves to Christmas and making sure the New Year champagne tastes well, not bitter, and close the year in the best way possible.
What is key for starting next year strong?
We experience how powerful it is to ask yourself the KEY questions for making sure you can start next year well at this very moment. The risk of returning to the office in January without answering these questions is simply that you find yourself running behind budget from the first weeks of the year requiring you to play catch up and fall back into reactive mode too soon after the headache of the New Year champagne evaporates.
“I am afraid that our first quarter is already gone”, is a comment we’ve heard from a CFO. And upon recovering from the shock, it raised a question: what would it take to hear ourselves saying: “I consider the first Q done (not gone) …”
In our discussion with the CEO and CFO of that same company, we decided to focus ourselves on the following KEY questions:
- Do our key functions know what key things they will need to do well / differently in and as of Q1 and what they need to stop / not do?
- Are our key people in our most important roles well equipped to start the year well?
- Are our key meetings, where the most important business management discussions take place and decisions are made, working properly?
- Are our key teams functioning well, within and with each other?
In the same company, we invited the critical functions to present to the Board what they thought (or should I say admitted) were the weak areas in their plans and budgets, to identify what would accelerate the first Q, and what they expect to see as the main barriers in Q1. Stating it in a very operational, 90-day rhythm allowed this discussion to be concrete and precise. It was also not difficult for the Board to assess where the weak and where the lever points are in their company.
The reflection around key people led to a considerate choice on speeding up the organisational changes. These would have happened at some point in the new year, but rather than letting the choice drag on, they gained several months in making things work better and differently.
Upon attending the business-critical meeting where the deviations on the three main KPIs (not laundry list but the three most important ones) are analysed and acted upon, we found out most people were quite disappointed with how the meeting was run, and the clarity and energy it generated (or not). The mediocre outcomes of this meeting cascaded further down into the rest of the key functional meetings and teams. As nobody felt ownership of the meeting, all had hoped somebody would change it … And so we changed it together, on the spot. We decided to change the management information that is the basis of the meeting, and adapt the preparation, flow, and output of the meeting. An effort which will no doubt take time into Q1 but will have an immediate impact on the speed of decision making.
All this also allowed the Board to identify the key relationships among key people and to stimulate trust building and alignment efforts to bring their collective performance to a higher level. An effort that focuses on alignment on role, ownership, and expectations, but also on nurturing a safe space between strong individuals with a certain, different, and sometimes even conflicting, approach and style.
Avoiding the Maya Calendar syndrome
While a lot of energy is still needed to successfully close the year, balancing it with the ‘setting up for success’ efforts, helps to avoid the yearly Maya calendar syndrome that many organisations suffer: working frantically towards end of year, as if there is no next year.