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Annual Meeting

I. The Important​

1. Look Back​

Towards the end of every year, the company's leadership team needs time to look back to:

  • Review the one-year plan and the latest quarterly priority objectives (done/not done) and learn from the past
  • Strengthening the health of the leadership team by performing some group health exercises to avoid the 5 dysfunctions of a team, while also assessing the overall metrics of the organization.
  • Analyze a S.W.O.T to eliminate or add all the problems to the issue list.
  • Review the Company’s Vision to ensure everyone agrees.

2. Moving forwards​

Towards the Future from the retrospective of the past, the company will have a stronger foundation to set up the plan for the new year and determine the Priority Objectives for the next 90 days.

Ultimately, it's important to work together to address all the important issues, make sure everyone is on the same page about what to do next, and come to a conclusion.

3. Achievement​

After completing the Annual Session, participants will have:

  • Increase team health
  • A clear vision, all on the same page
  • A clear plan for the next quarter
  • All key issues resolved

II. The Preparation​

Note that the Annual Meeting will span 2 days instead of the usual 1-day Quarterly Meeting. Moreover, the majority of the annual meetings are reserved for the leadership team.

1. Reports:​

  • Revenue, profit, and quarterly metrics achieved or unacceptable
  • Completion status of the most recent priority objectives
  • Significant business issues requiring discussion
  • Other financial and managerial reports needed by the leadership team

2. Meeting Organization​

  • Arrange the meeting room or venue (the meeting spans 2 days, approximately 7 to 8 hours each day);
  • Notify attending members of the venue and schedule;
  • The HR department or the assigned unit should brainstorm & prepare for team-building activities/exercises that can promote team health based on trust (we'll explain below).
  • Other support activities.

3. Personnel Arrangements​

  • Meeting Facilitator: Similar to the Quarterly Meeting, we need someone to lead the meeting in order, keep everyone focused, manage time, and summarize key points. Usually in most companies, the facilitator will be the CEO/COO/HRD.
  • Document scribe / Secretary: The person who takes notes and records important points on Simplamo.

III. Meeting Agenda​

If you've read til this document, you probably already understand that on Simplamo, we always establish a logical and systematic sequence of steps for organizing Weekly, Quarterly, and now the 2-day Annual Planning Meeting for maximum effectiveness.

Kindly adhere to the steps and guidelines provided in the specified order:

DAY 1​

1. Objectives & Check-in - 35Mins​

  • Signification:

    • Clarify meeting objectives
    • Good news and what is missed
    • Look back together and celebrate the business's one-year journey.

  • Facilitation:

    • Facilitator states meeting’s reason to keep everyone focused.

    • Check-in: Check-In is a little different than you’re used to, there are 2 parts to this check-in, greats & expectations.

      • Give everyone 5 quite minutes to stop, take a deep breath and look back on the previous year then answer 2 parts:

        • Part 1 - The Great:

          • 03 notable achievements the company has accomplished
          • 01 thing the company has missed.
          • 01 greatest personal accomplishment for the year.

        • Part 2 - Expectations: What are your expectations for these 2 days of the annual meeting?

        Be genuinely open and honest about what you think and see. Let’s truly look at our business from 30,000 feet. The Facilitator carefully listens to their expectations and record them on the Annual Debrief.

2. Review prior Year/Prior Quarter - 30Mins​

  • Signification:

    • Look back from the past
    • Measure improvement in predicting ability and execution

  • Facilitation: The Secretary assists the Facilitator in reviewing numbers displayed on the Simplamo - Vision tool-Focus page.

    • First, Review the 1-year-plan:

      • Review numbers:

        • Revenue
        • Profit
        • Measurable(s)

        → Record the answer to "How much % did we achieved?"

      • Review one goal at a time:

        • Record Done/Not done
        • Compute ratio and percentage (goal is 80% or better)
        • Facilitate discussion around thoughts & feelings for the whole year then ask each member give the year a grade (1 to 10).

    • Second, Review prior Quarter:

      • Review numbers:

        • Revenue
        • Profit
        • Measurable(s)

        → Record the answer to "How much % did we achieved?"

      • Review Company priority objectives one at a time

        • Record Done/Not done
        • Completion ratio

      • Review Individual priority objective (of each leadership) at a time

        • Record Done/Not done
        • Completion ratio

      • Record total completion & percentage of priority objectives (goal is 80% or better).

      • Very little discussion, no grade on Quarter (because we alreadt grede

    • Create a space where we can discuss our thoughts and emotions throughout the year, learn from each other's experiences, and move forward together.

3. Team Health - 2,45 Hours​

  • Signification:

    • Help everyone understand that trust is the foundation of all team health.
    • Increase Team Health.

  • Facilitation: Facilitate activities for everyone to understand the 5 dysfunctions of a team:

    Here is what 5 dysfunctions of a team:

    • Trust: Letting guards down; being vulnerable; speaking freely and openly. It’s a chain reaction.
    • Conflict: Leads to great debate; going deep; getting below the surface.
    • Commitment: Which produces buy-in, because everyone has been heard and respected.
    • Accountability: So, we hold each other accountable to follow through on commitments.
    • Result: The above 4 things will produce results, far exceeding the unhealthy/low-effort teams.

Simplamo encourages you to read the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” to gain a deeper understanding of the topic and explore suitable team-building activities.

So that everyone understand the dysfunctions, we need to focus on building trust.

4. S.W.O.T Analysis & Issue List - 60Mins​

  • Signification:

    • Create awareness of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
    • Smoke out all remaining issues and create issues list.

  • Facilitation:

    • Spend 20 minutes listing all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your company (possibly split into 2 groups, using A0 paper to write down the entire group's thoughts).
    • Then consolidate all issues related to the next year - Start with strengths, go through each item, and ask if this is an issue (rarely are there any issues related to strengths). If it's an issue, mark it with a red dot.
    • Move on to weaknesses, followed by opportunities and threats to build a list of issues.
    • The Secretary will input all the agreed-upon issue into Simplamo.

5. Vision Review - 1,15 Hours​

  • Signification:

    • Challenge all aspects of the vision
    • Make sure they are still all 100% on the same page with what the vision for the organization is.

  • Facilitation:

    • One section at a time, making sure it’s still right

    • Walk through the Vision with the cadence you’ve used every Quarterly Session. They are just in a different mindset

    • 1 section at a time

    • Follow the same cadence

      • 1-minute dissertation
      • Read what is in the Vision
      • Make sure everyone are 100% on the same page
      • If one of them is not on the same page, facilitate them to get there now

    • Core Values

    • Core Business

    • Target 10 Years

    • Marketing Strategy

    • Raise issues (if any) for the Secretary should make note of them for further discussion later.

    • Review the list of issues and determine if the issue should be addressed “today” or not.

6. Target 3 Years - 45 minutes​

  • Signification: Get 100% on the same page with the new Target 3 Years for the organization

  • Facilitation:

    • Creating a new Target 3 Years:

      • Review each line in sequence, from top to bottom:
      • Change the date;
      • Define new revenue, profits, and measurable(s)
      • Review each bullet point in the Target 3 Years and determine whether to keep, cancel, or modify it (capturing changes on Simplamo);

    • When done, have them sit back & close their eyes. You are sitting in your annual meeting years from now doing your year-end review. (Read everything in the 3-Year-Picture). Do you all see it? They all need to agree before moving on.

    • Allow a few moments for individual reflection and then come together for consensus;

    • When all say YES, tell them to open their eyes, you say “that concludes Day 1, I’ll see you tomorrow”.

    • Save your Company’s 3-year-picture on Simplamo.

7. Conclude day 1 - 30 minutes:​

  • Signification: Take a moment to look back and celebrate the one-year journey of the company.
  • Facilitation: The Facilitator summarizes the content of the 1st day and confirms the schedule for the 2nd day.

End day 1

DAY 2​

1. Check-in - 15Mins​

  • Signification:

    • Share highlights from the previous day.
    • Make sure expectations are clear and achievable
    • Clear plan for next quarter

  • Facilitation:

    Prior to the team arriving:

    • Make sure the new 3-Year Picture is on a flip chart and posted on the wall next to the Issues List
    • Write the Day 2 objectives & agenda on the board

    Check-In

    • Begin with 5 minutes of silence look back on the previous day

    • Then come up with answers to the following questions:

      • Day 1 highlight?
      • Where’s your head?
      • Expectations?
      • Start with the brave one, go to the left and share.

2. Review Issues list and 3-Year-Picture – 15Mins​

  • Signification:

    • Plant these in everyone’s mind before creating the 1-Year Plan
    • Help them start to Compartmentalize the issues

  • Facilitation:

    • Ask for blind faith; it may seem like overkill, but it’s important
    • Recap the entire Issues List
    • Recap the 3-Year Picture

3. 1-Year-Plan Setting - 2Hours:​

  • Signification:

    • Get 100% on the same page with the 1-Year Plan for the organization
    • Get 100% on the same page with any departmental 1-Year Plans

  • Facilitation:

    • Set the Future Date

    • Set the Revenue for the specified time period

    • Set the Profit for the specified time period

    • Set the Measurable(s) for the specified time period

    • Set 3-7 Goals: Implementer (CEO) participates and makes a list

    • 1-Year Plan now goes on the wall next to the 3-Year Picture

    • Final review:

      • If we achieve this plan, will it be a good year?
      • Is everyone crystal clear on their roles and responsibilities?
      • Does the budget support this plan?
      • Take a to-do to update Metrics goals
      • Should we create any Departmental Plans? ‒ If yes to Departmental Plans, distribute blank Vision’s ‒ Team leader takes back to the department to be finished by the departmental teams. ‒ The Implementer (CEO) determines when they want finalized Departmental Plans in their hands —> Create To-Do with deadline.

4. Quarterly Priority Goal - 2Hours:​

  • Signification: Get 100% on the same page with 90-Days Goal for the company and each member of the leadership team

  • Facilitation:

    • Follow the pure Goal setting process:

      • Schedule next Quarterly now
      • Identify: Revenue, Profit, Measurable(s)
      • Company Goals first, Individual Goals later
      • Record 90-Day Goals on Simplamo

5. Issue Solving - 3,15 Hours:​

  • Signification: Identify and address any critical issues that could impede progress within the next 90 days.

  • Facilitation:

    • Eliminate all issues that have already been resolved by the Priority Objectives from the Issue list.
    • Read each issue & ask "keep" or "remove"?
    • Follow the pure Issue Solving Process that we usually use in Weekly meeting.
    • Move remaining issues to the Vision-Issues List or Weekly meeting Issues Lists.

6. Next Steps - 7Mins:​

  • Signification: Review the next steps to be completed between now and the next session

  • Facilitation:

    • The facilitator Recap To Dos list (“Got it”)
    • Each member shares a commitment they will make to the company.

7. Conclude - 5Mins:​

  • Signification:

    • Take their pulse, get feedback to understand where they are at the end of this session.
    • Make sure expectations were met.

  • Facilitation:

  • Purpose: Gather feedback to understand how each member feels at the end of the 2 days of work. Ensure expectations are met.

  • Method:

    • Give everyone 3 quiet minutes to respond to 4 questions:

      • Feedback? (Where’s your head? How are you feeling?)
      • Expectations? (Were they met?)
      • Restate their One Thing commitments
      • Session Rating; “Rate our day together 1 – 10, 10 being the best, how did we do today?”
      • Start with the brave one and go to the left

End Day 2.