Right now, many of you will be in the midst of creating plans for the new financial year. You’ll be sitting down with your team, attending planning sessions, perhaps going away to spend time doing the strategic thinking required to guide your firm in the months ahead. There’ll be working groups and committees, brainstorming sessions and table discussions, and hopefully, a new picture will emerge. But let’s be honest, most of the time the change in direction is marginal. Mainly what emerges is a change in priorities. The direction is the same, but how we get there, and what stops we make along the way are the things that change.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not being critical of the process. I’m acknowledging that most firms don’t need radical direction changes each year because they are mostly well-run. So go with the flow.

How do you, as a team leader or team member, provide appropriate input into the allocation of the priorities for next year?

Here’s a method I like to use that may be helpful for you.

If you are in a planning session, first brainstorm the long list of options for you to consider. Whiteboard them. Then, imagine you only have 100 points to spend on executing them. You can spend 100 points on one thing or allocate different amounts for different priorities - but you only have 100 points to spend. Then give everyone some Post-it notes with a nominal points value per Post-it, for example, 10 points each (i.e., ten Post-its equals 100 points).

Then ask people to ‘spend’ their Post-its by putting them next to the long list of competing priorities in accordance with their personal valuation. Again, they can be entirely allocated to one item or spread around. Don’t spend time discussing each option until AFTER you’ve created the final map.

This resulting map will give everyone attending a clearer picture of the group’s priorities - what you should spend time and energy focusing on. You can accept them at face value and try to execute them all. Or you can draw a line at being only able to execute a few of them. Or you can debate those that fall into the ‘grey zone’ between a certainty to be part of next year’s priorities or something we defer.

Once you’ve decided your priorities, you can allocate responsibility for getting them done, knowing how important they are in the scheme of things.

I hope this idea helps.

Paul McAllister is a business development trainer and coach for the professions whose father often gave him advice when growing up to ‘Get your priorities straight, son’ 😊.