Executing a Planning Cycle

Once you have established a high-level Planning Calendar, hone in on the specific activities that will make each planning cycle successful. Coordinating these events in advance will ensure a logical progression and help the team create a vertically and horizontally aligned plan.

Key Events

Executive Team Only 

If your planning cycle includes the Executive Team only, you will likely conduct the following activities:

• Exec Team Planning Prep

• What it is: Dedicated time to design the session agenda, create the Meeting in Rhythm, set up Idea Boards, and communicate prep work to the team.
• Who participates: Champion / CEO, your Rhythm Consultant (if you are using facilitation services), and potentially your Rhythm Success Coach.

• Exec Team Planning Session

• What it is: An extended team meeting with the ultimate goal of creating a focused set of Priorities for the quarter / year ahead.
• Who participates: Champion / CEO, your Rhythm Consultant, and your Exec Team.

• Exec Team Plan Launch

• What it is: A follow-up meeting during which the plan is reviewed, tested, and adjusted for strategic impact and achievability.
• Who participates: Champion / CEO, your Exec Team, and potentially your Rhythm Consultant and Success Coach.

Executive Team & Departmental Teams 

When you cascade the plan more deeply into the organization, your planning cycle will include additional events. This visual provides a basic flow of activities:

A more specific order of events may look like this:

• Exec Team Planning Prep

• • (See above)

• Exec Team Planning

• (See above)

• Exec Team Plan Launch

• (See above)

• Departmental Team Planning Prep

• What it is: Dedicated time for designing session agendas, creating the Meetings in Rhythm, setting up Idea Boards, and communicating prep work to teams.
• Who participates: Team Leader.

• Departmental Team Planning Sessions

• What they are: Extended team meetings with the ultimate goal of creating a focused set of Priorities for the quarter ahead.
• Who participates: Team Leaders and team members.

• Departmental Team Plan Launches

• What they are: Follow-up meetings during which the plans are reviewed, tested, and adjusted for strategic impact and achievability.
• Who participates: Team Leaders and team members.

• Alignment Meeting

• What it is: A structured session, typically 60-90 minutes in length, during which the company's strategic plan is reviewed, and departmental team priorities are shared. The purpose of this meeting is to identify and address dependencies, gaps, and other issues that may impede success in the quarter/year ahead.
• Who participates: All Exec Team members and any other Team Leaders who participated in planning; potentially your facilitator and Rhythm Success Coach.

Include the events that make most sense for your team’s planning cycle. Meetings are expensive, especially when they involve your executives, so ensure that every planning activity has a clear and critical why behind it.

If you are unsure of the exact timeline to set for your team, consult your Rhythm Success Coach.

Preparing for a Successful Planning Cycle

Establishing which events the team will partake in is essential. Here are a few more details you should finalize ahead of the planning cycle:

• The facilitator of each team’s planning session. Oftentimes, a Rhythm Consultant is brought in for Executive Team planning, while departmental Team Leaders facilitate their own teams’ sessions.
• The agenda for each event in the planning cycle. Will teams use the Rhythm Best Practice agenda? Will they be expected to follow a different agenda, or should they design their own?
• The deadlines for each phase of the cycle. Typically, departmental Team Leaders know which day is best for their teams’ planning sessions. However, to encourage accountability and maintain momentum, consider setting deadlines for each phase of the process.
• For example: You might require that all Q1 Planning Sessions are completed by March 5th and all Plan Launches are completed by March 15th for a successful Alignment Meeting on March 25th.
• The coaching required for successful planning. Do Team Leaders and team members understand the purpose of planning? Do the facilitators know how to lead a session and operate the software? Do they have a sense of what to assign in terms of team prep work?
• If additional coaching is needed, reach out to your Rhythm Success Coach.

Next Steps 

1. Identify the key events to include in your next planning cycle.

2. Establish clear details and expectations for the upcoming cycle: facilitators, agendas, prep work, deadlines, and coaching needs. Communicate these details to participants at least two weeks prior to cycle start.

3. Reach out to your Rhythm Success Coach for support and guidance

The first cascaded planning cycle is always the most challenging. However, after a few repetitions, the team will become accustomed to the flow of activities and require progressively less support to conduct these events successfully!