Annual Planning Agenda: Two Days, Hour by Hour
The two days in the room get the blame. The weeks before and the weeks after decide the result.
If people show up stressed, with their own work unfinished and nothing read, they walk in with the wrong mindset and no agenda recovers it. You have to prime the pump, and I do it weeks ahead. Then the plan needs a clear follow up rhythm the moment you are back in the office, otherwise it is just a meeting.
This template puts all of it on one page: the pre-work from six weeks out, the two days hour by hour, and the follow up from day one back to day 90. It is the agenda I use, in our own format, and I have run annual planning at 10 people and at 150. Every cell is editable.
Annual planning agenda template
What happens before, during and after our two day annual planning session, and who owns each part?
What you get
- The pre-work sequence from six weeks out
- Two days, hour by hour
- The follow up rhythm from day one back to day 90
- Editable cells, print and CSV
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Part 1. Pre-work, weeks ahead
Delegate the preparation. Do not let the CEO or the Integrator build the whole pack alone. Each leader brings a slightly different viewpoint into the room, prepared in advance.
| When | What happens | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 6 weeks out | Dates locked, draft agenda sent, pre-work assigned by name | CEO or Integrator |
| 4 weeks out | Year in numbers: revenue, cost split fixed and variable, cash position, scorecard trends | Finance lead |
| 3 weeks out | One page per leader: what worked, what did not, the one bet for next year | Every leader |
| 2 weeks out | Viewpoint assignments: one customer view, one competitor view, one frontline view, one outside view | Named leaders |
| 1 week out | Issues list cleaned and pre-ranked, every one pager read by everyone | Whole team |
| 2 days out | Open work closed or handed off, so nobody arrives firefighting | Whole team |
Part 2 and 3. The two days, hour by hour
Day one looks back and sets direction. Day two commits. A company under about 20 people can compress this into one long day. Above that, protect both days.
| Time | Day one: review and direction | Day two: commit |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Arrive and check in, one sentence each | Overnight thinking, one sentence each |
| 09:00 | Year in review: what we said versus what happened | One year plan: three to five goals, one number and one owner each |
| 10:30 | Each leader's one pager, wins and misses | Budget: revenue, fixed cost, variable cost, cash floor |
| 12:00 | Lunch | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Three year picture: where we are going, what must be true | First quarter priorities: one company wide, one per leader at most |
| 15:00 | The laundry list: every current project on the wall | Top three issues, solved not discussed |
| 16:30 | Boil the list down to three to five strategic initiatives | Follow up rhythm: owners, dates, first review |
| 17:30 | Close: what changed in your thinking today | Close: rate the two days, one commitment each |
Part 4. The follow up rhythm
There has to be a clear follow up rhythm the moment you are back in the office. Otherwise it is just a meeting.
| When | What happens | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Day one back | The plan goes out on one page, owners and dates visible | CEO or Integrator |
| Week one | The weekly leadership meeting reviews the new quarter's priorities, on track or off track | Integrator |
| Week two | Every leader walks their own team through the plan and their part of it | Every leader |
| Day 30 | The monthly numbers review compares results with the plan | Finance lead |
| Day 90 | The quarterly review closes the first quarter against the plan before the second is set | Leadership team |
Three rules for the room
- Prep people, don't trick people into things. Tell people straight up, ahead of time, what is on the table, including the hard seat or budget conversations.
- Separate the problem from the individual. Surface the issue without making it personal.
- A one year plan with nine goals is a wish list with a date on it. Three to five goals, one number and one owner each.
Independence
Leaders ADAPT is independent: no affiliation with, certification from or endorsement by EOS Worldwide, Scaling Up or any other framework owner. Their names describe their systems only. This agenda is our own template, and no proprietary worksheet is reproduced.
Where this fits
This agenda belongs to the operating cadence guide, which covers the weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual rhythm of a leadership team.
- Operating cadenceThe hub. The full rhythm, from weekly to annual.
- Annual planning for a leadership teamThe pre-work, the facilitator question and why offsites fail.
- The quarterly business reviewHow each quarter closes against the plan.
- Quarterly planningSetting one to three priorities that hold.
Common questions
What should a two day annual planning agenda include?
A numbers review of the year, what worked and what did not, the three year direction, a full list of current projects cut to three to five initiatives, the one year goals, the budget, the first quarter priorities, the top issues, and a follow up plan with owners and review dates.
How far ahead should annual planning pre-work start?
About six weeks. Lock the dates and assign pre-work by name six weeks out, share the year in numbers four weeks out, collect one page per leader three weeks out, give out viewpoint assignments two weeks out and clean the issues list one week out. Two days before, everyone closes or hands off open work.
How long should annual planning take?
Most leadership teams of five to ten people need two days: one to look back and confirm direction, one to commit to the plan, the budget and the first quarter priorities. A company under about 20 people can often finish in one long day. The pre-work matters more than the length.
What should happen after the annual planning session?
Within a day the plan goes out on one page with owners and dates. In week one the weekly leadership meeting reviews the new priorities. In week two every leader walks their team through it. At day 30 the numbers review compares results with the plan, and at day 90 the quarterly review closes the first quarter against it.
Design next year's planning with an operator
What it is: 1:1 advisory with Andreas Pettersson, who has run annual planning at 10 and at 150 people, to design the weeks before, the two days and the follow up rhythm. Who it is for: CEOs of 20 to 200 person companies who want next year's plan to survive past February.