It’s Time To Do Your Planning for 2026
There are just 4 productive weeks until Christmas
Have you noticed how aligned the corporate world has become with school holidays?
We seem to be stopping (or slowing down) for at least a week, sometimes two, and more over Summer for every school holiday period.
It’s having a significant impact on productivity and, when you run the numbers, this is going to be horrific in the New Year.
Let me explain.
Easter is early next year – 3 April
Victoria has just effectively written off a week for the Melbourne Cup, which leaves three weeks in November.
Private schools break up around 9 December, some earlier.
There are two weeks left before Christmas, and we all know not much happens in that time. Some people leave early.
Then we get the Dec-Jan break – usually at least until the second week of January and things tend to be pretty quiet – with a lot of WFH – until after Australia Day and school resumes.
But this is where it gets interesting.
As people start to get going in February – a 4 week month – aside from reporting season, nothing much will actually happen until March.
This is because it takes time to rebuild momentum, to gather the troops, set the strategy, align the stakeholders, approve budgets, clarify the details etc.
This leaves 24 working days until Easter – less in Victoria and Western Australia with Labour Day – another long weekend.
Then we get April – 2 weeks of school holidays compounded by ANZAC day which is a long weekend in some States.
And State Government election campaigns will kick off in Victoria and South Australia in February.
So if you’re not planning on starting projects before March, what you’re really planning for is May and then you have less than nine weeks until the end of the financial year.
Combine this with a large chunk of people working 2-3 days a week from home.
With the impact of all of this on productivity, how are you going to deliver your strategic initiatives next year?
My tip would be to use this four week window to do your strategic planning. I’m not talking about a detailed and complex plan. This is about:
- Setting high-level goals and objectives
- Outlining next year’s strategic initiatives
- Assessing YTD progress and adjusting strategies
- Charting risks, anticipating business interruptions and uncertainty
- Expansion planning and scaling challenges
- Outlining revenue generating, project propelling opportunities, key relationships and pathways to growth
We do this with all of our clients as it sets them up to accelerate commercial outcomes early in the year and gives them strategic clarity, a plan and peace of mind.
It doesn’t have to be perfect – 80% will give you enough of a head start so you can rebuild momentum easily.
And you won’t lose a quarter of productivity.
If you’d like some help, we have two spots left for our half-day strategic planning workshops. They are $10k and will give you and your team the tools to be ready for a year where you’re ahead of the pack and hitting your targets.
If you want to learn more, just reply here or book a time to talk here or reach out to me through my contact page.
Nina